by John Bishop MD

Details at the end of this post on how to enter to win a copy of Act of Deception and links to purchase it.

I began writing in the mid-1990s, and created a character named Dr. Jim Bob Brady, an orthopedic surgeon in Houston, Texas, who had a penchant for getting himself involved in sordid murders and mysteries and, ultimately, being able to solve them. I wrote a series of novels about Doc Brady, which didn’t make the cut back then, but which are being published now after all this time.

Act of Murder was published earlier this year and involves the hit-and-run death of Brady’s neighbor’s child. Act of Deception, out June 10, revolves around a questionable lawsuit filed against Doc Brady for medical malpractice. The third, Act of Revenge, out September 10, centers around the murder of the CEO of an insurance company who has cancelled the medical malpractice insurance of a large number of Houston plastic surgeons over the breast implant debacle.

To update and edit these novels to current times became an almost impossible task. After a period of soul searching and hand wringing, the decision was made to update the writing, but to leave the setting in the 1990s. That meant that restaurants, so much a part of the Houston scene, would remain intact. Also, so would the sports teams, their victories and defeats in all their glory relived for the world to see. The bars and the music venues, so much a part of Houston back then, would come alive again, and the Bluesmen that entertained us at that point in history would return to the forefront. It was a good move for me because all the details about the city of Houston were already in the books. I had to update the stories and the characters but leaving the setting in Houston during that time frame allowed the reader to relive a glorious time in Houston, Texas.

I don’t remember every detail of the research I had to do back then, since it was over twenty years ago. But even though the internet began around 1991, there was not the information nor the details available to a writer as it is today. Being an orthopedic surgeon myself, I knew most of the medical details involved in the mysteries I wrote about. Of course, there was still extensive library research time involved because I had to gain extensive but forgotten knowledge about metabolic diseases, such as Osteogenesis Imperfecta, at the center of Act of Murder. A great deal of legal research was involved for Act of Deception, to the extent of lawyer thinking and behavior, including a vicious malpractice trial at the end of the novel. In Act of Revenge, I had to research the breast implant lawsuit business extensively, and again, that was mostly library time, plus some necessary knowledge gained from lawyer friends over glasses of wine.

John Bishop MD

I have started writing again, influenced by the publication of the first three Doc Brady books, and have a few more Doc Brady novels in the wings. While I won’t say it is any easier writing a novel, the research is vastly easier with the internet. There is so much information available that I sometimes find myself “clicking” details on a subject and then find myself so embedded in information that I’ve lost my original train of thought. But the internet saves a great deal of time and effort in leg work. I have also found that once I’ve educated myself on a subject, my lawyer, scientific, and law enforcement colleagues are more than willing to share information, and bring me up to date on subjects out of my purview. As these friends of mine say, “If you’re buying, we’re talking.”

To enter to win a copy of Act of Deception, simply email KRL at krlcontests@gmail[dot]com by replacing the [dot] with a period, and with the subject line “deception,” or comment on this article. A winner will be chosen August 15, 2020. U.S. residents only, and you must be 18 or older to enter. If you are entering via email please include you mailing address in case you win, it will be deleted after the contest. You can read our privacy statement here if you like.

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John Bishop MD is the author of Act of Murder and Act of Deception. Dr. Bishop has practiced orthopedic surgery in Houston, Texas, for thirty years. His Doc Brady medical thriller series is set in the changing environment of medicine in the 1990s. Drawing on his years of experience as a practicing surgeon, Bishop entertains readers using his unique insights into the medical world with all its challenges, intricacies, and complexities, while at the same time revealing the compassion and dedication of health care professionals. Dr. Bishop and his wife, Joan, reside in the Texas Hill Country. For more information, please visit johnbishopauthor.com.

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