Elle Harrison is a widow in her thirties; her husband was
murdered about a year before the events surrounding the
second book in this series. Even though towards the end, she
discovered he was a cheater and a liar, she finds not being
part of a couple a difficult thing to cope with. When
Elle is worried, her mind wanders too much, she tends to
imagine things, even seeing things; she suffers from
dissociation.
On a girls' night out, Ellen caves in and sees
a fortune teller who tells her that she is some sort of
death magnet: death follows her.
Jen, who married a rich
man, foots the bill so her friends Elle, Becky and Susan can
accompany her to Mexico while she has some plastic surgery
done; her friends will enjoy a week's vacation while she
recuperates. But it's not exactly what happens. More and
more, it seems the fortune teller might not have been so off
the mark about their future.
Becky becomes enamoured of a
local, Chichi, an activity director at the hotel where
they're staying, and Elle fails to save the woman in the
hotel room next door from falling to her death. Then another
patient is killed. A young woman, Melanie, who befriends
Elle, says the other activity director, Luis, is stalking
her. Jen's doctor, Alain Du Bois, asks Elle on a date; he
was also a close friend of the woman who fell from the
balcony. But the handsome plastic surgeon has a few flaws:
he is married, although he says his wife became
incapacitated when she was in an accident, for which he says
he's responsible, and he shows a definite lack of scruples
regarding his chosen profession.
ELECTIVE PROCEDURES starts
off as a light mystery, with quite engaging characters; the
banter between our four friends is wonderfully entertaining.
Elle's behaviour is rather unsettling at times whereas Jen
is quite the diva and I enjoyed her antics tremendously.
Then the tones shifts: the light mystery turns serious, Elle
is almost killed twice; someone wants her dead. This is
where the author really shines: from the atmosphere of a
Mexican spa, to the camaraderie of the women, and then the
writing style becomes suitably frantic as Elle fears for her
life, and the feeling of panic and fear is wonderfully
conveyed.
ELECTIVE PROCEDURES is a perfect beach read. But then again,
maybe not, because it could leave you looking over your
shoulder! Let's say, it's a perfect summer read!
Elle Harrison is back! She and her pals Jen, Becky, and
Susan travel to Mexico where Jen has arranged cosmetic
surgery, after which she will recover in a plush hotel
suite. But more is going on at the hotel than tummy tucks.
Soon after they arrive, Elle sees the woman in the suite
next door fall from her sixth floor balcony. When the room
is later occupied by another patient, Elle finds her
brutally mutilated body on that same balcony. Police
question Elle as the last person to see these women alive.
Their doctor also takes an interest in Elle; a woman staying
at the hotel asks Elle to help her fend off a creepy
stalker; a veiled woman sneaks into Elle's suite at night,
and her late husband, Charlie, reappears (or Elle imagines
that he does) when Elle gets pushed under water in the ocean
and nearly drowns.
As dangers swirl and intensify, Elle is forced to face her
unresolved issues with Charlie, even as she races to find
the connections between killings before more
patients-including Jen-can be murdered. And before she
herself becomes prey.
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