Tom Nolan

Ron Currie's “The Savage, Noble Death of Babs Dionne” (2025) introduced readers to an aging crime boss in Waterville, a Franco-American enclave in Maine known as Little Canada.

Tom Nolan reviews this week’s research A case report in New England Journal of Medicine describes a 63 year old who presented with symptoms of a brain abscess and bilateral staghorn renal calculi. Urine cultures grew two morphologically distinct Klebsiella pneumoniae populations: one with classical K pneumoniae , the other with hypervirulent features. Genetic testing found that these differed by only 66 single-nucleotide polymorphisms. The K pneumoniae cultured from the brain abscess had only four different polymorphisms to the hypervirulent urinary strain, suggesting it had evolved from it within the previous one to two years. The case shows that K pneumoniae can spread within the body from a reservoir of infection …

MONTEREY – An initiative recently launched by Montage Health aims to educate youth on the dangers of drug use – and curb what has become a leading cause of death among teens in Monterey County and beyond.

Plus “The Blue Flame” by George Pelecanos and “The Amateur” by Chris Bohjalian.

Jonathan Darcy and Juliet Tilney return in Claudia Gray's “The Fatal Unpleasantness at Netherfield” (Vintage, 320 pages, $19) , the latest entry of

Tom Nolan reviews this week’s research High efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filters improve air quality and trap airborne microbes, including influenza virus and coronavirus. Installing and maintaining HEPA filters in a care home costs around £10 000 (€11 700, $13 500) over a five year period, but a new study suggests this would have little effect on respiratory infections. The pragmatic cluster randomised clinical trial allocated 91 care homes in England to either receive portable HEPA filters for bedrooms and communal rooms or a control group (no additional intervention). The primary outcome was respiratory infection episodes in residents recorded from symptom diaries. Residents in bedrooms with HEPA filters experienced 0.99 respiratory infections per resident per winter, versus 1.04 of those without …

Carlos Vargas-Aburto has worn many hats throughout his career: professor, administrator and most recently, newly appointed interim president of Cal State M

Plus Tim Sullivan’s “The Tailor” and Philippa Perry’s “Shrink Solves Murder.”

Mystery readers know Martin Limón for his long-running series involving two American soldiers stationed in South Korea in the 1970s.

Tom Nolan reviews this week’s research Effective treatments for acute pain episodes in people with sickle cell disease are badly needed. Arginine has been identified as a possible option, owing to acute arginine deficiency observed during these episodes. In a phase 3 trial arginine or a placebo was given intravenously every eight hours to 271 children and young adults with sickle cell disease-related acute pain episodes. The study was halted early for futility, with time-to-crisis resolution being similar in both study arms (absolute difference, 7.2 hours; 95% CI, -21.6 to 35.9 hours). JAMA doi:10.1001/jama.2026.13310 Awareness is everywhere these days: …