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Match: A Medical Murder Mystery
What do politics, living donor kidney transplants, and the current opioid crisis all have in common?
Sarah Golden and Jackie Larsen, best friends since nursing school, could never have imagined that they’d end up as amateur sleuths searching to find a killer—for the second time! Jackie, a stay-at-home mom with marriage troubles, is racing the clock to get her young son, Wyatt, a living kidney donor to avoid the ravages of dialysis. Sarah, who has been living her career in the fast-paced world of organ transplantation, is helping expedite Wyatt’s kidney transplant. Then a much-despised hospital colleague turns up dead of an opiate overdose—despite the fact that she’d never used drugs—and Sarah smells foul play. Her curiosity and tenacity pull Jackie, once again, into a life-and-death adventure that neither woman could have expected.
Armed with smarts, tenacity, big hearts, and their raucous senses of humor, the pair gets the help of a few colorful friends to pursue the killer and take on the mission in the only style they both know straight on and arm-in-arm as the friends they’ve always been.
Sarah Golden and Jackie Larsen, best friends since nursing school, could never have imagined that they’d end up as amateur sleuths searching to find a killer—for the second time! Jackie, a stay-at-home mom with marriage troubles, is racing the clock to get her young son, Wyatt, a living kidney donor to avoid the ravages of dialysis. Sarah, who has been living her career in the fast-paced world of organ transplantation, is helping expedite Wyatt’s kidney transplant. Then a much-despised hospital colleague turns up dead of an opiate overdose—despite the fact that she’d never used drugs—and Sarah smells foul play. Her curiosity and tenacity pull Jackie, once again, into a life-and-death adventure that neither woman could have expected.
Armed with smarts, tenacity, big hearts, and their raucous senses of humor, the pair gets the help of a few colorful friends to pursue the killer and take on the mission in the only style they both know straight on and arm-in-arm as the friends they’ve always been.
328 pages, Paperback
Published April 13, 2021
12 people are currently reading
4771 people want to read
About the author
Amy S. Peele
5 books100 followersAmy S. Peele has been an RN since 1974 and enjoyed a 35-year career in organ transplantation, retiring from the University of California San Francisco, one of the largest and most successful transplant programs in the U.S. In addition to killing people and using their organs in her murder mysteries, Amy enjoys meditating, teaching yoga,swimming and pursuing her spirituality by studying the teachings of Deepak Chopra. She also enjoys comedy and studied at Second City in Chicago for a year.
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Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews
January 10, 2023
A quick read thriller
The action moved along fairly quickly and was interesting throughout. As the narration progressed, the action seemed to pick up the pace as well. Although I had a solid hunch who the “bad guy” was, I couldn’t put the book down until I had finished it. Seems like any loose ends were handled neatly. And yup, I correctly guessed who the villain was! Fun.
The action moved along fairly quickly and was interesting throughout. As the narration progressed, the action seemed to pick up the pace as well. Although I had a solid hunch who the “bad guy” was, I couldn’t put the book down until I had finished it. Seems like any loose ends were handled neatly. And yup, I correctly guessed who the villain was! Fun.
January 7, 2021
I love medical mysteries and the author’s background as a transplant coordinator gives authenticity to this fast-paced novel. You feel as if you’re in scrubs working alongside Sarah Golden, program manager at a big San Fran transplant facility.
Unfortunately, dialogue and characters lack depth, and I disliked the dynamic between Sarah and her troubled best friend Jackie, who was also annoying in the author’s debut novel, CUT.
I hope the author “cuts” Jackie from book 3 in this planned trilogy, and focuses instead on another aspect of transplantation — an endlessly intriguing subject and the author’s true passion.
3 of 5 Stars
Pub Date 13 Apr 2021
#Match #NetGalley
Thanks to the author, She Writes Press, and NetGalley for the ARC. Opinions are mine.
Unfortunately, dialogue and characters lack depth, and I disliked the dynamic between Sarah and her troubled best friend Jackie, who was also annoying in the author’s debut novel, CUT.
I hope the author “cuts” Jackie from book 3 in this planned trilogy, and focuses instead on another aspect of transplantation — an endlessly intriguing subject and the author’s true passion.
3 of 5 Stars
Pub Date 13 Apr 2021
#Match #NetGalley
Thanks to the author, She Writes Press, and NetGalley for the ARC. Opinions are mine.
April 22, 2021
Match is a medical murder mystery that is quite intriguing and suspenseful! MC Sarah Golden is a kidney organ transplant nurse whose life takes a 360 when her colleague, Kayla, is found murdered. Kayla was not well liked making the suspect list a long and twisty one! Sarah’s best friend Jackie is also dealing with some painful issues- her marriage to wife Laura is shaky & their son Wyatt will need a kidney transplant. Sarah’s work & personal lives is a wreck, it makes her character relatable and hopeful! Thank you so much to the author for a gifted copy. This is my honest review.
December 14, 2022
Not for me. Maybe I’ve just desensitised myself to a point where a lack of non-stop violence is boring this was DULL. I appreciate the need for context, and I enjoy tense atmospheres but there was way too much messing around at the start for me and not enough investigation into the actual murder. I was not surprised by the outcome honestly and I disliked the way the police immediately narrowed the list of suspects down.. I love the fact the author worked in kidney transplants and I’m sure the medical side is very accurate, but the lack of research conducted on the legal side of the story was evidently lacklustre. This is just my opinion and I’m pretty sure a lot of people will enjoy this book but it definitely wasn’t my style.
Sarah’s stressed, after breaking up with her short term long distance boyfriend she throws herself into her work, currently looking to get her friend’s son a kidney transplant, the last thing she needs is a murder on her hands..
Sarah’s stressed, after breaking up with her short term long distance boyfriend she throws herself into her work, currently looking to get her friend’s son a kidney transplant, the last thing she needs is a murder on her hands..
April 22, 2021
In Match: A Medical Murder Mystery, Amy S. Peele crafts a chilling intricate mystery around the investigation of the death of a living donor coordinator, Kayla Newman, who was a member of the staff at the San Francisco Global Organ Transplant Institute.
As the tale opens, Sarah Golden, Kayla's manager, is horrified when she receives a phone call from a doctor at the Institute regarding the mysterious death of Kayla in Miami. Initially, the cause of death was presumed to be suicide arising from an opioid overdose. Ultimately this is ruled out due to a lack of a solid suspect.
Coincidentally, one of the lead detectives in Kayla's murder investigation is Rodney Strong, a former boyfriend of Sarah. She nicknamed him Detective Handsome, and she still has the hots for him!
The couple had met in Miami the previous year when Sarah was a traveling transplant nurse working at the Miami International Transplant Institute.
Several of the Institute's medical team and some others are queried by Detective Strong and his partner Lupe Campos. However, nothing points to one individual who may have had a motive to murder Kayla, even though she was disliked by several of her co-workers.
To enliven the story, Peele intertwines a captivating family drama and a race against time involving an eight-year-old youngster, Wyatt, who is waiting to receive a kidney donation. He is the son of Sarah's best friend, Jackie, who is married to Laura. The marriage relationship between Jackie and Laura is on the rocks due to Laura's extra-marital affair.
To help find a kidney donor for Wyatt, Sarah will become part of a paired kidney exchange. We are informed that this is when a kidney recipient has a living kidney donor, but the donor doesn't match them, and another. recipient has the same situation with their donor. Donors are swapped, and each patient gets a transplant, but not from their original donor.
To sustain the momentum of the plot and to keep her readers hooked, Peele inserts a unexpected tossed salad of clues such as the blackmailing of one of the Institute's doctors, who was involved in several affairs with members of his staff, drug dealing, huge unexplained bank accounts, and a creepy nerdy IT employee at the Institute. Then there is the matter of Kayla? Do we absolutely know who she was, what secrets did she keep, and her agenda while working at the Institute?
The novel's ending is something readers would not predict, and it would be a sellout to indicate any sort of hint of it. Peele keeps the story humming and neatly knits together the novel's two separate narratives as she ties it all up.
Peele uses her thirty-five-year experience as a transplant nurse in re-creating the setting and mood of the story. She effectively climbs inside her characters' souls, revealing their weaknesses and strengths, and she pulls out all the stops, blindsiding the reader with plot shifts. Her ability to reveal character in slight gestures and poignant reflection adds to the authenticity of the story.
By the time you have completed your read of this brainy thriller, the realism of the world of transplant organs and the characters' emotions will make you believe it is true.
Follow Here https://waa.ai/mTZv To Read Norm's Interview With Amy.
As the tale opens, Sarah Golden, Kayla's manager, is horrified when she receives a phone call from a doctor at the Institute regarding the mysterious death of Kayla in Miami. Initially, the cause of death was presumed to be suicide arising from an opioid overdose. Ultimately this is ruled out due to a lack of a solid suspect.
Coincidentally, one of the lead detectives in Kayla's murder investigation is Rodney Strong, a former boyfriend of Sarah. She nicknamed him Detective Handsome, and she still has the hots for him!
The couple had met in Miami the previous year when Sarah was a traveling transplant nurse working at the Miami International Transplant Institute.
Several of the Institute's medical team and some others are queried by Detective Strong and his partner Lupe Campos. However, nothing points to one individual who may have had a motive to murder Kayla, even though she was disliked by several of her co-workers.
To enliven the story, Peele intertwines a captivating family drama and a race against time involving an eight-year-old youngster, Wyatt, who is waiting to receive a kidney donation. He is the son of Sarah's best friend, Jackie, who is married to Laura. The marriage relationship between Jackie and Laura is on the rocks due to Laura's extra-marital affair.
To help find a kidney donor for Wyatt, Sarah will become part of a paired kidney exchange. We are informed that this is when a kidney recipient has a living kidney donor, but the donor doesn't match them, and another. recipient has the same situation with their donor. Donors are swapped, and each patient gets a transplant, but not from their original donor.
To sustain the momentum of the plot and to keep her readers hooked, Peele inserts a unexpected tossed salad of clues such as the blackmailing of one of the Institute's doctors, who was involved in several affairs with members of his staff, drug dealing, huge unexplained bank accounts, and a creepy nerdy IT employee at the Institute. Then there is the matter of Kayla? Do we absolutely know who she was, what secrets did she keep, and her agenda while working at the Institute?
The novel's ending is something readers would not predict, and it would be a sellout to indicate any sort of hint of it. Peele keeps the story humming and neatly knits together the novel's two separate narratives as she ties it all up.
Peele uses her thirty-five-year experience as a transplant nurse in re-creating the setting and mood of the story. She effectively climbs inside her characters' souls, revealing their weaknesses and strengths, and she pulls out all the stops, blindsiding the reader with plot shifts. Her ability to reveal character in slight gestures and poignant reflection adds to the authenticity of the story.
By the time you have completed your read of this brainy thriller, the realism of the world of transplant organs and the characters' emotions will make you believe it is true.
Follow Here https://waa.ai/mTZv To Read Norm's Interview With Amy.
May 21, 2021
If you read Cut, the first book in the Medical Murder Mystery series by Amy S, Peele you know that you will be on the edge of your seat reading any book by Peele.....and Match measures up to that nicely ! But if you didn't read Cut, that is fine, you will have no problem getting engrossed in the story and falling in love with it all !!
In Match the story follows two main characters... Sarah Golden has a busy, stressful and rewarding job at the San Francisco Global Transplant Institution as a manager and her best friend, Jackie Larsen, is a nurse but is currently a stay-at-home mom taking care of her young son. Sarah is single while Jackie is married. Jackie and her wife, Laura, are having a rough time with their son Wyatt as he is in need of a kidney transplant and Sarah is doing everything that she can to help that happen. Unfortunately Kayla, one of Sarah's co-workers, is found dead in Miami of a drug overdose which puts the Institution in the hot seat.
Even though Sarah and Jackie have more than enough things to keep them busy and out of trouble, they cannot help but talk about Kayla and try to figure out her murder....especially when it looks like Sarah is on the suspect list. And things get worse when the detective that comes to San Francisco to interview the suspects is the partner of Sarah's ex-boyfriend, Officer Handsome (Rodney Strong).
Things get crazy also for Jackie when they are close to getting Wyatt's transplant done when the living kidney donor program gets shut down due to a case that turned complicated. They were all set to have Sarah provide a kidney for someone else in exchange for Wyatt getting a kidney. Luckily they are all able to go to Miami and do the surgeries.......but things go terribly wrong in Miami.......
The Medical Murder Mystery series by Peele is a very interesting and intense series. The story will grab hold of you and you will be unable to stop reading. You will feel like you are right there along side Sarah and Jackie....and you will love and hate everything going on. Yes....there will be things you will totally love, things you will be mad about, things that will frustrate you but then when you get to the end you will have a very satisfying smile on your face !!!
March 19, 2024
"Match: A Medical Murder Mystery" by the author Amy S. Peele would keep you hooked to your seats till the last page. The main character of the story is Sarah Golden. She works as a transplant nurse at the San Francisco Global Organ Transplant Institute. Her boss Dr. Bower told her about a call from Dr. Santos. Their living-donor coordinator Kayla Newman was brought into the Miami ER with an opioid overdose and was declared
brain-dead. Sarah couldn't believe how this happened with Kayla.
The local police started investigating Kayla's case as a possible homicide. Sarah's nursing school friend Jackie told her about her son Wyatt. He needs a living kidney donor. Sarah considers Wyatt like her own son. She received a call from the Miami Police Department. Detective Lupe Campos told her that they are investigating Kayla's case as a possible murder.
Lupe is investigating the case with Handsome, Sarah's ex-boyfriend. Read this unputdownable story to know where this investigation will go.
The plot of the story is nicely written by the author. The suspense around the murder would keep you curious throughout this book. The story is well paced and I had a great time reading this book. Sarah's character is really interesting. Looking forward to reading more books by Amy.
brain-dead. Sarah couldn't believe how this happened with Kayla.
The local police started investigating Kayla's case as a possible homicide. Sarah's nursing school friend Jackie told her about her son Wyatt. He needs a living kidney donor. Sarah considers Wyatt like her own son. She received a call from the Miami Police Department. Detective Lupe Campos told her that they are investigating Kayla's case as a possible murder.
Lupe is investigating the case with Handsome, Sarah's ex-boyfriend. Read this unputdownable story to know where this investigation will go.
The plot of the story is nicely written by the author. The suspense around the murder would keep you curious throughout this book. The story is well paced and I had a great time reading this book. Sarah's character is really interesting. Looking forward to reading more books by Amy.
July 2, 2021
Just in time to enjoy the perfect summer read, Amy Peele has produced a sequel to her 2017 engrossing medical mystery Cut. What fun to have Jackie Larson and Sarah Golden, nursing school buddies and amateur sleuths, back together in another articulate, informative, and wonderfully entertaining mystery. Like Cut, Match does an excellent job of educating the reader about the complexities and drama of kidney transplants while taking you inside the strain and emotional turmoil that families experience when coping with a such a serious condition. But it isn’t all trial and tribulation. Our heroines will have you laughing while on the edge of your couch as you travel with them from San Francisco to Miami on a journey involving complex relationships, love affairs and office politics you wouldn’t wish on your worst enemy. The surprise ending does not disappoint. I can’t wait for Jackie and Sarah’s next big adventure.
July 15, 2023
Interesting book about murder in the world of organ transplants. The author was an organ transplant nurse and draws on that experience for this book. Sarah Golden, an organ transplant coordinator, becomes an amateur sleuth and tries to figure out who killed another coordinator in the hospital. Kayla, the murdered person was not well liked. The book didn't have too many characters so it was easy to read and keep up. Wyatt, a 9ish year old who was Sarah's best friend Jackie and her partner Laura's son, needed a kidney transplant. While Jackie and Laura were having relationship issues, Sarah arranged a live donor transfer which involved 2 donors and 2 recipients switcheroo. (Probably too silly a word for such a serious operation.) Sarah was to be the donor from Wyatt's side. It ended up that Wyatt got his new kidney and Sarah did not have to donate hers. Meanwhile, while this going on, there is a killer loose and he tries to murder Sarah who is rescued by Detective Handsome who lives in FL. She and Handsome renew their relationship. It wasn't as complicated as I made it sound here. I like it and would read "Cut" and "Hold" Peele's other 2 books. I met this author at 2023 Left Coast Crime Convention.
January 24, 2022
The premise of this book sounded very promising. I didn’t realize there’s a previous novel that introduced the characters.
The murder mystery is a weak strand through the book. Very little of the book deals with the investigation and the details are non-existent until the end when everything magically comes together. Supposedly the perpetrator of a huge drug smuggling operation kept all the details on her work computer in plain sight?
The characters are neither believable, relatable or likable. They are all borderline abusive to their spouses, colleagues and friends until the end when they agree to get therapy, fix their relationships and be better people.
The murder mystery is a weak strand through the book. Very little of the book deals with the investigation and the details are non-existent until the end when everything magically comes together. Supposedly the perpetrator of a huge drug smuggling operation kept all the details on her work computer in plain sight?
The characters are neither believable, relatable or likable. They are all borderline abusive to their spouses, colleagues and friends until the end when they agree to get therapy, fix their relationships and be better people.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 6, 2023
If you want a fairly accurate lesson in transplant science and procedures couched in fiction, this is a four star book. If you want a credible mystery - one star. Desperately needs editorial supervision. Too much dialogue going nowhere. Too little suspense. Sloth speed pacing. I put it down for well over 6 months with zero regrets. But it needed returning to the neighbor who let me borrow it, so I finished it. The first book by her was actually fun. This one resides firmly in sophomore slump. (But the idea was cool, and a better editing could have shaped this up into a good one.)
April 18, 2021
Amy Peele has done it again! This medical murder mystery by the author of “Cut”is a page turner set in the the world renowned organ transplant center in San Francisco. Nursing school classmates and amateur sleuths Sarah and Jackie team up once more to find who done it. I couldn’t put it down!
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June 7, 2021Just finished this book! Loved it. If you’re looking for some good escape reading, it’s a page-turner —holds your interest very well and I learned a lot about the world of a kidney transplant. Great job, Amy S. Peele ❤️🌹
March 26, 2022
Amy Peele skillfully braids together hospital, law enforcement, organ donation, and transplants. Who knew you could laugh your way through a murder mystery? But Peele pulls it off beautifully. Now I'm DYING to read her first book, Cut.
May 11, 2023
These books are so wonderful to read. Someone mentioned they are like a delightful piece of candy - and that they are. Easy to read and entertaining - the characters are lovable and people you want to be friends with.
October 6, 2023
When Sarah views a co-worker's death as suspicious, she will ask her long time friend for help to investigate. The clues will lead them into trouble that will have you holding your breath. I enjoyed their journey and will be looking for the next book.
February 15, 2025
Finally had the chance to finish this. Love the characters. I love how it never gets boring or drags on. The book keeps you on your toes. I can usually figure out who the bad guy is but not this time.
November 3, 2025
Listened as an audiobook. I don't know what it was but I had a hard time wanting to pay attention. There is a possibility I missed some parts but felt like there was very little action. I typically like when the killer's or captive's POV is explained throughout the book.
May 11, 2021
This was fun, entertaining and light, something I enjoyed and recommend to everyone who likes and little spice and sass. Im looking forward to number 3 in this character driven trilogy.
June 9, 2021
A suspence novel set in the world of organ transplants.
July 1, 2021
A page turner! I loved revisiting the characters from Cut, and appreciate the devoted friendship between two savvy, gutsy nurses. I am looking forward to the next volume.
September 16, 2021
It’s an easy and informative novel. Never really thought there was so much intrigue in the world of transplants!
December 1, 2022
Another awesome book by Amy Peele. Love the relationship between the 2 main characters and the sleuthing that they do together. Great twists! Fun dialogue! It was a page turner!
March 26, 2023
A quick read medical mystery.
February 17, 2025
I listened to this one. The story is a fun idea and the narration was good. On to book 3.
February 20, 2025
Loved this book
Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews