It’s been a while since my last post. I’m still working in Silicon Valley as the Kenilworth Police Department’s resident police psychologist, despite Chief Jay Pence’s habit of trying to fire me whenever we have a disagreement. (This usually happens every other week). I remain too dedicated for my own good and my days are still long and often more trouble filled than I expect. Or want.

Frank and I are now officially engaged! Unfortunately, our wedding plans have been disrupted. Wendy, a new KPD 911 dispatcher, has taken the worst call of her young life, sending her into a psychological tailspin. I’m trying to help her stabilize. Instead, I get pulled into the middle of a serious crime organized by Badger, a prison inmate so covered in tattoos he looks more like a Persian rug than a man. Badger and I have history. He was an engaging child when I met him years ago while I was working in a homeless shelter. Now, he’s desperate to find the son he has never met and convinced that I am the answer to his prayers. Does he deserve my support? Am I wrong to believe that, with therapy, people can change for the better? If I am wrong, what does this mean for my future as a psychologist?

Officer Eddie Rimbauer is working at Fran’s café, staying sober, and hoping against hope to get his job back. Eddie is the officer who sent Badger to prison. He thinks Badger is a killer, dangerous and damaged beyond repair. Determined to restore his former identity as a cop by rescuing others when he himself needs rescuing, Eddie steps in to help Wendy the dispatcher. The results are unexpected and catastrophic.

I’m keeping my eye on Eddie at the same time I have a new sidekick. Six-foot-tall red haired motorcycle riding Officer Pepper Hunt has attached herself to me like a barnacle. She is interested in psychology, wants to pick my brain about Badger, and needs some support to deal with her current work partner, Tom Rutgers. I know Tom. He’s a self-inflated nasty piece of work and the Chief’s favorite high-performing cop. Pepper’s smart and energetic, but we have our differences. I’m in my fifties. She’s 29 and filled with youthful confidence. It’s only when she’s injured and lets her guard down, that I see what’s really behind her feisty persona.

Speaking of psychological problems, I finally decided to face my own with the help of Dr. Philipp—with three P’s—Rogoff. He’s a bit of a weird duck. Talking to him feels more like combat than counseling. On the other hand, clinicians make terrible patients. I’m no exception.

Then there is my mother Rivka with her revisionist history of our family life. My impending marriage causes her to reveal secrets about her marriage to my father. And unearth her deep fears about anti-Semitism. When her life is in danger—it’s my fault, work-related of course—I stop at nothing to keep her safe. Even if it means risking my relationship with Frank. I don’t want to spoil anything by telling you how things turn out. But I can say this much. The whole miserable experience, frightening as it was, taught me two things. Number one: I have seriously underestimated how plucky and brave my mother can be. Number two: As a woman without children, I am embarrassed to admit it took me this long to truly understand how strong the bond can be between parent and child.

The Answer To His Prayers, A Dot Meyerhoff Mystery #4
Genre: Traditional
Release: December 2021
Purchase Link

Who Reads People Better—A Cop, A Con, Or A Very Shrewd Shrink?

A down-and-out, wheelchair-bound lonely man calls 911 from a trailer that’s just burst into flames. The tragic fire claims the man’s life. It seems like an accident until the cops find a few arguments against that theory. And another puzzler — the dispatcher seems to be keeping some dangerous secrets. . .

Police psychologist Dot Meyerhoff, on call to counsel police station employees, soon finds herself trying to help the traumatized dispatcher. But as the action-packed investigation accelerates, Dot can’t help but get drawn into an ever-expanding series of crimes seemingly orchestrated by the scariest prison mastermind this side of Hannibal Lecter.

As Dot helps track down the possible arsonist, she proves herself a sensitive yet doggedly persistent sleuth — even when ordered to mind her own business. The gripping case drags her through the seedy underbelly of her small town, and finally to the local prison. During a couple of risky trips to the lockup, she becomes reacquainted with the imprisoned puppetmaster, who also happens — coincidentally? — to be a menacing old friend. . .

Colleagues and friends keep warning her away from the ruthless and powerful criminal, which is excellent advice, right? If only good advice were easy to take. . .

The adventures of Dr. Dot strike a rare chord in the mystery genre: author Kirschman crafts emotionally intelligent and action-packed stories that will appeal equally to fans of traditional mysteries (especially British ones), discerning cozy readers, and all admirers of nosy women sleuths. Dot’s latest tale will especially delight fans of psychologist mysteries like those created by Jonathan Kellerman, Meg Gardiner, Val McDermid, and Jacqueline Winspear.

About the author
Ellen Kirschman is an award-winning police psychologist and author of the Dot Meyerhoff mystery series. Books 1-4 are available now as Amazon eBooks. She’s written three non-fiction books, I Love a Cop: What Police Families Need to Know, I Love a Fire Fighter: What the Family Needs to Know, and Counseling Cops: What Clinicians Need to Know (with M. Kamena and J. Fay). She’s a member of Sisters in Crime, Mystery Writers of America, The Public Safety Writers Association, and the Short Mystery Fiction Society. She and her husband, photographer S.Hollis Johnson, live in the San Francisco Bay Area. Ellen blogs with Psychology Today and writes an occasional newsletter. Sign up on her website at ellenkirschman.com, to get her free mini memoir about her short career as a dance hall hostess in New York’s Times Square.

All comments are welcomed.