WELCOME, BIOMEDICAL SCIENTISTS,

to the Official Dirk Wyle Website.

Ben Candidi is a new type of mystery series hero:

He's a scientist!

The Ben Candidi (Ph.D.) series with Rebecca Levis, M.D.
   — Exciting stories of mystery, intrigue and romance, set in South Florida against a backdrop of authentic biomedical science

*     Praised in Publishers Weekly, Booklist and The Midwest Review
*     Validated and applauded in reviews by biomedical scientists
*     Used as supplemental reading for courses at several universities
*     Available in bookstores across the country
*     Written by a veteran biomedical scientist and award-winning author
*     Advertised in The Scientist and in the Atlantic Monthly
*     Also exhibited and sold at major scientific meetings

WHAT THE REVIEWERS HAVE SAID:

"... a potent mix of science, business and crime."

— Publishers Weekly

"First-class mystery."

— Booklist

"... a timely plot with larger than life characters ..."

— The Midwest Review

"Against the backdrop of this intriguing mystery, the author takes us on a tour through the Byzantine world of high finance and biotechnology."

— Dr. Charles C. Ouimet reviewing for the HMS Beagle (BioMedNet)

"Nifty, light-hearted and deadly."

— Edna Buchanan

"... Dirk Wyle skillfully pairs the tone of the hard-boiled mystery with the intricate scientific detail common to the medical thriller. The result is an excellent whodunit. . . . a first-class mystery that combines elements of Michael Crichton, Patricia Cornwell, and even Edna Buchanan.”

— Booklist Mystery Showcase

     Series Protagonist Ben Candidi is a different type of mystery hero — he's a scientist. He's also a free-spirited, ecologically minded, bicycle-commuting 31 year-old who is as much at home at the waterfront bars of Coconut Grove as behind the lab bench.

     Competing with science are Ben's two greatest passions: His 36-foot sailboat the Diogenes and Rebecca Levis, M.D.

     Ben is no cardboard cut-out designed by a demographically obsessed editorial committee of a paperback publishing megalith. He is an articulate scientist who tells his own story. He takes great delight in explaining biomedical science to the layman — in simple but correct terms. (Drug delivery mechanisms, patents, technology transfer problems, antioxidant drugs, etc. are integral to the stories.) And if a few techno-phobes drop out along the way ... well so be it! Scientific expertise is not necessary to solve the mystery.

BEN CANDIDI TELLING HIS STORY

(through excerpts from the novels)

Working in my spirited, whiz-kid mode, I set up a second HPLC machine with a different type of separating column. It was nice to see the two machines working side by side, the little robot arms of the "autosamplers" dipping their hollow needles into arrays of test tubes, and slurping up little hummingbird-sized drinks of blood extracts which would set in motion the multicolored traces, telling the chemical stories of the deceased, the motorcycle casualty, the coronary and the Alzheimer patients. What nicer music than the clicks and whine of a well-oiled and intelligent machine? And my little robot friends would produce a load of answers in a few hours.

— from p. 12 of Pharmacology Is Murder

I moved the guest chair a foot closer to his desk before sitting down. And before speaking, I brushed aside the lawyer's brass business card dispenser with the back of my hand. I said, "Mr. Black, you already know that your company's inventor is not cooperating with our due diligence audit. He has denied me an opportunity to receive answers to questions necessary to evaluate the technology." Black just sat there glaring at me. "It is my opinion that his lack of cooperation puts BIOTECH in breach of contract with B.M. Capital Company."

"Dr. Candidi, I must apologize. I didn't know you have a law degree."

"I have read the contract, and — "

"Firstly, I would not agree ...." He rattled on for a full minute before I could get a word in edgewise.

— from p. 152 of Biotechnology Is Murder

My chain cocoon skipped a couple inches, then came to a stop. Then the anchor slipped and hit me in the chin. I used all my strength for another sit-up and let go. Clanked overboard and hit the water faster than I could gasp my for my last breath. Tried to twirl against the wrap of the chain as I sank. ...

(Ben fighting for his life in Biotechnology Is Murder, p. 242)

Ten minutes later, the Marine Patrol boat moved into the Dinner Key harbor and out of sight. I was just making my way through the Stiltsville channel and out to the Atlantic when he reemerged and headed south with his blue lights flashing. They'd be looking for me down in the Keys like I told Dr. Taylor and Frenchie.

— from p. 337 of Pharmacology Is Murder

   Dean Weisburd's eyes hardened. "Yes, there was concern about the quality of his science." He spoke so smoothly.
    I shrugged my shoulders. But Dean Weisburd just stared at me, as if demanding agreement.
   I had to say something. "Dr. Peterson studied antioxidant agents and how they ensure the maintenance of critical cellular functions. There can't be any question about the need for new knowledge in this field." It was a good medical science answer and I'd leave it at that.
   "He was working alone."
   "So?"
   "Without students or post-docs."
   "So?"
   "With students and post-docs in the lab, results are automatically verified."

— from p. 62 of Medical School Is Murder

WHAT TRANSFORMS THESE STORIES INTO MYSTERY-THRILLERS?
Ben goes into harm's way when he accepts "special projects" which quickly turn dangerous. (It's not the scientists who are at fault, but the people who run them.)

For more about the stories, enter Dirk Wyle's Main Page
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About the Author
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For Recommendations on Novels by Other Scientists