Dropping in on the second in the Dr. Katie LeClair mystery series feels like an easy fit, and it didn't matter that I hadn't read the first. We meet a newcomer to a small town GP practice who has already helped to resolve a murder case. With that excitement behind her, Dr Katie is hard at work, in DO NO HARM. A new patient has been bruised and cut, but he's not saying much. Turns out Eugene Lowe just got out of prison for allegedly murdering a girl, and the irate townsfolk think he should have stayed there, or stayed away from his former home of Baxter, Michigan.

Eugene Lowe reappears with fresh bruising, just after a young woman student at the University of Michigan is reported missing. Taylor Knox is an idealistic lady who wants to work with the Peace Corps and who had been assigned a sociology project: to study and report on an old case which got press attention. She had been looking into the conviction of Eugene Lowe, and had confided in Dr Katie that she thought the verdict was wrong and someone had got away with the crime.

The atmosphere is constantly busy and the only time Katie gets a break, she is sipping coffee laced with pumpkin spice, since it's fall and everyone has pumpkins on the porch step and Christmas decorations ready to hang. Of course, people in small towns have long memories. Miss Simms and Mrs Peabody are happy to gossip. As teachers, they know everyone who ever lived in Baxter. Matt Gregor's a doctor and Katie's gentleman friend, so he's another good source of information. Presently Katie shares a house with her brother Caleb, a computer professional. I like that characters in normal occupations are featured, not just police, providing depth to this crime tale. Also, a cosy coffee shop called the Purple Parrot is a lively meeting place.

Since Katie is so busy, the fact that she takes time out to drive around and pursue investigations does seem odd. She's not a private detective, and I can't think of one good reason why a professor would give her his student's assignment papers, which he hasn't even read. Still, she is rightly annoyed that everyone pins crimes on Eugene without cause, and wants to help. Dawn Eastman has created a puzzle which will appeal to women and men, as her doctor heroine seeks to prevent injustice. DO NO HARM is a good crossover between thriller and cosy mystery with a lively sense of place and season.