Info: Katherine Tegen Books, copyright 2015, 376 pages
Grace Mae knows madness.
She keeps it locked away, along with her voice, trapped deep inside a brilliant mind that cannot forget horrific family secrets. Those secrets, along with the bulge in her belly, land her in a Boston insane asylum.
When her voice returns in a burst of violence, Grace is banished to the dark cellars, where her mind is discovered by a visiting doctor who dabbles in the new study of criminal psychology. With her keen eyes and sharp memory, Grace will make the perfect assistant at crime scenes. Escaping from Boston to the safety of an ethical Ohio asylum, Grace finds friendship and hope, hints of a life she should have had. But gruesome nights bring Grace and the doctor into the circle of a killer who stalks young women. Grace, continuing to operate under the cloak of madness, must hunt a murderer while she confronts the demons in her own past.
In this beautifully twisted historical thriller, Mindy McGinnis, acclaimed author of Not a Drop to Drink and In a Handful of Dust, explores the fine line between sanity and insanity, good and evil—and the madness that exists in all of us. -Goodreads description
The Rundown
I'm a historical fiction junkie and a sucker for a good thriller. I couldn't wait to snatch this book up after I read the summary!
Familiarity with the history of American asylums will help ease a reader into the difficult reading that is the first 100 pages of this book. It's good writing but one has to understand that many asylums in this era were far less than humane. Mental illnesses were only beginning to be seriously studied and the commonly accepted treatments at the time were more torturous than helpful. One Grace and Dr. Thornhollow arrive in Ohio the pace of the story picks up significantly.
Dr. Thornhollow was a great character. Imagine a Sheldon Cooper meets Sherlock Holmes type. I chuckled more than a few times at his reactions and dialogue, despite this book having very dark subject matter.
I struggled with the lack of flow in the story. For me the transitions were really sharp. The first third of the book we're looking at the tragic story of an incest victim forced into an asylum, and then all of a sudden she's freed and turns into the Dr. Watson to Thornhollow's Sherlock. Huh?
Once in Ohio, Thornhollow makes Grace his apprentice in the new field of criminology. They almost too conveniently arrive near the time that a string of serial killings pop up through the city. The revelation of who the killer is, their motive, and how they're served justice were ultimately underwhelming.
Grace did develop some good relationships within the walls of the new asylum in Ohio and becomes very "take charge" in embracing and making the most of her new life there. Which is pretty much the only redeeming part of the book. The rest of the time I was mostly confused. It's like the book was trying to fill too many categories (mystery, historical fiction, thriller, abuse...) and didn't do any one of those enough justice to make it believable.
This book will do best in a collection where mysteries or historical fiction are popular, or for a teen who likes a thriller without romance.
Rating: 3/5 Stars
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