June 27, 2016
This well-written and often enthralling story is the fourth in Kingsmill's series featuring quirky zoologist Cordi O'Callaghan. While in a profound depression, Cordi voluntarily committed herself to the psychiatric ward of a Toronto hospital. As she begins her recovery, she becomes aware that there is something strange going on in her ward. Things take a disturbing new turn when she finds Mavis, a wealthy fellow patient, dead in the room they share. The staff steadfastly denies that Mavis is dead, Cordi's brother has more faith in the doctor's assessment than in Cordi's, and the police are unwilling to accept the word of a mental patientâthey need proof. Cordi, who has done her share of amateur sleuthing in the past, decides to investigate the death on her own. But even she begins to doubt her perceptions of reality at times. Was the murder real or a hallucination? Suspense builds as Cordi and readers wonder whom she can really trust. Kingswell's knowledge of psychiatric conditions and therapies adds realistic details as Cordi navigates her way among staff, patients, and suspects on the way to the surprising denouement.