Hi. I’m Sara Almquist. You might have read about me. I was one of the scientists, who helped limit the worldwide epidemic of the Philippine flu (Oak Tree Press published Coming Flu, a medical thriller, in 2012.). Unfortunately during my epidemiological investigations, I uncovered secrets about one of my neighbors – seems I interrupted his lucrative drug business in Albuquerque. And he holds a grudge! If you want to know about my neighbor and the flu epidemic, read Coming Flu.

Today I want to introduce my younger sister Linda Almquist. What can I say? Do you remember the Odd Couple (play, movie, or TV show)?

I’m the female version of Oscar. Actually I don’t think I’m sloppy per se, I just don’t consider neatness or tact virtues. My Japanese Chin Bug rules my cluttered house. His picture doesn’t do him justice in the picture with my author.

Linda is an incarnation of Felix from the Odd Couple. She’s not neurotic about neatness, but she and her tortoiseshell Persian cat Turtle lead an orderly life. She is the type of physician everyone dreams of having – smart, thorough, caring, tactful (even when patients and bosses don’t deserve it). And that’s the problem; it’s tearing her up inside – being so perfect.

Linda was my confidant in Coming Flu. She’s the star in Murder: A New Way to Lose Weight. (Oak Tree Press will publish this medical mystery in March 2013.)

Linda was recently appointed as an interim associate dean in the local medical school. (Her predecessor couldn’t keep his zipper up.) All medical schools have characters; this one is no exception. For those of you who haven’t worked at a medical school, I’ll try to explain. No, better yet, I’ll show you the first two paragraphs of this medical mystery.

Linda Almquist, who seldom even smiled, laughed.

Richard Varegos had done it again. He had arranged books and a computer on the front counter of the hospital pavilion for a photo shoot. In the resulting glossy, full-color flyer, he sat with at his make-believe teak desk in his supposedly marble-walled office. She read the flyer’s title: THE DIET DOCTOR HAS ANSWERS FOR YOUR WEIGHT PROBLEMS.

Except for a giant ego and limited abilities, Richard is one of the least quirky characters in this medical school. Several of his smarter colleagues, including Dr. Millie Peak, may grate on your nerves a bit.

It will annoy Linda if I leave the impression that she is grouchy. She has good reasons for seldom smiling. In the first chapter of Murder: A New Way to Lose Weight, Richard’s colleague Dr. Izzy Roth charges him with endangering the lives of his obese subjects in a clinical trail, testing his hypotheses on weight loss. When Linda goes to investigate, she finds Izzy dead. Before she knows it, Linda is in the center of a police investigation and is getting threatening emails, late night calls, and notes with strange doodlings.

Meet the author
J. L. Greger was a faculty member and administrator in the biological sciences at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Now she lives with the real Bug and enjoys putting tidbits of science into her fiction. She hopes her novels help to increase interest by women and minorities in careers in science. Visit her at her website and blog.

Coming Flu is available at Amazon and Barnes and Noble. You can preorder Murder: A New Way to Lose Weight at Oak Tree Press