Cuyler Overholt Books In Order

Publication Order of Dr. Genevieve Summerford Mystery Books

After earning her undergraduate degree from the University of Virginia, Cuyler Overholt worked as a litigation officer for more than four years. Immediately after she served as a litigation officer, Cuyler Overholt left Law so that she could begin her freelance writing business. In the years that followed, Cuyler Overholt transformed technical jargon into an exceedingly entertaining prose for a public relation firm that is based in New York. Cuyler Overholt once again found her true calling, when she accidentally scribbled a novel during her child’s naptime. Sourcebooks reissued her award-winning debut, A Deadly Affection, in the year 2006 as the first book in the Dr. Genevieve Summerford book series. Cuyler Overholt has a keen interest in human motivation and behavior, just like her husband, who is a psychologist. When Cuyler Overholt is not writing or reading, she can be found riding her bicycle, designing her next dream house or in a cobra pose.

Best Cuyler Overholt Books

A Deadly Affection is one of the best performing books by Cuyler Overholt. In this book, the author, Cuyler Overholt introduces the reader to Dr. Summerford, the protagonist. This book introduces a slow-paced mystery, with an array of exceedingly complex characters and has been set in New York City. The author’s style of writing is exceedingly enjoyable and also descriptive enough as well. By reading the novel, you will be able to imagine the atmosphere together with people of New York City as well. The reader is also going to appreciate how distinct all these characters are. They not only have their strengths by they also have exceedingly understandable motivations. For Genevieve, the case presented in the book was much more than a mystery. The life of an innocent person and her reputation were all in the balance. It was exceedingly interesting to witness Genevieve grow and also how persistent of a person she was.

Some of the themes that the author has presented in this book include women in science and the disbelief and stigma that surrounds psychology, all of which were perfectly handled. They were also used to show how Genevieve suffered condensation and discrimination from her peers and even from her family members for being a woman in the field and also wanting to pursue her research. Set in the year 1907, in New York City, A Deadly Affection brought to life exceedingly vivid details that include the conflict that was present between the social classes, and the restrictions that were placed on women in the field of medicine. With sexism being the norm, and being among the few women in the field of medicine, Genna has an exceedingly difficult task to not only regain recognition from her colleagues but also from the entire general population as well in the field of psychology, which was relatively new at that time.

However, Genna Summerford is undoubtedly a force to reckon with. She is not only spunky, but she is also exceedingly smart and stubborn as well and has her client’s best interest at heart. Genna is forced to assist other women to overcome their issues especially after suffering an exceedingly great tragedy herself. Apart from being exceedingly bright, Genevieve also follows up issues with hard facts even after making assumptions. Her need for her father’s approval and her past as well hinder her, but the readers get to witness Genevieve’s transformation in this first novel. The author also introduces the readers to Liz, one of Genevieve’s patients, who happens to be a member of a therapy group, for ladies who have suffered loss and trauma as well. Eliza had given up her daughter more than 15 years ago for adoption.

Eliza’s dream is to find her daughter and also ensure that her daughter is leading a good life. The great thing is that Eliza still remembers the name of the doctor who had attended to her when she was giving birth and also the person who was responsible for taking her daughter from her. Eliza enquires with Genevieve as to whether she has the right to ask the doctor about the whereabouts of her daughter as well as the name of the parents who had adopted her. Genevieve ensures Eliza that it is her right to know the whereabouts of her daughter. Eliza then heads to talk to the doctor, unaware that she is going to be the last person to see the doctor alive. Immediately, Detective Maloney is assigned this case and names Eliza as the main suspect in the murder mystery.

Genevieve, clearly knows that Eliza is innocent and thus she decides to find a way of proving that Eliza did not have anything to do with the killing. A Deadly Affection also has an exceedingly interesting backstory. Eliza’s brother had passed away in an exceedingly freaky accident when they were still young. Eliza who was supposed to be watching over her brother blames herself for her brother’s death. Eliza believes that their father had never forgiven her and thus she has spent all the years of her life trying to win respect and approval of her father. Genevieve’s past, on the other hand, deals with the attraction that she had with their family’s stable boy, Simon. Simon and Genevieve had a mutual attraction, an attraction that Genevieve’s father disapproved and also ensured that the relationship would never continue.

As Genevieve begins to work on the case, she is forced to turn to Simon, who at the moment is an exceedingly influential politician. Will Simon be able to overlook their past? Does Simon still have feelings for Genevieve? With multiple red herrings, a dash of humor and an exceedingly smart and spunky young psychologist who has a penchant for standing up for the underdogs, A Deadly Affection is undoubtedly a rather impressive debut. As Genevieve sets out to investigate, this book is full of information. The readers get to learn about different diseases and also get to learn about the political climate during the 1900’s as the author takes the readers across the different social classes. Apart from highlighting the obstacles that the protagonist faced, the author, Cuyler Overholt fleshed out all the characters.

All in all, A Deadly Affection is an exceedingly interesting and speculative psychological mystery. Apart from having good characterization it also has a romantic bent as well. The descriptions of New York City’s historical aspects as well as the city’s privileged and impoverished residents provide an exceedingly nice break from the strength of the murder investigation.