Former nurse-turned deputy coroner Mattie Winston has gone from working on live patients to cutting open corpses. But she has no idea that trading in her nurse's cap for a deputy coroner's badge will take her closer to her own death than she'd ever imagined...Mattie Winston's decision to change careers had nothing to do with a mid-life crisis or desire to suddenly spend a lot of time with a bunch of corpses. But catching her surgeon husband David Winston in the act of receiving some very special loving care from R.N. Karen Owenby was enough to make Mattie never want to show her face again in the hospital where they both worked. When her best friend Izzy suggests she'd be a natural as a deputy coroner, she reluctantly gives it a try. Now, instead of taking patients' pulses, she's weighing their hearts and livers. But living in Izzy's cottage, which just happens to be next door to her ex's house, is a little too close for comfort, and Mattie can't resist spying on her husband one night. Peeking into a window, Mattie glimpses Karen Owenby and David in the middle of a heated argument - one that leads to David shaking Karen violently by the shoulders...The next day when Izzy takes Mattie on her first homicide call, Mattie's shocked to discover the victim is none other than Karen. Recalling the previous night's scene, she refuses to believe David could be a killer. Keeping mum about what she saw, Mattie is also left speechless by the sight of hunky Detective Steve Hurley...Mattie's investigation soon turns up a host of dizzying revelations, including the fact that Karen wasn't who she said she was. From learning the ropes on her new job to sorting out her feelings about her ex and dealing with her growing attraction to Detective Hurley, Mattie's in deep water and in danger of sinking quickly, especially when she places herself dead center in the path of a desperate - yet determined - killer...
Annelise Ryan is the author of the popular Mattie Winston mystery series and a pseudonym for a freelance writer and the author of three previous novels. Ryan is a real life emergency room RN living in Wisconsin. She has always believed that laughter truly is some of the best medicine and with the Mattie Winston series she is hoping to "medicate" the masses.
For more Mattie Winston fun and to keep up with the latest news, visit www.mattiewinston.com
ABOUT WORKING STIFF: Stephanie Plum with a CSI twist--Annelise Ryan's new cozy mystery series introduces wisecracking nurse-turned-coroner Mattie Winston and the eccentric inhabitants of her small Wisconsin town.
"Ryan, the pseudonym of a Wisconsin emergency nurse, brings her professional expertise to her crisp debut." ~Publishers Weekly
"Mattie Winston's life in small-town Sorenson, Wis., is anything but dull after she takes the job as deputy coroner. Mattie is klutzy and endearing, and there are plenty of laugh-out-loud moments." ~ Romantic Times
"A recently-divorced OR nurse accepts the job as assistant to the coroner and her first case involves the murder of her ex-husband's lover, and when her ex becomes the chief suspect, she joins forces with a hunky police detective to find the killer in a debut that is both funny and intricately-plotted." ~ Clues Unlimited
"Annelise Ryan turns in a spiffy series debut with Working Stiff introducing nurse turned coroner's assis¬tant Mattie Winston. Her first crime scene is quite a challenge, however, as the prime suspect is her husband, Dr. Wonderful, and the victim is his mistress. Mattie is a wise-cracking guide to the ins-and-outs of autopsy and crime-solving while managing some pithy commentary on the current state of medical practice courtesy of the author's background as a nurse." ~ Mystery Lovers Bookshop Fall Coffee and Crime Newsletter
ABOUT SCARED STIFF:
"When shocked trick-or-treaters discover the body of model Shannon Tolliver one Halloween night, Mattie Winston investigates in Ryan's sharp second mystery to feature the Sorenson City, Wis., deputy coroner (after 2009's Working Stiff." Publishers Weekly
"Mattie Winston is a likable, humorous heroine with whom readers will readily identify." Romantic Times
"This has the makings of an appealing series on multiple fronts: the forensic details will interest Patricia Cornwell readers, though the tone here is lighter, while the often slapstick humor and the blossoming romance between Mattie and Hurley will draw Evanovich fans who don't object to the cozier mood." Sue O'Brien, Booklist
