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Content snapshot
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Violence
A lot
A murder within a therapy group; the group's confessions form the investigation's material
Language
Some
Some strong language
Sexual Content
Some
Some sexual content in the therapy confessions
Substance Use
Some
Heavy drinking; addiction is discussed in the therapy context
Emotional Intensity
A lot
The specific ethics of therapeutic confidentiality and when it must yield; the psychology of people who have shared their worst selves with each other and now fear what each knows
What this book is about
A member of a therapy group is found dead, and DI Tom Thorne investigates the closed world of the group — six people who shared their most private struggles and who are, one by one, becoming suspects. The novel shifts between Thorne's investigation and the therapy sessions leading up to the murder, assembling the picture from both directions. Mark Billingham's sixteenth Thorne novel is his most formally inventive use of the therapeutic context — the group's confidentiality and the therapist's obligations create a specific obstruction that gives the investigation its shape.
Notes for sensitive readers
Reader-flagged moments and themes that may affect your experience.
sixteenth Tom Thorne novel by Mark Billingham
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