The Bookmonger: Medical suspense solved with frank approach

The Bookmonger: Medical suspense solved with frank approach

Published 11:48 pm Wednesday, August 13, 2025

After a short, steep hike with my husband that landed us in the midst of a hilltop grove of young madrona trees, we plopped down on a bench to watch a trio of large dragonflies zigzagging in search of prey across a sunny open space.

Their tireless movement made me think of the suspense novel I’m reviewing this week. In “The Room at the End of the Hall,” the interior ruminations of the two primary characters, a 75-year-old mother and her grown son, dart about in much the same fashion – from chocolate to medical conditions to memories from long ago. Perhaps the dynamic bouncing around of thoughts is actually a pretty accurate reflection of how many of us think.

This latest book from Seattle-based author and doctor Susan McCormick focuses on the plight of orthopedic surgeon Michael Baker, who has to leave his successful career at a prominent East Coast hospital in order to return to Seattle to care for his alcoholic mother, Margaret (Madge) McGillicuddy.

Michael finds new employment at Cascadia Medical Center. It is a smaller and less prestigious hospital than the one he left, but his department chair at Cascadia is soon to retire, and has indicated that Michael’s chances for succeeding him are pretty much a sure thing.

That’s until two of Michael’s patients suffer unusual and dire consequences after he has performed surgery on them. One ends up in the intensive care unit, and the other one actually dies. The family of the ICU patient threatens to sue, and after a medical review, the other patient’s unanticipated death appears to have been the result of a medication screw-up. This traces back to Michael on the chart, although he has reason to believe that the medical record may have been tampered with.

   Making the matter even worse, the patient who died happened to be sharing a room with his mother. (Madge is a frequent in-patient at Cascadia for treatment of a variety of afflictions related to her alcoholism.)

So when Madge asserts, unbidden, that her young roommate had been murdered, nobody pays her much heed – but it does compound Michael’s feelings of embarrassment and anger toward his mom.

However, as other discrepancies begin to stack up, he is forced to take her accusations more seriously.

Author McCormick stocks this story with an abundance of red herrings, and creates an elaborately twisted frame of events. The story can be hard to follow at times, but when scrutinized more closely everything does hold together.

 Likewise, the mother-son relationship is even more complicated than it appears to be at first glance. Madge’s pet name for Michael, “Stinky,” is just the tip of the iceberg.

Those interior musings referenced at the top of this review assist in providing context, but the shared out-loud revelations are key to solving the mystery.

This stand-alone novel is written in a somewhat darker mien than McCormick’s prior “Fog Ladies” murder mystery series – though an unusual pet named Frank is a welcome touch.

The Bookmonger is Barbara Lloyd McMichael, who writes this weekly column focusing on the books, authors and publishers of the Pacific Northwest. Contact her at bkmonger@nwlink.com