Hard Case

Barbara D'Amato

Cat Marsala Mystery Book 5 · Speaking Volumes

About this ebook

In novels like Hard Luck and Hard Women, award-winner Barbara D'Amato has thrilled audiences with the exploits of her journalist-turned-sleuth, Cat Marsala, who always squeezes life out of a deadly situation. Now comes Cat's most dangerous assignment, a truly Hard Case mixing medicine, mayhem, and murder...

Cat figures on some quick bucks doing a feature on the life-and-death drama of one of Chicago's largest trauma centers. What she doesn’t figure on is finding the director dead in the staff lounge, a lump of gauze stuck in her throat. Now Cat's story has a whole new slant. Not every staff member is dedicated to healing—and Cat's next tour could be of the morgue...

About the author

Barbara D'Amato was the 1999-2000 president of Mystery Writers of America. D'Amato is also a past president of Sisters in Crime International. She writes a mystery series starring Chicago freelance investigative reporter Cat Marsala, a series starring Chicago patrol cops Suze Figueroa and Norm Bennis, and standalone novels. D'Amato is a playwright, novelist, and crime researcher. Her research on the Dr. John Branion murder case formed the basis for a segment on Unsolved Mysteries, and she appeared on the program. Her musical comedy The Magic Man and the children's musical The Magic of Young Houdini, written with husband Anthony D'Amato, played in Chicago and London. Their Prohibition-era musical comedy RSVP Broadway, which played in Chicago in 1980, was named an "event of particular interest" by Chicago magazine. A native of Michigan, she has been a resident of Chicago for many years. D'Amato has been a columnist for the Sisters in Crime newsletter and Mystery Scene magazine. She has worked as an assistant surgical orderly, carpenter for stage magic illusions, assistant tiger handler, stage manager, researcher for attorneys in criminal cases, and she occasionally teaches mystery writing to Chicago police officers. Awards The first annual Mary Higgins Clark Award, 2001, for Authorized Personnel Only The 1998 Carl Sandburg Award for Excellence in Fiction and the 1999 Readers Choice Award for Best Police Procedural for Good Cop, Bad Cop The 1992 Anthony Award for Best True Crime and the 1993 Agatha Award for Nonfiction for The Doctor, the Murder, the Mystery The 1999 Readers Choice Award for the story "Hard Feelings" The 1999 Agatha, Macavity and Anthony Awards for Best Short Story for "Of Course You Know that Chocolate Is a Vegetable." Praise for Barbara D'Amato "Marvelously grisly... A vivid supporting cast, sprightly yet controlled wit and some fine cooking advice...another delightful mystery from the ever-reliable author." —Publishers Weekly (Hard Evidence) "A witty, snappy narrator." —Washington Post (Hard Evidence) “A clever solution to wrap up the driest and wittiest food mystery of the season." —Kirkus Reviews (Hard Evidence) “[The] wittiest food mystery of the season.” —Kirkus Reviews (Hard Evidence) "Barbara D'Amato appears to be just hitting her stride—a vigorous, stylish stride that's attracting widespread attention and admiration." —The Drood Review of Mystery (Hard Case) "D'Amato's evocation of the trauma center, its desperate patients and harried personnel, often heroic and always human, is by itself worth the price of admission." —San Diego Union-Tribune (Hard Case) "Producers of TV's Chicago Hope and ER could do worse than buy—never steal!—an idea or two from Hard Case." —Chicago Tribune (Hard Case) "One-ups Ellery Queen’s excellent The Dutch Shoe Mystery." —Chicago Sun-Times (Hard Case) "Unexpected twists, a devious plot, and action aplenty, plus Cat's usual sardonic but intelligent approach to crime solving, make this one another hit in a popular series." —Booklist (Hard Bargain) "With its distinctly Chicago atmosphere this tale, the seventh in D'Amato's series, is edgy, surprising and spiced with rich characterizations." —Publishers Weekly (Hard Bargain) "A compelling picture of street life in a very recognizable Chicago." —Chicago Tribune (Hard Bargain) "Cat's seventh features enough problems for a month of Mondays—but D'Amato's expert dovetailing and eye for human drama make it a lot more exciting." —Kirkus Reviews (Hard Bargain) "D'Amato's novel is her best and most ambitious." —Chicago Sun-Times (Hard Christmas)