Weird stuff happens on full moon weekends. I’ve encountered people who laugh at me when I mention this particular phenomenon, but I’m here to tell you, it’s true.
My name is Zoe Chambers and I’m a paramedic in Monongahela County, which is a rural part of Pennsylvania. I’m on duty all this weekend, and yes, you guessed it. We have a full moon. Lucky me.
The first call my partner Earl and I responded to this morning came in as an animal bite. We were thinking dog. Maybe a cat. I hoped it was a cat because they tend to be less aggressive toward strangers than dogs. Neither of us cared to have to fend off an angry Doberman to get to our patient. We needn’t have worried. The attack animal turned out to be a mouse. The victim however turned out to be a cat. After reminding the kitty’s owners that the true purpose of 911 was human emergencies, we spent twenty minutes trying to and succeeding in catching the small rodent under a plastic garbage pail. We did not transport either the victim or the culprit to the hospital.
We didn’t make it back to the garage before the next call came in. Traffic accident with injuries. It sounded pretty normal until we got there. A tractor trailer had been making a turn at an intersection and cut it too tight resulting in his rear tires running over and flattening the front end of a compact car. No one was hurt. . .until the car’s driver got out in a fit of rage and slipped on a patch of oil. He fell, knocking himself out cold. We did transport him to the ER with a possible concussion.
As the day went on, we treated a weekend carpenter who’d borrowed a nail gun from a neighbor and proceeded to shoot himself in the foot, nailing himself to the floor. We had to call in the fire department’s rescue unit to help with that one. Next was another traffic accident, this one caused by a woman plucking her eyebrows while driving.
And I thought texting while driving was bad enough!
But the highlight of the day was our most recent call. An elderly woman complained of chest pains, and while preparing to patch her in to our portable EKG, I discovered she had some interesting body piercings. I guess age really doesn’t matter. However, we had to remove all of the jewelry in case we needed to use the defibrillator. Earl turned the job over to me.
Chicken.
Here we are at suppertime, starved, and exhausted and hoping we’re done for the day. But no such luck. We just received our next call. A report of a man cut with a machete.
A machete? Seriously? “Ten-four, Control. We’re en route.”
Don’t ever tell me there isn’t anything to this full-moon thing. I know better.
(To be continued in Cry Wolf. . .)
Giveaway: Leave a comment below for your chance to win a signed copy of Cry Wolf. U.S. entries only, please. The giveaway ends September 20, 2018. Good luck everyone! Bonus question: Has anything happened to you on a full moon?
You can read more about Zoe in Cry Wolf, the seventh book in the “Zoe Chambers” mystery series.
Rural Pennsylvania’s Vance Township Police Chief Pete Adams is down an officer and has been dealing with extra shifts as well as a pair of bickering neighbors, one of whom owns a machete and isn’t afraid to use it. Golden Oaks Assisted Living is outside Pete’s jurisdiction, but a murder in the facility his Alzheimer’s-afflicted father calls home makes the case personal.
Paramedic and Deputy Coroner Zoe Chambers has been itching for an opportunity to take the lead in a death investigation. She gets her chance when her boss is hospitalized and not only assigns her to the Golden Oaks homicide but puts her in charge of the county coroner’s office. As if she doesn’t have enough to handle, a long-lost, over-protective, older half-brother walks into her life threatening to drive a wedge between her and the man she loves.
A second dead body leads them to realize the case may have dark ties to a distant past. . .and if Zoe doesn’t untangle the web of lies, Pete will be the one to pay the ultimate price.
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About the author
USA Today bestselling author Annette Dashofy has spent her entire life in rural Pennsylvania surrounded by cattle and horses. When she wasn’t roaming the family’s farm or playing in the barn, she could be found reading or writing. After high school, she spent five years as an EMT on the local ambulance service, dealing with everything from drunks passing out on the sidewalk to mangled bodies in car accidents. These days, she, her husband, and their spoiled cat, Kensi, live on property that was once part of her grandfather’s dairy. Her Zoe Chambers mysteries have received three nominations for the prestigious Agatha Award. Cry Wolf is the seventh in the series. Visit Annette’s website at annettedashofy.com.
All comments are welcomed.
I can’t wait!
Thanks, Christi! Zoe and I hope you like it!
I used to work in airport customer service and we joked that the crazies seemed to come out whenever there was a full moon.
Sounds like an interesting series which I have been meaning to start reading.
Would be interested in reading this book in print format which makes this giveaway perfect for me. I still have a few previous books to read and the ones I have read were very interesting. This one seems very interesting.
Thank you for the giveaway.
Cynthia
When I worked in day care we used to joke that the kids were extra wild when it was about to be a full moon 🙂
I’ve had this series on my TBR list for awhile. I think it’s time to move it to the front of the list. Thanks for the chance to win a copy.
Of course there is something to this full moon stuff..I’d love to win this. Thanks
I’ve heard from friends who work in ER that full moons are crazy busy for them.
Oh this phrase, we still use it with our grandkids, lol. My granddaughter will try to take this book if I win, thank you for the chance, as she loves horses.
wfnren at aol dot com
I’ve managed to dodge the full moon effect, but my niece, who works in a local emergency room, says that when there’s a full moon, the stabbing cases go way up.
The full moon does bring out the crazies.
Full moons are romantic. Should be watched looking out over water.
Those calls sound like some of the wacky stories my husband told about his days as a volunteer EMS driver years ago!
A delightful series.
Yup, beware those full moons.
Why do you think they call people lunatics?
Annette Dashofy provides a well developed character in Zoe Chambers. Yes oh yes the full moon does have an effect on individuals in many ways. Just ask your local police departments and hospitals. As a mother of a child with Autism, I notice he has more sleep disruptions and seems like he is more restless with harder times to handle things that he normally would cope with.
Love this series–one of my favorites!! I’d love to win a print copy of Cry Wolf. Thanks for the chance.
When I was working in customer service, when we would get really irate and rude customers it used to be when there was a full moon. We use to joke about it every month.
I would love to win! I am a retired special ed. teacher. I think the full moon affects the kids!
Nothing out of the ordinary has happened to me during a full moon.
Oh my goodness! I really want to know what happens next!
Thank you for the giveaway.
Sounds like a great read.
yes, count me in on this giveaway!!!
thank you for the giveaway..
The few times we have had “full moon” parties, we had a blast with any trouble. really enjoy this author and looking forward to reading this title
**** WINNER ****
Cry Wolf is Linda Herold
Congratulations!