Don Donaldson

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About Don Donaldson

Don Donaldson, who also writes as D. J. Donaldson, holds a Ph.D. in human anatomy. In his professional career, he has taught microscopic anatomy to over 5,000 medical and dental students and published dozens of research papers on wound healing. He is also the author of eight published forensic mysteries and five medical thrillers. He lives in Memphis, Tennessee with his wife and two West Highland terriers.

Visit Don at his website (dondonaldson.com) and his Facebook page (Facebook.com/medicalthriller).

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Titles By Don Donaldson

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Cajun Nights (Broussard & Franklyn Forensic Mysteries Book 1) Jul 19, 2021

by D.J. (Don) Donaldson

( 108 )

$7.99

Young and vibrant New Orleans criminal psychologist Kit Franklyn has just been assigned her most challenging case yet—a collection of victims with similarities that include driving old cars, humming nursery rhymes, committing murder, and then killing themselves! Welcoming the help of her jovial boss, chief medical examiner Andy Broussard, the two set out to solve the case, thinking only along strictly scientific lines. Not once do they consider the involvement of Black Magic, a New Orleans cultural staple, until an ancient Cajun sorcerer’s curse surfaces with an ominous warning: “Beware the songs you loved in youth.”

His writing displays flashes of brilliance… Dr. Donaldson’s talent and potential as a novelist are considerable. — New York Times Book Review
SUSPENSFUL… likeable protagonists…Broussard and Franklyn are an engaging team…a welcome debut. — Washington Post Book World
A deadly portrait of this steamiest of Southern cities…mighty fine. — Houston Post
A novel of creepy suspense…. It won’t be easily put down, through your heart races to dangerous levels… a fast-paced thriller that deserves a wide audience. — Memphis Commercial Appeal
Donaldson has relieved the tedium of the murder mystery grind with this engaging tale, The Phoenix Republic
We close this remarkable, intoxicating book like a first-time visitor leaves New Orleans: giddy, a bit disoriented and much less confident in our own assumptions about life. – Booklist

Other Formats: Audible Audiobook , Hardcover , Paperback , Audio CD

No Mardi Gras For The Dead (Broussard & Franklyn Forensic Mysteries Book 3) Jul 19, 2021

by D.J. (Don) Donaldson

( 55 )

$7.99

Kit Franklyn, lately drowning in personal doubts about her life and career, has to put those concerns aside after finding a corpse buried in the garden of her new home. Together with her boss, the loveable and unconventional chief medical examiner Andy Broussard, she sets out to solve this case that’s growing colder by the minute. Though they identify the body as a missing hooker, now dead for twenty-seven years, all hope of finding the killer seems lost—until the unorthodox duo link the body and two recent murders to a group of local, wealthy physicians.

Likable protagonists, abundant forensic lore and vivid depictions of colorful New Orleans and its denizens…, Publishers Weekly
Kit…and Andy make a formidable team. — Washington Times
Donaldson’s genre gumbo keeps you coming back for more. — Booklist
No mystery has ever started in a more clinically riveting and elegantly horrifying style…. If you haven’t met Broussard and Franklyn, you should make your introductions. — Memphis Commercial Appeal

Other Formats: Audible Audiobook , Hardcover , Paperback , Audio CD

Blood On The Bayou (Broussard & Franklyn Forensic Mysteries Book 2) Jul 12, 2021

by D.J. (Don) Donaldson

( 80 )

$7.99

New Orleans’s hugely overweight chief medical examiner, Andy Broussard, and his gorgeous assistant, criminal psychologist Kit Franklyn, set off to investigate a series of violent murders. Examination of the victims leads to the discovery that each had their throat ripped out, as though they’d been attacked by something that wasn’t human. ‘Blood on the Bayou’ is written in Donaldson’s unique style: A hard-hitting, punchy, action-packed prose that’s dripping with a folksy, decidedly southern, sense of irony. Add in Donaldson’s brilliant first-hand knowledge of forensics along with the sultry flavor of New Orleans, and the result is a first class forensic procedural within an irresistibly delectable mystery.

The bayou atmosphere is redolently captured… - Los Angeles Times Book Review
Donaldson combines an insider’s knowledge with a real flair for making the reader’s skin crawl. — Booklist
It’s hard to beat his combination of cool science and explosive passion in the heart of humid Louisiana. — Memphis Commercial Appeal

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Sleeping With The Crawfish (Broussard & Franklyn Forensic Mysteries Book 6) Jul 17, 2021

by D.J. (Don) Donaldson

( 115 )

$7.99

Strange lesions found in the brain of a dead man have forensic pathologist Andy Broussard stumped. Even more baffling are the corpse’s fingerprints. They belong to Ronald Cicero, a lifer at Angola State Prison… an inmate the warden insists is still there. Broussard sends psychologist Kit Franklyn to find out who is locked up in Cicero’s cell. But an astonishing discovery at the jail and an attempt on her life almost has Kit sleeping with the crawfish in a bayou swamp. And Broussard, making a brilliant deduction about another murder, may soon be digging his own grave.

The Author: D.J. (Don) Donaldson is a retired medical school professor. Born and raised in Ohio, he obtained a Ph.D. in human anatomy at Tulane, then spent his entire academic career at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center in Memphis. In addition to being the author of several dozen scientific articles on wound healing, he has written seven forensic mysteries and five medical thrillers.

Other Formats: Audible Audiobook , Hardcover , Paperback , Audio CD

Assassination at Bayou Sauvage (Broussard & Franklyn Forensic Mysteries Book 8) Apr 7, 2017

by D.J. (Don) Donaldson

( 40 )

$7.99

Andy Broussard, the plump and proud medical examiner for the City of New Orleans, is sitting almost in the kill zone of a too-close-for comfort and ‘in living color’ murder of his Uncle Joe Broussard at a family picnic in Bayou Sauvage - the largest urban wetlands park in the USA. Surprisingly, the murderer then immediately commits suicide. After easily determining the killer’s identity from the driver’s license in his pocket, the only remaining task for Broussard and the police is to uncover the motive for such a heinous act. But suddenly, everything about the case takes a bizarre turn.Caught short handed because of an NOPD work slow-down, and needing someone to find out what happened to a young woman who has just been reported missing, Homicide Detective Phil Gatlin deputizes Broussard’s beautiful death investigator, Dr. Kit Franklyn, and assigns her to that case. Shockingly, Kit’s efforts soon lead back to the murder of Uncle Joe. Sensing a plot of horrendous magnitude, Broussard directs his colleagues and friends in a race to uncover the truth behind the most audacious Andy and Kit mystery of the entire series.D. J. Donaldson’s fans can rejoice once again, knowing that Kit, Andy, Phil, Bubba, Grandma O, and Teddy are back in a terrific new story that pushes their abilities to the limit.The Author: Donald (Don) Jay Donaldson, who also writes as D. J. Donaldson and David Best, was born in 1940 and is now a retired professor of Anatomy and Neurobiology. He holds a Ph.D. in human anatomy and his entire academic career was spent at the University of Tennessee, Health Science Center, where he published dozens of papers on wound-healing, and taught microscopic anatomy to thousands of medical and dental students.He lives in Memphis, Tennessee with his wife and two West Highland terriers. In the spring of most years he simply cannot stop buying new flowers and other plants for the couple’s prized backyard garden.He is the author of five medical thrillers and seven forensic mysteries, the latter featuring the hugely overweight and equally brilliant New Orleans medical examiner, Andy Broussard, and his gorgeous psychologist sidekick, Kit Franklyn. Of these it has been said that they contain ‘lots of Louisiana color, pinpoint plotting and two highly likable characters’, whilst the Los Angeles Times states ‘the autopsies are detailed enough to make Patricia Cornwell fans move farther south for their forensic fixes ….. splendidly eccentric local denizens, authentic New Orleans and bayou backgrounds’.

Other Formats: Paperback

Bad Karma In The Big Easy (Broussard & Franklyn Forensic Mysteries Book 7) Jul 12, 2021

by D.J. (Don) Donaldson

( 241 )

$7.99

Among the dead collected in ‘The Big Easy’ floodwaters after hurricane Katrina are three nude female bodies, all caught in the same brush tangle, none with water in their lungs. No water. Medical examiner, Andy Broussard, knows this was not an act of God; not the work of Katrina. There’s a killer on the loose and by God, Broussard means to find him. But Broussard has perhaps the biggest challenge of his colorful career. The city and all its records are destroyed, practically the entire population is scattered, the police force has no offices, and many of the rank and file (who haven’t defected) are homeless. And if that’s not bad enough, Broussard discovers that the bodies were all once frozen solid, completely obliterating key forensic clues. Soon, Broussard and his alluring assistant, Kit Franklyn, are on a dangerous and labyrinthine journey through the obscenely damaged, ever mysterious, irresistibly seductive, city of New Orleans; leading them to a kind of evil that neither of them could imagine.

Other Formats: Audible Audiobook , Paperback , Mass Market Paperback , Audio CD

The Killing Harvest Jan 2, 2013

by Don Donaldson

( 13 )

$8.99

Your child is almost back to normal after reaching the brink of death--thanks to brilliant brain surgeon Dr. George Latham, whose controversial surgery is the reason your child's mysterious full-body paralysis is gone. Latham says the side effects--the disabling tics and spasms--will subside in time. Maybe. You should be grateful for such good results, considering. So just take your kindergartener and go home . . .

Unless you're Memphis pediatric resident Dr. Sarchi Seminoux and the patient is your orphaned nephew, Drew.

Dr. Seminoux asks questions. Dr. Seminoux wants answers.

She begins to see inconsistencies in Latham's procedures. Then an anonymous tipster alerts her that Drew's case is similar to other child patients of Latham's in ways that go beyond clinical details.

Something is very suspicious. Patterns emerge. Latham makes it clear: he won't tolerate her meddling. Suddenly Seminoux is being stalked, smeared, and threatened.

The truth is more dangerous than she ever imagined.

Other Formats: Paperback , Mass Market Paperback

The Judas Virus Jun 30, 2013

by Don Donaldson

( 27 )

$5.99

It was a miracle--until a killer turned it into a weapon.

When Dr. Chris Collins's estranged father, Wayne, shows up asking her to donate a piece of her liver to save his life, Chris balks. The man walked out on her and her mother twenty-nine years ago, and now he expects her to undergo major surgery and have part of a vital organ removed. She refuses. However, she can't just let him die. So she contacts Dr. Michael Boyer to get Wayne accepted into Boyer's experimental transplant program.

The surgery is risky, and the source of the donor liver shocking. However, Wayne has no other choice. It's his only chance to live.

The celebration of Wayne's stunning recovery is cut short when two of the nurses on the transplant team suddenly die horrifying, painful deaths. Chris's father has become the unwitting breeding ground for a rogue virus that may be unstoppable. As Chris and Michael Boyer search desperately for answers, a potential epidemic worse than any the world has ever experienced gains momentum. If the virus doesn't kill them first, its creator will.

Other Formats: Paperback

This title and over 1 million more available with Kindle Unlimited.

The Memory Thief Feb 27, 2013

by Don Donaldson

( 104 )

$4.99

"With his in-depth knowledge of science and medicine, Don Donaldson is one of very few authors who can write with convincing authority."
-Tess Gerritsen, author of the Rizzoli and Isles series.

Don Donaldson pens a gripping, psychological thriller. . .

Nothing in this mysterious asylum is what it seems.
She's being destroyed by an unknown opponent--
one memory at a time.

Dr. Marti Segerson's appointment to the staff of the isolated and rural Tennessee Gibson State Mental Hospital was no accident. Years ago, Marti watched a mad man, serial killer Vernon Odessa, murder her sister. Marti never forgot the horror. Never gave up on revenge.

Gibson State may finally hold the key to justice. Odessa is incarcerated within the gloomy, medieval-walled asylum. He's within her reach, but her carefully planned retribution may get her killed. Only days after her arrival, her memory is suddenly riddled with holes. Someone's carefully orchestrated mind games are blurring the line between illusion and reality.

Soon, she's not certain whether she'll get justice for her sister or become the next victim.

Don holds a Ph.D. in human anatomy. In his professional career, he has taught microscopic anatomy to over 5,000 medical and dental students and published dozens of research papers on wound healing. He is also the author of seven published forensic mysteries and five medical thrillers. He lives in Memphis, Tennessee with his wife and two West Highland Terriers.

Other Formats: Kindle , Paperback

The Lethal Helix Nov 22, 2013

by Don Donaldson

( 30 )

$5.99

Her dreams, stolen. The truth, hidden in a corporate lab.

Medical miracles often require sacrifices.

This one may take her life.

For leukemia survivor Dr. Holly Fisher, the theft of her frozen eggs from a Mississippi fertility clinic crushes her hopes of motherhood. Her furious search for answers leads her and clinic director Dr. Susan Morrison to a small Wisconsin town, where mysterious deaths and disappearances point a finger toward odd doings at a former dairy farm. What the two women discover there puts their lives in danger while raising complex issues about the horrific implications of genetic experimentation.

Other Formats: Paperback , Mass Market Paperback

New Orleans Requiem (Broussard & Franklyn Forensic Mysteries Book 4) Jun 30, 2021

by D.J. (Don) Donaldson

( 115 )

$7.99

It’s a bizarre case for Andy Broussard and Kit Franklyn. A man is found in Jackson Square, stabbed, one eyelid removed and four Scrabble tiles with the letters KOJE on his chest. Soon, there’s a second victim, also stabbed and missing one eyelid, but this time with only three letters on his chest, KOJ. The pattern is unmistakable, but does it mean there will be two more victims and then the killer will cease, or is he leading up to something bigger and deadlier? Broussard and Kit use their disciplines to profile the killer, but it soon becomes clear that the clues and objects they’ve found are part of a sick game that the killer is playing with Broussard; a game most likely engineered by one of the hundreds of attendees at the annual forensics meeting being held in New Orleans. Has Broussard finally met his match?

The Author: D.J. (Don) Donaldson is a retired medical school professor. Born and raised in Ohio, he obtained a Ph.D. in human anatomy at Tulane, then spent his entire academic career at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center in Memphis. In addition to being the author of several dozen scientific articles on wound healing, he has written seven forensic mysteries and five medical thrillers.

Other Formats: Audible Audiobook , Hardcover , Paperback , Audio CD

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Then Came Light Dec 19, 2019

by D.J. Donaldson

( 2 )

$3.99

Known for his forensic mysteries and medical thrillers, D.J. Donaldson now takes his readers on a new kind of ride — 14 stories unlike anything you’ve ever read before.

Chuckle under your breath or perhaps laugh aloud at the evil antics of a vengeful cat that is much smarter than its owner. Follow a young girl as she rescues a puppy from sure death, then becomes involved in a wondrous event beyond anyone’s ability to explain. Spend Halloween eve with a nasty couple who discover that frightening children is not as much fun as they thought. See how a preadolescent boy’s infatuation with a neighbor girl helps him find an inner strength that will last the rest of his life. Meet two new residents of a city, where the husband rightly concludes they are no longer living among “their own kind.” Witness the shocking events that transpire when a con man and his female accomplice enter the strangest Christmas store that ever existed. At some point while reading these and the other eight stories in this collection, you’ll probably shake your head and think, Where does he get this stuff?

Other Formats: Paperback

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