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SAVING GRACE
by Gerald Hammond
Allison and Busby, July 2004
256 pages
18.99GBP
ISBN: 0749006099


Buy in the UK | Buy in Canada

Grace Gillespie is a physical therapist and private duty nurse. Her patient work has taken her all over England and Scotland and now she is ready for a much-needed vacation. But when her agency tells her they have a need for her services in her old home town of Dornoch in the Scottish highlands, she decides to take the case.

Her new patient, Stuart Campbell, is recovering from a fall. A high school teacher and deputy head of his school, Stuart fell while on the site of the new addition to the school. There was a ceremony on the site to commemorate the 'topping off' and many people were around but no one saw Stuart fall.

Grace is suspicious of Stuart's injuries. She does not believe that anyone who falls forward, as Stuart was found, could hurt the back of his head as he has. She immediately begins asking Stuart and his uncle, who shares his home, about the details of the fall, telling the uncle that she doesn't think what happened was a trip and fall as the police seem to believe.

Stuart claims not to remember anything in the time leading up to the accident but she wonders about that as well. Claiming that she cannot treat him properly if she is not aware of the exact nature of the injuries, Grace begins to investigate on her own. She quickly puts as much effort into asking questions of various people who were at the site as she does taking care of Stuart. This proves to be a big mistake because she and Stuart and his uncle are attacked by men wearing ski masks who warn her off for being 'an interfering bitch.'

Stuart is an attractive, single man and Grace is available as well. While she admits to having had attractions to other patients in her care, she continually reminds the reader that she never acted upon those feelings, but in Stuart's case she just might be persuaded.

Although this is a new book I found the style of writing and dialogue to be rather old-fashioned. Grace is very modern; she has love affairs and even tells her patient a joke using four-letter words, but otherwise is almost too good to be true. She is a stickler for truth and the high standards of her profession -­ always a good thing, but she comes over as a bit of a 'goody two-shoes.'

The author, a retired Scottish architect, has written an astonishing number of novels, some 40 plus, since 1979. He also wrote a series, featuring the character of Keith Calder, with 24 titles in that series. Another series features a dog breeder in Scotland. He also writes as Arthur Douglas and Darby Holden.

Reviewed by Lorraine Gelly, December 2004

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