Assisted suicide .. the perfect murder. No prints, no CSI, no trace. But what if someone doesn't believe it? Only $5 used on Amazon.. Bitsy Thatcher-Cole is a real American princess, the beautiful heiress to a vast fortune dating back to colonial America. On the eve of her honeymoon, she commits suicide. Her best friend, Dr. Susan Rutledge, just can’t believe it. As a psychologist, Susan knows she would have picked up on signs of Bitsy’s depression. Bitsy’s other close friend, Billy Carolina, suspects something more sinister. The flamboyant crime writer famous for associating with beautiful celebrities now wants Susan to help him in a quest for truth. Their investigative trail leads them into the strange worlds of hippie New Age culture in mystical Sedona, snake farming on the Sonoran desert in Mexico, cowboy ranch life in America’s West, and celebrity high life in the nightclubs of New York. But they can't work fast enough because the killer after them is brilliant and unrelenting. How can you keep going when the whole world thinks you’re wrong? How fast can you run when time is running out?                          Excerpt "Of course it's a murder," Billy Carolina declared as he lit a brown cigarette held in a diamond and gold filter. "It was absolutely a murder and the police covered for little Pepper Pruitt and Doctor Dracula. I hate both of them. Susan looked at him in disbelief as he continued. "Don't you think I'd know a suicide from a murder? I've been through at least twenty suicides in the past year. Besides Bitsy would've called you and me." "I think she was trying to call me," Susan said. He patted Susan's hand and gave her a monogrammed linen handkerchief for her tears. "You still have emotions," he observed. "I like that in a person." "It's just that I loved Bitsy, and I thought if she were suicidal, she would have confided in me, and now I feel ..." "...slighted from the grave." "Exactly," Susan agreed. "Well, she didn't slight you, she thought the world of you, and she wouldn't have checked out without leaving us a forwarding address." "I was afraid I was being a narcissist thinking that." "They did her in and we both know it." "What about her will?" Susan asked. "Forged." "The medical records?" "Purchased." "The video?" "Spliced." "The mask she put on her face?" "Forced on her." "The police report?" "Officialese." "How do we prove it? It's the perfect crime." "There's no such thing," Billy asserted. "But they'll get us first, that's the only thing."

Professional Reviews
J.A. Jance
J.A. Jance is the author of 37 mysteries, including the JP Beaumont and Johanna Brady series. Her website is www.jajance.com.

She wrote about Walk Me to Midnight in the March 6 issue of the Arizona Star:

Walk Me to Midnight (Capstone Fiction) is Jane St. Clair's first novel, but she brings to the task careers in short fiction, journalism and a stint on television's successful "Sesame Street" show. Her protagonists include a radio talk show psychologist, a successful novelist (who reads a lot like Truman Capote) and a strong, silent cowboy for romantic interest.

The plot gets going when psychologist Susan Rutledge learns of a wealthy friend's suicide -assisted suicide- and the subsequent enrichment of her husband of one week. Although her novel is published by a Christian publisher, some Christian bookstores are not accepting it.

Professor of Literature, Jeff J. Koloze
Professor Jeff J. Koloze included Walk Me to Midnight in his scholarly paper, “Death Scenes in Literature from the Nineteenth Century to Current Literature,” posted at www.lifeissues.net/writers/kol/kol_25death.html

Reviews from Southwest Book of the Year Panelists
Walk Me to Midnight (Fiction)
By Jane St. Clair Capstone Fiction 224 pp. . $15.95

The main themes to this mystery are euthanasia and assisted suicide by a Kevorkian like character, Aleksis Hedeon. An influential and rich woman has died under his hands and her friends, Susan and Billy believe Aleksis has murdered her. They want to know the real story behind her death, consequently they investigate and are caught fearing for their own lives. [Margaret Guerrero]

When Tucson therapist and host of the talk show Ask Dr. Susan learns on the radio that one of her best friends has died by assisted suicide she flies to NYC for the memorial service feeling certain that what has occurred is murder. Unable to prove her suspicions she returns to Tucson where she must deal with a rebelling son as well as a mounting listener audience who think her attitude about assisted suicide is all wet. Clever dialog, fine character development and excellent handling of a complicated (if sometimes over the top) plot set this satisfying mystery apart from the herd. [W. David Laird]

Reader Reviews for "Walk Me to Midnight"

Reviewed by Kalikiano Kalei	2/6/2008
I usually never read crime or mystery genre fiction, but I do have very strong associations with the medical ethics that underlie voluntary euthenasia, and am a medical professional as well (cardiopulmonary and cardiovascular). It's an interesting subject for a fictional work and therefore I may just read it. Interesting what one runs across on Author's Den, nes c'est pas? Mahalo, Kalikiano

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