Plot or Premise

A Manhattan psychiatrist is working late, and then becomes the late psychiatrist when someone visits, attacks, kills and then mutilates the doctor. No leads in the case leads to Delaney being asked to investigate.

What I Liked

Sanders seems to like to alternate between revealing the murderer early or keeping it a secret. In this one, it is a secret. In addition to family and friends, there are four patients who could be the killer. All with unique personalities; all with unique issues. And they all have to be checked out with different approaches.

What I Didn’t Like

With the four suspects, there is a LOT of space devoted to figuring out how to get close to them, worm out their secrets, knowing that at least two or three are going to be completely uninvolved and the investigations of them are just red herrings. I also figured out who the killer was really early on, perhaps 15% of the way into the book, and it was a LONG slog to get to the end.

The Bottom Line

The killer is obvious as is the motive, but it takes a long time to get there