Review by Booklist Review
Alice Armitage resides, unwillingly, in the Acute Psychiatric Ward of a London hospital. She was committed to that institution after a "complete psychotic break," the result of a high-voltage case of PTSD intensified by voluminous quantities of booze and drugs. Alice, she tells us (if we can believe it), was a homicide detective with London's Metropolitan Police before her breakdown, which puts her in perfect position (in her mind, at least) to investigate the series of murders now taking place in the ward she calls home: "I'd do it for the buzz and the rush of the blood pumping and because for the first time in forever it made me feel like a person again." As Alice launches her investigation, we listen to the raucous banter between residents, none of whom takes Alice's quest seriously, and we gradually realize that finding the killer is only an entrée into the real mystery here, which is taking place inside Alice's head. Resting his award-winning Tom Thorne series, Billingham delivers a confoundingly compelling psychological thriller that, unlike many in the genre, doesn't slight the psychology.
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Det. Constable Alice "Al" Armitage, the narrator of this gripping if flawed standalone from British author Billingham (the Tom Thorne series), has a psychotic breakdown after witnessing her police partner's murder and is admitted to the psych ward of London's Hendon Community Hospital. Her drug and alcohol addictions contribute to her being "medically retired" as a cop. At Hendon, she's popular with the staff members and the other patients because of her caustic wit and the allure of being an ex-cop. After a patient is murdered in his room, detectives swarm the hospital, and Al is furious when she's not permitted to help with the investigation. She takes it out on the staff and sets out to interview all the patients in an effort to solve the murder. But when Al finds a senior nurse's stabbed body in the women's restroom, she becomes a murder suspect. Humor, uniquely eccentric characters, and a convincing portrayal of the mind of a complex lead elevate this thriller above the ordinary. Only the hurried, implausible ending disappoints. Hopefully, Billingham will return to form next time. Agent: David Forrer, InkWell Management. (Aug.)
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Review by Kirkus Book Review
The creator of DI Tom Thorne presents a stand-alone whodunit with a most unusual setting: the psychiatric ward of a northwest London hospital. DC Alice Armitage, who suffered an acute case of PTSD when her partner was stabbed to death during a routine search for a culprit, became so disturbed that she conked her boyfriend, Andy Flanagan, with a wine bottle and was committed to the Shackleton Unit of Hendon Community Hospital. At least that's the story she tells everyone who'll listen. Though it's clear that Al is a patient in the Fleet Ward, however, it's far from clear to anyone else that she was ever with Met homicide; it may be that she's just as delusional as posh drug abuser Lucy, bipolar chess player Ilias, compulsive singer Lauren, kilt-wearing Tony, needy young Shaun, or Graham, who bangs his head so frequently against a wall that the staff keeps having to repaint the spot. Ordinarily the question of Al's professional employment would be moot, but when Shaun's lover, Kevin Connolly, is smothered with a pillow and drugs are discovered in his room, Al swings into gear even though no one else accepts her bona fides--not the other patients, not Debbie McClure or any of the other nurses and staffers, and certainly not DC Steve Seddon or any of the other officers tasked with investigating. Al must launch an investigation on her own even as she's confined to the ward, doped with medications, and treated to the opposite of cooperation from the officials. A great premise generates some powerful episodes. Only the identification of the culprit is a letdown. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
