Gregg E. Brickman

The Chief of Staff Dr. Sanchez becomes ill while visiting a long-term patient and family. He dies in the Emergency Room. The medical examiner calls it undetermined, the nurses think it was murder.

The murderer has an agenda leaving bible verses on each body. His victims are members of the Emergency Room night shift.

Every time I decided I knew the murderer, Ms. Brickman would throw in a new clue, which caused me to reconsider. The ending came with a surprising twist.

I sought out this book to read because I enjoyed her Sophia Burgess/Ray Stone series. The cast of characters is well-developed and diverse, some are likable though some of them are not so likable. I was not disappointed.… (mais)

I read "Illegally Dead" and then immediately started "Imperfect Contract". The author has definitely fine-tuned her craft to the next level with this mystery. Sophia Burgess and Ray Stone are quite credible in every way. I don't want this review to include any spoilers so I won't define that statement further. Descriptions are further enhanced enriching the atmosphere of the settings and characterizations. Conversations between characters seem more genuine.
My only complaint is a repeat from the review of "Illegally Dead". New authors, please, please, please take the time to hold the proof from publication until another set of eyes reads your work for copy editing. For example, the word "is" for "if" passes spell check but is a distraction when one is reading your story. And in this book, there is something even worse than I've ever viewed before! Chapter 30 begins as follows: "Insert chapter ten text here. Insert chapter ten text here. Insert" and finally the real sentence of Chapter 30 begins. Whoa! What a miss!! What an unnecessary distraction to the reader. Sad. If the copy editing improves, I would have given this book 3 stars and but the overall presentation doesn't deserve the higher rating for such carelessness.… (mais)

I actually purchased three (3) titles by Gregg E. Brickman as part of the book selections for my Mother for Christmas 2012 as each of us gives each other new 'picks'/selections as part of our annual holiday gift traditions. I discovered via reading on the Internet that the author was a retired nurse turned mystery author. As my Mother and I are both voracious readers, and my Mother is also a retired nurse, the titles seemed a 'perfect discovery'. Mother read the titles first and now it was my turn. We both enjoyed the book and would recommend the title to others. One must remember that this is a fairly 'new' author and there is 'evidence'. For example, as a former editor, it is always a bit discouraging to me and more importantly distracting to find copy editing errors throughout the book. Another set of eyes should have read the proof before publication but otherwise I think it was a good kickoff. I'm off to read the author's next title, "The Imperfect Contract" which begins Series #1: A Sophia Burgess and Ray Stone Mystery.… (mais)

I'm so glad that I read these books "in order of publication". Illegally Dead to Imperfect Contract to Imperfect Daddy. What a tremendous improvement in writing! After reading Imperfect Contract, I really wanted to spend more time with characters Sophia Burgess and Ray Stone. The 2nd book in the series is very good and does not disappoint! Also to clarify, each book in the 'series' may be read independently as a stand-alone. The copy editing has been addressed which further delights me as a reader and as a former copy editor. Now, I'm actually hoping the author will continue pursuit of her craft and continue with this mystery series. Had I not purchased all three (3) books at one time or read them in this order, I don't know that I would have had the same interest to continue with her work.… (mais)