The DEPARTMENT C1 series
by Patricia G. Bertényi
#1 WE’RE ALL BLIND
Kaikki ovat sokeita, Tammi 2024, 431pp
A gripping hospital thriller with a social conscience.
TV-series in development
Janka Vitéz is an unassuming 62-year-old hospital cleaner—a cog in the well-oiled clinical wheel of the busy Aboa University Hospital, where she has worked for over twenty years. She belongs to the invisible army of workers who keep the hospital scrubbed clean, day in, day out, pushing her cleaning cart around unnoticed, as though she’s wearing an invisibility cloak.
She may not stand out among the sea of medical scrubs, and her hips keep score of years of cleaning, but when two unrelated patients die in intensive care, the smell emitted by their bodies activates her latent synaesthesia and a suspicion she cannot ignore. Janka knows more than her humble job suggests: in a previous life, back in her home country, she was the chief medical examiner for the central police.
But who would believe the cleaner?
Janka confides in a friendly nurse, Dani, who also expresses doubt about the natural causes the patients are said to have died of. As the two women work to expose a series of carefully covered up crimes, their informal investigation brings them close to real danger, but thankfully Janka’s invisibility comes up trumps. Can they find and stop the vengeful killer before they endanger themselves?
#2 THE WORST OF CRIMES
Rikoksista pahin, Tammi 2025, 379pp
One early morning in late March, a young woman is found on the frozen surface of the River Aura. She has been beaten to within an inch of her life and suffered a traumatic brain injury. There’s no indication she’ll ever regain consciousness.
Dani, an ICU nurse and neuro-intensive care specialist, must use her knowledge and experience to keep the young woman alive—which becomes even more important when she realizes Jane Doe is someone very dear to her.
Janka Vitez is immediately interested in the case and soon she finds herself on the trail of the Invisible Man, the serial killer who has been taunting Aboa for years.
RIGHTS SOLD FOR THE SERIES: Finland: Tammi (orig.), Estonia: Pegasus (book 1) Poland:
Materials available: English sample (book 1), English synopsis (books 1-2), Full Finnish pdf (book 1)
Praise for WE’RE ALL BLIND:
“Turku-based intensive care nurse Patricia G. Bertényi’s thriller has a classic plot, but they know how to tell a story with a good hook. A narrative with a mystical power keeps you reading in suspense”
“Bertényi creates a very believable and likeable protagonist. […] A very accomplished and modern whodunit…”
“A joy to read. […] A strong and believable plot that is perfectly paced…”
is a Hungarian-born Finnish writer, photographer, and intensive care nurse. Before training as a nurse, Bertényi studied at the New York Institute of Photography. A lifelong writer, she debuted in 2019 with a mystery trilogy before writing We’re All Blind (Tammi 2024), the first in the Department C1 series. She’s also the Editor-in-Chief of Finnish intensive care medical journal, Tehohoito. She lives in Turku, Finland with her wife and dog.
Author portrait © Patricia G. Bertényi
