From Publishers Weekly
In Hathaway's worthy follow-up to Scarecrow (2003), motorcycle aficionado Dr. Jo Banks finds herself trying to exonerate a childhood friend accused of murder. Self-exiled from New York City because of a misdiagnosis that ended tragically, Jo runs a peaceful health clinic from a motel in rural New Jersey. A confrontation-hungry gang of bikers, "Satan's Apostles," rolls in one evening sneering at Jo's non-Harley "rice-burner." When Jo recognizes the leader, Pi, as a neighborhood geek who was once smitten with her, she realizes he's not the usual biker type—after all, he's a mathematician and MIT dropout. An impromptu bash in the motel's parking lot leads to a scuffle leaving one "apostle" dead, apparently at Pi's hands. While Pi goes on the lam on his Harley, Jo searches for the real killer. To complicate matters, Jo's boyfriend is witness to several easily misunderstood clinches that put their comfortable relationship at risk. Hathaway is best at creating likable characters and evoking place; the plot suffers from inconsistent pacing and a less-than-fleshed-out mystery. Despite the biker milieu, this is one for cozy fans, not readers of Barbara Seranella's gritty Munch Mancini novels. Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.


Book Description
Hathaway's likeable young doctor, Jo Banks, is solidly ensconced as "house doctor" to a group of motels in the New Jersey countryside. Then one day the motel where Jo is living and where she has her office is suddenly over run by a loud group of motorcyclists. When one of the riders is murdered, suspicion falls on Dr. Jo's landlord's son, who turned up after having been presumed either to have permanently gone AWOL or to be lost in battle in Vietnam. Trying to help her friends, and prove that the man is innocent, Jo takes on a lot more than she may be able to handle.



About the Author
Robin Hathaway lives in New York City. Her first novel, The Doctor Digs a Grave won the SMP/Malice Domestic Award for Best First Traditional Mystery in 1997 and the 1998 Agatha Award for Best First Novel.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

"Thus we embark on another unexpected episode in the life of Dr. Jo Banks. When the young pediatrician was practicing in New York City, she never would have dreamed that she would find herself "house doctor" for a group of isolated motels in a quasi-isolated section of New Jersey. But here she is, with a string of local patients (and an occasional stricken tourist), a boyfriend, and a reputation for having helped the local police find and capture some entrepreneurs who were enslaving and occasionally murdering hapless immigrants." "A covey of young and not-so-young male motorcyclists calling themselves Satan's Apostles arrive at the Oakview Motor Lodge ready to shred the quiet both guests and hosts expect on a Sunday afternoon. But this is not the bikers' problem. They want to party. However, their presence causes unwanted pressures at a time when the motor lodge's owners already have all the trouble they need. After disappearing for a year and a half, their adopted son is on trial for an impressive array of serious crimes - including murder. The evidence weighs heavily against him, and while his mother prepares to testify for the defense, the bikers' disruption at the lodge only serves to make matters worse." At the height of a raucous get-together in the motel parking lot, Jo comes close to personal disaster at the hands of a wild young biker. A few hours later, the youth is found dead on the parking lot ground, and the group's leader, Pi, is the principal suspect. Knowing that all bikers aren't devils, Jo plunges into an adventure that grows more and more colorful and exciting as she tries to save Pi from the police and pin the guilt where it belongs.

FROM THE CRITICS

Publishers Weekly

In Hathaway's worthy follow-up to Scarecrow (2003), motorcycle aficionado Dr. Jo Banks finds herself trying to exonerate a childhood friend accused of murder. Self-exiled from New York City because of a misdiagnosis that ended tragically, Jo runs a peaceful health clinic from a motel in rural New Jersey. A confrontation-hungry gang of bikers, "Satan's Apostles," rolls in one evening sneering at Jo's non-Harley "rice-burner." When Jo recognizes the leader, Pi, as a neighborhood geek who was once smitten with her, she realizes he's not the usual biker type-after all, he's a mathematician and MIT dropout. An impromptu bash in the motel's parking lot leads to a scuffle leaving one "apostle" dead, apparently at Pi's hands. While Pi goes on the lam on his Harley, Jo searches for the real killer. To complicate matters, Jo's boyfriend is witness to several easily misunderstood clinches that put their comfortable relationship at risk. Hathaway is best at creating likable characters and evoking place; the plot suffers from inconsistent pacing and a less-than-fleshed-out mystery. Despite the biker milieu, this is one for cozy fans, not readers of Barbara Seranella's gritty Munch Mancini novels. Agent, Laura Langlie. (Oct. 29) FYI: Hathaway is also the author of The Doctor Digs a Grave, which won an Agatha Award for Best First Novel, and three other titles in her Doctor Fenimore mystery series. Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

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