BITTER MEDICINE features Katie Harris, a strong-willed Civil War nurse, returning to her home in Liberty, Ohio, with the desire to become a doctor. As a woman of 1865, she knows that there will be many obstacles to her quest, but she hadn’t counted on the need to solve her brother’s murder as one of them. Katie is heartbroken by the news of Stuart’s death and disgusted with Liberty’s incompetent marshal, who has done little to investigate it.
Katie fears her brother’s murderer will go free and sees no other recourse than to find his murderer herself. Knowing she would undoubtably fight society’s prejudice against women in medicine, she was not surprised to find cultural barriers in law enforcement as well. Regardless, she takes on this task with as much zeal as she would any of her other goals.
Murder investigations often lead to the unraveling of secrets, and Stuart’s murder is no different. Deceptive and cruel men with rattlesnakes are willing to kill again to keep their secrets.