Jonathan Stagge’s Murder Or Mercy? Puts Dr Westlake in Peril

In Jonathan Stagge’s Murder Or Mercy?, Dr Hugh Westlake’s medical judgment, reputation and safety come under pressure after a newspaper mixes him up with another doctor. Westlake’s first concern is much smaller: finding an eleventh-birthday present for his daughter, Dawn. She has made her preference clear. She wants Belgian hares, rabbits despite their name, so she can breed them. Then a mistaken news story turns an ordinary family errand into a troubling case.

A request Westlake can’t grant

The report identifies Westlake as a champion of euthanasia, though the person it meant to name was Dr Westbrook. Madeleine Talbot, a terminally ill patient, reads the story and summons Westlake because she wants him to help her die. He refuses. The next day, she is found dead from an overdose.

That sequence gives the mystery its uneasy central question: did Mrs Talbot take the overdose herself, did someone close to her believe they were sparing her suffering, or did a member of her family kill her? Westlake has to confront the case while his own mistaken public profile makes the request for help harder to ignore. The morphine used in the deaths was stolen from his medical case, putting his career and freedom in serious jeopardy.

The book spends time with the right-to-die question, but its pull comes from the way that question is tied to a particular family and to Westlake’s own vulnerability. The mistaken identification is more than a convenient opening: it sets events in motion and leaves the doctor exposed to suspicion. Readers who enjoy mysteries built around a professional protagonist’s reputation being tested will find that pressure gives the investigation a personal edge.

Family tensions, and an odd animal thread

Westlake’s home life also matters. Dawn’s part in the story gives her one of her stronger roles in the series, and her birthday wish helps establish the warm, everyday side of the doctor’s life before the case closes in. The contrast makes his danger feel close to home. He isn’t simply solving a puzzle at a distance; events threaten the work and family life he has been trying to maintain.

Then there are the missing cats. Their disappearance adds a peculiar thread to a book that already features rabbits and a difficult discussion about death. The previous Westlake mystery, The Dogs Do Bark, also known as Murder Gone to Earth, involved foxes. That recurring presence of animals may make sensitive readers wary. The reviewer says the book doesn’t describe harm to them explicitly, but advises readers not to dwell too closely on the implications.

Some of the people around Westlake are unpleasant enough to make their motives hard to read. Could they be capable of killing? The possibility hangs over the story, while a few aspects of their conduct seem to pass without the attention the reviewer expected. That leaves a measure of dissatisfaction even as the characters keep the mystery unsettled.

A hard-to-find entry in the Westlake series

For readers in the UK, locating this title has been a challenge. The reviewer had spent years gathering the Westlake books and finally read this one after a visit to the Bodleian. The British title has proved so elusive that the reviewer couldn’t find an image of its dust jacket; the image reproduced here is of the US paperback cover. For collectors following the series, that scarcity is part of the practical appeal and frustration of the hunt.

The reviewer’s reservations are real, particularly about the handling of certain characters and an aspect of the ending that can’t be discussed without revealing a major surprise. The book also sets up an expectation that doesn’t resolve in the way the reviewer anticipated, changing how that later surprise lands. Readers approaching it without foreknowledge may experience the ending differently, so it’s best to avoid seeking out explanations before reading.

Even with those caveats, the novel keeps moving. Westlake’s professional future is at stake, the family dimension gives Dawn room to matter, and the missing cats add an unsettling question to the case. The reviewer enjoyed the book despite its rough edges and considers it worth tracking down. For readers willing to follow a mystery that pairs an ethical dilemma with personal danger, this is a memorable, imperfect entry in the Westlake series.