ROYAL PAINS: FIRST, DO NO HARM by D.P. Lyle

Publisher: Penguin Books
Date Published: June 2011
ISBN: 978-0-451-23414-8
Cozy Mystery
Mass Market Paperback
Reviewed by Angie
Obtained by Publisher


Dr. Hank Lawson lost his position as an ER doctor over politics in the USA Network television show Royal Pains when a wealthy patient died. He has now become a concierge doctor in the Hamptons for the wealthy who prefer to have house calls. While not his choice of profession, he has made a name for himself and has begun getting more and more clients.

When he happens to be on the scene as a young woman goes into cardiac arrest he saves her life, and begins questioning what makes a teenager with no previous episodes, nor any risk factors have a heart attack. As he questions her family he learns she is taking a prescribed weight loss program from a local nutritionist. The more Dr. Lawson learns about the supplements the more concerns he has, and when he finds out more of his patients are taking the vitamins and having ill effects, the more he knows he has to put a stop to the man responsible for the weight loss clinic.

ROYAL PAINS is a hit show on the USA Network, although I have never seen it, as a reader, I felt however that this book is quite the stand alone and did not need the background, some readers may have from the show itself. I thoroughly enjoyed FIRST, DO NO HARM and will be waiting for more fan fiction from D.P. Lyle. He is a talented fiction writer that left me wanting more – I will be seeking the first two seasons of ROYAL PAINS on DVD.

The characters in FIRST, DO NO HARM are quirky, lively and well worth getting to know in this novel. All of the main characters are lovable and fun. I would love to see Dr. Lawson’s brother, Evan R. Lawson, and his assistant Divya in more novels. They play well off each other in their banter and word play. I am betting they are both amazing characters in the TV show as well. This is a series to be watched for in both the television and book format if this first novel is anything to be judged by.

This is an objective review and not an endorsement of this book.