Vicki Shea

Vicki Shea, a San Francisco malpractice lawyer with a medical degree, is a good choice for surgeon Arnold Jones. Jones faces a malpractice suit that could virtually wreck his career. He is accused of having caused the sudden death of a rich and powerful businesswoman. He is urged by everyone to settle, but he refuses. He knows he wasn't at fault, and won't say he was. As Vicki begins work on the case, she finds that someone wants her to stop: a concrete block is dropped on her car on the freeway; there is missing information on the death certificate; both pathologists who look into the case for Vicki die suddenly; and the attempts on Vicki's life escalate.

Vicki Shea, the hero of Mortal Judgments, returns in this new thriller from the mind of John A. Peak. Since defending her client from malpractice charges in Mortal Judgments, Vicki has returned to medicine, and now practices full time as a pediatrician. When a severely injured infant is brought into the hospital, the nurse bypasses the on-call doctor and immediately calls Vicki. Vicki's years spent practicing law make her the best choice for dealing with such questionable cases. The mother claims the injuries are the result of a fall she took while holding the child, but the injuries tell another story. Vicki notifies the police then plunges, single-mindedly, into what she knows will be a long, frustrating, and exhausting battle with nature. Vicki will not allow this patient to fall into the hospital's statistics officially known as "morbidity and mortality," the M and M. The police arrest and charge the mother for child abuse. Then she apparently commits suicide while out on bail. Vicki is not satisfied, and, with the help of her friend Detective Tim Murphy, she stubbornly traces the murder of the child's mother to a sinister, criminal network that becomes a personal threat to her.