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Dr. Fenimore #4
The Doctor Dines in Prague
In Robin Hathaway's The Doctor Dines in Prague, Dr. Fenimore has a surprised communication from a cousin he doesn't know, who lives in Prague, and she indicates that she and her family are having serious problems and needs help from him. Off he goes to Prague to help her in whatever way he can, and decides to get his relatives to the U.S. But it is not simple, and Fenimore pulls in his lover, his secretary, and the street urchin turned teenaged helper, bringing them all to the beautiful old city, where they become tangled with a psychopath who is planning to overthrow the government and declare himself ruler of the country, an agenda that involves a talented maker of puppets, the rescue of a young child, and murder.
- GenresMystery
192 pages, Kindle Edition
First published November 12, 2003
2 people are currently reading
42 people want to read
About the author
Robin Hathaway
11 books9 followersRobin graduated from Germantown Friends School and Smith College (BA/English). While her two daughters were young she owned and operated a printing/advertising firm Barnhouse Press from her home (there was a printing press in the barn and one in the house) and did freelance writing and photography. One daughter claims she was lulled to sleep by the methodical beat of a printing press in the kitchen and a close friend claimed she once found ink in her mashed potatoes!
But Robin had always wanted to write, and on her 50th birthday her husband told her, "It's now or never." So she began. She wrote three mystery novels in three years featuring Dr. Andrew Fenimore, an old-fashioned cardiologist who still made house calls. Robin's amateur sleuth was patterned after her husband, who just happened to also be a cardiologist.
When Robin isn't writing, she does free lance editing, teaches mystery writing, and lectures on the mystery novel at schools, libraries, and other institutions. Her short stories have appeared in Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, Arthur Hitchcock Mystery Magazine and Death Knell.
Robin divides her time between Philadelphia and New York City.
But Robin had always wanted to write, and on her 50th birthday her husband told her, "It's now or never." So she began. She wrote three mystery novels in three years featuring Dr. Andrew Fenimore, an old-fashioned cardiologist who still made house calls. Robin's amateur sleuth was patterned after her husband, who just happened to also be a cardiologist.
When Robin isn't writing, she does free lance editing, teaches mystery writing, and lectures on the mystery novel at schools, libraries, and other institutions. Her short stories have appeared in Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, Arthur Hitchcock Mystery Magazine and Death Knell.
Robin divides her time between Philadelphia and New York City.
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Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews
February 9, 2012
It was a light enough cozy mystery, but I didn't find the characters entirely engaging and the plot was a stretch. I'm able to suspend disbelief well enough for this type of novel but this story had too many jumps in it; too many places where things "neatly" happened to fix problems. I can't say much more without spoilers. I don't think I'll be reading any others in this series.
March 13, 2012
The Doctor Dines in Prague is the fourth in a series of cozy mysteries by Robin Hathaway. They star Dr. Andrew Fenimore, a Philadelphia physician who still makes house calls. In this outing, Fenimore becomes concerned about his Czech cousin and her family. He has been in the habit of calling Anna every week to check on her and her husband, Vlasta. Vlasta suffers from angina and Fenimore had been making plans to bring the family to Philadelphia so Vlasta could have some much-needed surgery at a top-notch facility.
But now, it has been two weeks without any contact with Anna or her husband. Fenimore immediately drops everything, tries to knock the rust off of his knowledge of Czech, and rushes to Prague. There, he finds his cousin's apartment empty....except for the sneeze in the stove. Anna's daughter Marie has been hiding ever since two men with guns kidnapped her parents. He bundles Marie off to the States--to be cared for by his nurse/receptionist and soon he has his lover and a teenaged helper tangled in his efforts to track down his cousins. He finds himself vamped by a blonde femme fatale and up against a psychopath who thinks that stealing the crown jewels will allow him to overthrow the government and become ruler of the country. And it all ends with an unexpected swim in the river and....murder.
I picked this one up primarily because it suited two of my challenges (among others)...Cruisin' Through the Cozies and the European Reading Challenge. It's okay. And supposing that one could suspend one's disbelief enough...possibly quite enjoyable. I just found it difficult to believe that the Doctor could buzz off to Prague and have all the adventures that he did with as little of the language as he had. And that he could be that naive. I also found it hard to believe that just about everybody he knew could hop on a plane for Prague at the drop of a hat. Oh, and the main motive for the whole she-bang? Just a teensy-bit hard to swallow as well. The Doctor is a likeable enough fellow...maybe I would appreciate him more on his home ground. But I don't think I'll go out of my way to find out. Decent...but not outstanding. Two and a half stars.
February 6, 2015
NO SPOILERS. OOoooo. I really enjoyed this entertaining pleasant mystery featuring cardiologist-detective Dr. Fenimore who goes to Prague, Czechoslovakia -- I liked this one even more than the first.
This is the fourth in the series and only the second one I've read, but I didn't notice any negatives to skipping to number 4 right after number 1. The characters whom readers met in the first of the series return: his karate practicing, former Navy seal nurse/office secretary Mrs. Doyle, his sweetheart Jennifer and her father who own a book store, the teen with street smarts Horatio, and Fenimore's friend Rafferty, his police insider.
To the cast of stable characters are added his Czech relatives Anna and Vlasta and their 9 year old daughter Marie -- whom Fenimore can't reach by phone and who need his help (well, that's what his intuition tells him), so he drops everything and heads to his deceased mother's homeland. Some bad guys enter the scene, Fenimore gets into a series of scrapes, Jennifer heads to Prague to help out, and Mrs. Doyle herself ends up in Prague before the fun is wrapped up.
I prefer this one to the first THE DOCTOR DIGS A GRAVE, but readers should definitely read the first book before trying THE DOCTOR DINES IN PRAGUE.
Both books contained visually rich scenes making it easy for me to imagine the Fenimore books inspiring an appealing television/ film detective series.
I enjoy watching detective shows/ mysteries --and these days it's just not easy finding ones that are not too edgy for my more Miss Marple style tastes, meaning I prefer that if there is violence that the violence be off screen as much as possible.
I think Dr. Fenimore and the gang have real potential in that regard -- though I have no illusions that I have any influence with Hollywood or PBS mystery folks. So if YOU do, feel free to quote me !!!
This is the fourth in the series and only the second one I've read, but I didn't notice any negatives to skipping to number 4 right after number 1. The characters whom readers met in the first of the series return: his karate practicing, former Navy seal nurse/office secretary Mrs. Doyle, his sweetheart Jennifer and her father who own a book store, the teen with street smarts Horatio, and Fenimore's friend Rafferty, his police insider.
To the cast of stable characters are added his Czech relatives Anna and Vlasta and their 9 year old daughter Marie -- whom Fenimore can't reach by phone and who need his help (well, that's what his intuition tells him), so he drops everything and heads to his deceased mother's homeland. Some bad guys enter the scene, Fenimore gets into a series of scrapes, Jennifer heads to Prague to help out, and Mrs. Doyle herself ends up in Prague before the fun is wrapped up.
I prefer this one to the first THE DOCTOR DIGS A GRAVE, but readers should definitely read the first book before trying THE DOCTOR DINES IN PRAGUE.
Both books contained visually rich scenes making it easy for me to imagine the Fenimore books inspiring an appealing television/ film detective series.
I enjoy watching detective shows/ mysteries --and these days it's just not easy finding ones that are not too edgy for my more Miss Marple style tastes, meaning I prefer that if there is violence that the violence be off screen as much as possible.
I think Dr. Fenimore and the gang have real potential in that regard -- though I have no illusions that I have any influence with Hollywood or PBS mystery folks. So if YOU do, feel free to quote me !!!
September 28, 2016
The Doctor dines in Prague
This is a charming cozy mystery by a fairly “young” author (this seems to be her 2nd book), and if she keeps this standard of writing, plotting and character development, she is in for a long and lustrous career, and we are in for continuing delights.
The mystery itself, is nicely done, and while its bones are fairly straightforward, there are enough twists, turns and embellishments in the plot to keep my interest …so much so that I just about ignored everything else until I had finished the book. The writing is unassumingly competent, and never overshadows the story being told, as it should not. The characters are nicely developed, and there is a lively group of them, all unique, all well fleshed out. They make an unlikely but delightful team, and the child is extremely well done and entirely believable.
The setting is just exotic enough to entrance …and the author gives us, by way, mostly of dialog and introspection of the main character, enough background and history to enhance the entire reading experience. I finished this book and immediately got the first book, and had more than a passing yen to hop on a plane and visit Prague, for the art, the music, the architecture, and especially the food, as presented.
This is a charming cozy mystery by a fairly “young” author (this seems to be her 2nd book), and if she keeps this standard of writing, plotting and character development, she is in for a long and lustrous career, and we are in for continuing delights.
The mystery itself, is nicely done, and while its bones are fairly straightforward, there are enough twists, turns and embellishments in the plot to keep my interest …so much so that I just about ignored everything else until I had finished the book. The writing is unassumingly competent, and never overshadows the story being told, as it should not. The characters are nicely developed, and there is a lively group of them, all unique, all well fleshed out. They make an unlikely but delightful team, and the child is extremely well done and entirely believable.
The setting is just exotic enough to entrance …and the author gives us, by way, mostly of dialog and introspection of the main character, enough background and history to enhance the entire reading experience. I finished this book and immediately got the first book, and had more than a passing yen to hop on a plane and visit Prague, for the art, the music, the architecture, and especially the food, as presented.
April 12, 2013
#4 in the Dr. Fenimore series. The setting in the Czech Republic makes an interesting addition to this charming series about a Philadelphia based doctor.
Dr. Andrew Fenimore ventures to the Czech Republic after trying to phone his cousin Anna for two weeks without success. Fenimore discovers that Anna and her husband have been kidnapped. Hiding in their apartment is the couple's young daughter Marie. Fenimore decides to get Marie to safety in America. Anna's colleague Ilsa Tanacek offers to help him search.
Dr. Andrew Fenimore ventures to the Czech Republic after trying to phone his cousin Anna for two weeks without success. Fenimore discovers that Anna and her husband have been kidnapped. Hiding in their apartment is the couple's young daughter Marie. Fenimore decides to get Marie to safety in America. Anna's colleague Ilsa Tanacek offers to help him search.
January 20, 2015
I read this book when I was trapped in a cabin with no other reading material. I kept putting it down in dissatisfaction, but picking it up due to lack of other choices. The plot is incredibly unrealistic and although having read the book to completion, I certainly was not pleased with the experience.
May 10, 2016
Good novel for trip to Prague
Light mystery with semi inept amateur detective-cardiologist from Philadelphia whose maternal cousins, Czechs, are kidnapped for architectural drawings. Lots of Prague locales and history come into play. A range of stock characters support Dr fenimore. I wouldn't necessarily recommend unless a person were Czech bound.
Light mystery with semi inept amateur detective-cardiologist from Philadelphia whose maternal cousins, Czechs, are kidnapped for architectural drawings. Lots of Prague locales and history come into play. A range of stock characters support Dr fenimore. I wouldn't necessarily recommend unless a person were Czech bound.
October 4, 2008
This was an interesting little mystery taking place in Prague. It had interesting description about the city and its history that I enjoyed.
May 6, 2012
Read for book club trip to Prague. Cute mystery and fun to get the setting of the city before our travels.
June 28, 2012
That description is not correct!
March 20, 2013
Certainly not Agatha Christie but quick moving and interesting characters. I would definitely read another.
December 2, 2013
Did not have much to it for me. Finished reading it because I started it and had read the others by Robin Hathaway.
December 25, 2015
Fun to read about familiar sights in Prague. That's about it.
September 11, 2016
This fourth novel of doctor Fennimore's series is the one I liked least. Really too many unrealistic events, and an unbelievable plot. ..
October 27, 2017
Intelligent, engaging, historical, delightful.
December 31, 2025
There are a lot of smart people in this book; fortunately, Dr. Fennimore, his love interest Jennifer, and his secretary Mrs. Doyle are among them. The other major characters are dangerous and ambitious, a rather lethal combination. Set the adventure in Prague where the walls still have ears, and you are ready to read.
September 26, 2018
-She lingered to tell Anna more about her child, a subject a mother never grows tired of.
-Never underestimate the power of the media, whether film, radio, T.V.
-Never underestimate the power of the media, whether film, radio, T.V.
May 14, 2022
A nice mystery set in a travelogue.
Read
December 3, 2017fun way to learn a bit of Czech
January 24, 2018
Great fun read.
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews