I loved the first B.A. Paris book that made it onto my shelf, Behind Closed Doors, and have been waiting for her to give us something that reaches that level of ‘must sit and process’ again. The Therapist is the closest runner-up thus far.
Alice and her boyfriend Leo decide to get a house together in an exclusive, gated community called The Circle. Leo is being a little dodgy about getting to know the neighbors, so Alice invites everyone over for drinks. One guy rolls with her assumption that he is a neighbor, but disappears after a tour of the renovations. When he returns, he tells Alice that he’s a private investigator and the previous owner was murdered inside that house.
The victim’s name was Nina (she was a therapist), which happens to be the same name as Alice’s dead sister, so she takes it personally. She starts prying to get information about the Nina who lived in the house, and the husband accused of killing her before he died by suicide. While a few people don’t think the husband did it, they certainly are not okay with Alice bringing up past pains and close rank.
Alice spirals, kicking Leo out for a little while and thinking the ghost of Nina is visiting her in the night when she’s alone. She cycles through thinking pretty much everyone is responsible for Nina the therapist’s death.
I felt like the who of this mystery was pretty obvious. The author uses an overload of theories to try to disguise the true killer, leaving few characters out of the mix. Use a couple brain cells and you’ll figure it out easily. However, there is an aspect of the who that was quite shocking and I loved it. Balance, I guess. And the way it all comes together in the end is pretty fun.
I give The Therapist four stars, and continue to hope B.A. Paris will give us a five star read next.
Literary HypeWoman 