Book Review: Royal Pains - First, Do No Harm by D. P. Lyle (Royal Pains novels #1)

Stars: 4 out of 5

Pros: Like a new, extended episode of this fun series

Cons: Evan, Ashley, and occasional writing

The Bottom Line: 

Medical mystery

With fun setting, characters

Perfect for show's fans

Royal Pains Comes to Novels in the First Tie In to the TV Show

If it weren't bad enough that the USA Network has taken over my TV watching (I'm watching more TV this summer than I did last spring thanks to all their original shows), they are also trying to take over my reading.  Royal Pains is the latest show to come out with original tie in novels.  It's a medical show, and the first book is called First, Do No Harm.  And for fans of the show who want to spend more than an hour a week with the characters, it's just what the doctor ordered.

In case you've missed this gem, it follows Dr. Hank Lawson.  After being fired for making the wrong call in the ER where he worked, Hank turns a weekend away to the Hamptons into a new career as a concierge doctor for the wealthy.  He is assisted by Divya Katdare, his physician assistant and alternately helped and hindered by his brother Evan.  Evan uses his background in business to set himself up as the CFO of the company he calls HankMed.  Rounding out the main characters on the show is Jill Casey, the administrator at the local hospital, Hamptons Heritage, and Hank's on again off again girlfriend.  For this book, they are definitely on again.

Since setting up his concierge practice in the Hamptons, Dr. Hank Lawson has begun making friends with some of his clients.  One of those is Eleanor "Ellie" Wentworth, a wealthy widow who loves to give parties.  She has some minor health issues that Hank stops by and monitors every few days just to make sure she is still doing fine.

Ellie is currently gearing up for the biggest event of her year, the wedding of her granddaughter Nicole on the huge Wentworth estate.  The night Nicole arrives, Ellie throws a big party and invites Hank.  He likes the bride to be, but when he runs into her an hour later, she doesn't remember who he is.  Another encounter with a confused Nicole, and Hank begins to suspect something is seriously wrong with her.  But she and her parents deny everything and order Hank to stay away.  Can he figure out what the problem is before something seriously wrong with Nicole occurs?

Most episodes of the show split their time between the medical mystery of the week and the lives of the characters.  Since this novel is a new story set in that world, it can't do much with the ongoing character plots, so it pretty much leaves those alone.  For this book, the author chose to have Divya be at the end of season two, but Jill hasn't quite left for her trip abroad yet.  So I can't pinpoint an episode or two this one follows.  Overall, this is a minor complaint.

Since the medical mystery is all the plot has to focus on, the book needs something more to fill out the pages.  As a result, we get several smaller cases that weave in and out of the main case surrounding Nicole.  At the beginning, I was feeling a bit overwhelmed by everything, but as I got to know all the new characters and their problems, things began to click for me.

It also helped that the further into the book you go, the more Nicole's story takes center stage.  There is much more to her story than first meets the eye, and watching all that play out is pretty interesting.  Royal Pains is a medical mystery show.  Since I know nothing about medicine, it's rare I can figure out what is happening before Hank does.  Here, several pieces of the puzzle were obvious early on, but Hank had an idea, too, and watching him put those pieces together is still interesting.

Series regulars Hank, Jill, and Divya come across very true to themselves.  Divya especially is outstanding here.  My biggest problem is with Evan, but then again, he's often my biggest issue on the show.  The character can go back and forth between complete idiot and lovable goofball who tries hard and messes up sometimes.  I actually felt like they've toned down and matured the character after the first season.  For this book, he's definitely his first season self, more of an idiot.  At times, this is amusing, but at other times it gets annoying, especially when Hank tears him down in the narration.  On the plus side, the banter between all these characters is very true to the show, and I laughed multiple times while reading it.

The new characters are all pretty well developed.  Nicole and her family obviously get the most attention, but I feel all of them get enough development for the part they play in the story.  Sadly, Nicole's friend Amanda gets annoying because every line of dialog she has much include like the word like in it.

The writing is also a little shaky at times.  The book is mostly narrated from Hank's first person perspective with occasional passages from one of the other characters in third person.  It's obvious when it switches back and forth, and it works well for telling the story.  What bothers me are the incomplete sentences.  Every so often, the author will throw in two or three in a row in the narration.  Now a few of my favorite authors will throw in an incomplete sentence every so often for emphasis.  When they do it, it works, but here it messes with the flow of the story.

Overall, these complaints are minor.  I have enjoyed my extended time in the Hamptons, thanks to Royal Pains: First, Do No Harm.  I'll definitely be back for a return visit via both the show and the next original novel.