Abstract
One Foot in the Grave is the eighth book in a murder mystery series written by Timothy Sheard. All these mysteries center around Lenny Moss, the intrepid union steward in a unionized hospital in Philadelphia. I have been reading Lenny Moss mysteries for some time now, and I always find them to be highly entertaining and full of insights and lessons on the forgotten heroes of American workplaces: those who stand up for the rights of their fellow workers. Lenny Moss is the “everyman” rank-and-file union “leader” or servant at the base of many a U.S. union. He stands up to the boss and, together with his fellow workers, he also solves crimes committed in his hospital.
One Foot in the Grave is a most worthy addition to this series. Sheard weaves together multiple strands and subplots within the hospital, making for an absorbing and multifaceted story. Here we have a Zika outbreak and a pregnant nurse fearful of transmitting the virus to her unborn baby. Yet the hospital administration refuses to reassign her away from patients bearing the Zika virus. You also have the nonunion nurses in the hospital (Lenny’s union only covers the nonnurses) deciding to conduct a union organizing drive. You have potential union jurisdictional disputes: Should nurses organize on their own, or as part of Lenny’s union? You have a well-liked Doctor secretly collaborating with the union behind the back of hospital administration. You have secret surveillance of the favorite “hiding spot” where Lenny and his friends talk and plot strategy. You have a killer with fairly extensive medical knowledge stalking the hospital and targeting a victim with cleverly disguised methods of slowly killing her. These and other plots seamlessly weave back and forth throughout the book.
This book is deeply embedded in the hospital work experience. It is likewise embedded in the experience of union efforts to confront management to force it to provide even the most basic things needed to protect patients and personnel alike. True to standard capitalist logic, the hospital administration cuts corners in search of maximum profits.
To get a sense of how absorbing the book is, consider the following opening sentences of selected chapters: “Nurse Catherine Feekin felt the kick inside her belly and smiled.” “Lenny Moss cursed under his breath as he plunged his mop into a bucket of soapy water.” “Lenny Moss had finished mopping the hallway when he saw Mimi coming toward him pushing her medication chart. The nurse did not look happy.” “Mimi knew it was trouble the minute she saw Mother Burgess coming down the hall, her Assistant Director and three obsequious head nurses trailing behind her.” “Security Chief Joe West stepped silently into the dispatcher room. The Chief had a well-earned reputation for sneaking up on staff.” “Detective Joe Williams showed his badge to Dr. Fahim in the ICU.” There are many more intriguing opening sentences, but this sample should be enough to pull you in.
Without spoiling the plot, I can safely quote the final three sentences in the book: “Let’s drink to the living,” said Mimi. “And all the workers in the hospital who deserve respect!” “To the workers!” This is a novel for working-class people, and it shows.
I highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys fiction, particularly mystery fiction, and also for anyone who enjoys reading the relatively rare novel that focuses on the lives of ordinary working-class people. Book reading groups and any classes in labor education that can find room for a fiction novel would also do well to consider this one.