After a construction worker unearths a human skull on the campus of the University of Mississippi dating to the 1960s, an older woman’s desperate attempt to erase history counts down the five ways to die in the thriller, The 5 Manners of Death. The woman is the niece of Dr. Diana Bratton, a surgeon surrounded by bodies after the discovery of her Aunt Phoebe’s 50-year-old note detailing the manners of death. Suicide, accident, natural causes, and one death classified undetermined are soon crossed off this list—leaving Diana to believe that only homicide remains. Yet the police prove her wrong. Murder is Diana’s family secret.
Darden North, a Jackson area OB-GYN for the past three decades, jokes that he has delivered enough babies “to fill a small Mississippi town — one with more than just a post office and gas station.” Continue Reading
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“If you like plot twists and surprises, you’ll love Darden North’s fifth novel, a fast-moving story of crime and deception in the modern South.”
John M. Floyd
Edgar Award nominee
“If you like plot twists and surprises, you’ll love Darden North’s fifth novel, a fast-moving story of crime and deception in the modern South.”
Renee Harmon
Rambles.NET
“In all, The 5 Manners of Death is a satisfying mystery that brings those five manners of death – natural, accidental, suicidal, homicidal and undetermined – to light in a new and unusual way.”
Ellen Feld
Feathered Quill Book Reviews
“As Diana investigates we are treated to a roller coaster of ups and downs of a thrill ride. THE 5 MANNERS OF DEATH is fun journey into 5 manners of death and whodunit! Highly enjoyable, thrill ride of a story. A great escape.”
Dr. Cynthia Lea Clark, Psy.D., Ph.D., MHt.
Diplomat Homeland Security, Futures Mystery Anthology
Magazine
“North’s characters show that he can draw from life and his plotting shows that he can pace a narrative. His details evoke college life from … a time when entering freshmen had their heads shaved, and dormitory monitors walked the hallways in the evenings. (Ole Miss Alumni) will revel in the local color, and they will find the plot twists worthy of John Grisham.”
Allen Boyer
HottyToddy.com
“North expertly crafts the characters and settings to pull the reader into the story and holds you until the last pages bring the novel to a spectacular end. It is no surprise that Darden North is an award winning author. He paints landscapes and parlors with his words, filling every scene with lifelike characters that could be the people next door. Of course, you might not want some of them as neighbors.”
Laura Hartman
WriteKnit.com
“Darden North (writes) good mysteries. Mysteries that are hard to put down. … Not only is the plot of The 5 Manners of Death top notch, but the characters fit into that plot with ease. Don’t miss this one.”
Mary Ann Smyth
Bookloons.com