The patient in Room 18

"The Patient in Room 18" by Mignon G. Eberhart is a mystery novel written in the late 1920s. The story unfolds within the confines of St. Ann's Hospital, where an ominous reputation surrounds a specific patient room known as Room 18, notorious for its dark history of patient deaths. The narrative revolves around the main character, Sarah Keate, a nurse who finds herself embroiled in growing tensions within the hospital, including an unsettling dinner party that presages a series of unsettling events. At the start of the novel, the reader is introduced to the setting and characters during a dinner party hosted by Corole Letheny, the housekeeper for Dr. Letheny, a prominent physician at the hospital. As the evening unfolds amid heavy conversation about money and ambitions, Sarah and her colleague Maida Day are drawn into a sense of foreboding. Following the dinner, a storm brings a sudden blackout to the hospital, and Sarah discovers the unsettling death of a patient, Mr. Jackson, in Room 18. Complicating the mystery, the radium treatment meant for him has disappeared, raising the alarm that foul play is at hand, and thus sets in motion a chain of events filled with suspicion and intrigue, as the characters grapple with the sinister occurrences and their own intertwined lives.