The media is calling it the Crime of the Decade – Georgia Cartwright, the glamorous eldest daughter of a wealthy South Carolina family, has been accused of murdering her younger sister. Whether it was jealousy – Annabelle was the biological daughter, while Georgia was adopted – or pure insanity is up for debate. But just to be safe, Georgia is being kept in the locked ward of a psychiatric facility while she awaits her trial. Mandy is reading about the crime in the news when she gets a phone call from Georgia’s lawyer, who reveals that she and Mandy are twins separated at birth, and that Georgia is asking for her. Georgia is desperate for Mandy to help her prove her innocence, but Mandy isn’t quite sure what to believe. Is Georgia really innocent of this terrible crime? Or is Mandy being taken in by a master manipulator?
I’ve enjoyed several of Sarah Pekkanen’s previous works, and The Locked Ward is no different. Lots of plot twists, lots of competing motives and buried secrets, and a few big surprises that’ll change what you thought you knew about the story. I appreciated that Mandy wasn’t completely naive. She doesn’t take Georgia’s word for it that they’re sisters until she runs a DNA test on the hair Georgia pulled from her scalp and handed to her. She doesn’t take anything Georgia says at face value, in fact, constantly questioning and trying to find out more from other sources. She did have me groaning in frustration once or twice, willfully going into places where she didn’t belong and was woefully unprepared for. But overall I thought she behaved in as reasonable a manner as you can expect when you’re reading a mystery/thriller.
I did think some of the antagonists were evil to the point of being cartoonish. I realize that each of those types of people exist, but for Georgia and Mandy to have to deal with them one right after another stretched the imagination. However, the rest of the book was enjoyable enough that I’m willing to mostly let it go. I don’t think The Locked Ward is as strong as some of Pekkanen’s other works, but it’s still a fun, twisty mystery that keeps you guessing until the end.
