As a Helen Fields fan I was very pleased to receive my early copy of The Institution from Netgalley. On beginning the book I was really taken by Connie's character and the dignity with which she treated the dead. The plot picked up pace and I was drawn in for a time. Whilst chilling and creepy the tension did not really mount until the storm and loss of power but by then I was feeling somewhat put out by Connie's methods and the amount of scenarios I found unrealistic. The ending was also very disappointing.

Great premise but I found the execution somewhat lacking. I didn't warm to Connie and found her methods rather strange. It felt more like it had been written for the screen rather than a novel.

I have to say I was disappointed as all her other books are amazing I found it very depressing and tedious I skipped a lot of pages. Dr Connie Woolwine is assigned to a mental institution to find out who murdered Tara and to find her baby there are some tense moments but the book overall wasn’t for me.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC

Goodness me what a ride! This would make a brilliant Netflix movie!
Dr Connie Woolwine is working undercover at The Institution, a remote high security hospital for the criminally insane where a nurse is brutally murdered and her baby abducted for ransom.

It's a great plot with great characters and a wicked atmospheric backdrop.
Not to be read before bed as the tension is very palpable.

This book reads really well and gets you absorbed completely into the plot so beware to clear your schedule prior to starting this book.

The good news is that there is another book featuring Dr Connie Woolwine, "The Shadow Man", that I really look forward to reading too...

I found The Institution to be a highly entertaining read. It was a little bit implausible in places but sometimes pushing the boundaries of what is logical makes for a better read!

I’m usually a huge fan of Helen Fields’ books, but this one didn’t quite hit the spot. I read it very quickly as I wanted to know what happened, but Connie’s erratic behaviour and “methods” were just ridiculously dangerous. I also didn’t find the reveal and resolution to be especially satisfying.

Oh my god I could not put this down. It was claustrophobic in all the right ways. Absolutely brilliantly written and I was devastated when I finished it. Mystery from start to finish with plenty of twists.

Cannot recommend this book enough!

Dr Connie Woolwine finds herself undercover in remote high security facility housing the criminally insane, The Institution.
Following the murder of one of the nurses and the brutal removal and abduction of her preterm baby Aurora, Connie will need all her profiling skills to discover the identity of the killer(s) and discover how the child was removed from the Institution.
The ransom demand has been made.
Can she with the help of Baarda discover the child`s whereabouts before its too late.
This is a real race against time drama where the suspense intensifies with every hour that passes.
Then a terrible storm hits and the Institution is totally cut off from the outside world, Connie realizes just how dangerous a situation she is in.
Everything and everybody is working against her.
A truly exciting read that gripped me from the very beginning, absolutely excellent, I loved it.
No hesitation in recommending this.
Many thanks to the author, Avon Books and Netgalley.

Holy smokes my goosebumps had goosebumps!
This was set in the most chilling of places, the atmosphere was wonderfully created. Dark and twist and shocking this one was the whole package. The characters were amazing and relatable. The story was heart stopping. The end…. Mind blowing.
A fantastic fast paced page turner that will leave you breathless.

Excellent read, the suspense heightened by the confines of the setting and the low number of possible perpetrators. The storyline was gripping from the start and then it had many twists and turns, so much so that Connie, the main character was left wondering who she could and could not trust. I thoroughly enjoyed Connie’s interaction with the inmates, all of whom were convicted murderers. Each one having their own very plausible story’s. I could not put it down and would thoroughly recommend the book and the author..
Hopefully we will see Connie Woolwine again, maybe in Havana?

I would like to thank Netgalley and Avon Books for an advance copy of The Institution, the second novel to feature forensic profiler Dr Connie Woolwine.

In a remote high security hospital for the criminally insane a nurse is murdered and her daughter stolen for ransom. Dr Connie Woolwine goes undercover among the worst of the worst to try and find the girl.

I liked the previous novel to feature Connie Woolwine, The Shadow Man, but I really struggled with The Institution as it did not hold my attention and I only finished it weeks later, because I committed to reading it.

I loved the premise and the start of the novel, which offer something a bit unusual and get proceedings going with a big twist or, perhaps, simply a shock. Whatever, it’s great, but it’s downhill from there until a rather unbelievable ending, well, even more unbelievable than the rest of the novel. Connie wanders about interviewing the other patients and having strange things happen to her, but there are no real breakthroughs or developments. The patient interviews are fairly perfunctory, which is a missed opportunity, and the strange things are not strange enough to engender tension. I found it boring until the ending and by then I couldn’t have cared less.

Then, of course, there is Connie’s erratic behaviour, brought on by her PTSD of being committed herself as a teenager. And why, exactly, would a victim be sent back to a similar situation? It just feels unnecessary and unlikely.

The Institution is not for me, but it won’t stop me from reading more in the series.

The institutions is a twisty thriller sent in a mental hospital/prison and a nurse has been murdered and her unborn baby kidnapped. So Connie and Baarda, who we previously met in The Shadow Man , goes under cover as psychologist and patient to discover the killers.

Now I love Helen Fields previous book but this one didn’t do it for me. There were too many unbelievable moments and a few bits that took me out of the story - for instance the patient/prisoner rooms are described and it’s mentioned that the furniture was metal and smooth to the wall so they can’t make a shiv but then they say that there are pencils on the desk. Are you saying a patient wouldn’t try to shank someone with a pencil?

I also found BoY and Rubio too similar in the fact they both pretended to have less knowledge and act young to escape detection.

Oh and in the end where connie is in a room with three prisoners who have all murdered women, she thinks that the one stroking her hair is annoying her because she wants to concentrate on what the other one is saying. Sorry but what? As a woman trapped in a room with three psychos, that’s the last thing I would be worrying about.

And finally, connie solves the case and finally listens to her voicemail to discover her own dad has died. She then takes another call about a case and decides to take it and just not go to her poor mother who is dealing with the death of her husband . Right. Rated 2.5

Dr Connie Woolwine is a forensic profiler, her job is to solve crime by getting inside the heads of murderers - but this time it is different, this time she is on the clock. Undercover in The Institution, Connie is as much a prisoner as the criminally insane inmates and resident staff she must secretly profile in order to solve a brutal murder and foetal kidnapping - before time runs out for the missing baby.

‘The Institution’ has Helen Field’s trademark twists and turns, it is full of dark drama and suspense while Connie’s character is developed by revealing more of her personal history, internal conflict and human flaws.

A Monstrous Place…
An horrific crime, a devastating fallout, a monstrous place, a ticking clock and a tantalising whodunnit. The author at her very best in this claustrophobic, tension fuelled, traumatic tale. With a credible and well crafted cast of characters, an atmospheric setting to set teeth on edge and perfect plotting this is a tale which grabs from the off and does not let go.

Firstly I would like to thank netgalley, and Avon Books,and the wonderful author Helen Fields for an early copy of her book to read.


This book starts with a nurse shes been murdered in an institution for the criminally insane,the baby she was carrying was taken,was it someone from the institute.Dr connie Woolwine goes undercover,Will she find out who or how the baby was taken? The place is full of danger who can she trust.Another fantastic read from this author as I really enjoy her crime books immensely. Looking forward to reading more of her books as never disappoints..

This is definitely up there with the best books I've read of 2022.
It was a classic 'whodunnit' except this time it involves the horrific abduction of baby Aurora, a pre-term baby snatched from her mother's uterus for a ransom demanded by her abductors.
Dr Connie, with the support of her partner, must go undercover in The Institution, an isolated, high security jail for the criminally insane, and try to discover not only who killed the mother and snatched the baby, but also find clues to the whereabouts of the baby.
It's a race against time to find the baby before it's too late and everything and everyone is working against her.

I absolutely loved this book. I could feel Connie's frustration and her battle to try and figure out those people her around her. I could feel the desperation and the fast pace made me hooked to discover the conclusion.
I hope this isn't the last we hear of Dr Connie!

This was a tense, terrifying thriller featuring a unique protagonist going undercover in a claustrophic, gothic mental institution for the criminally insane. What a setup. Loved this.

Connie Woolwin is a forensic psychologist who goes undercover to discover who murdered and carved out her premature baby in a mental instituion for serial killers. A very interesting premise indeed, and the book kept that interesting well and throughly. I loved the profiling part of the novel, and it was made even more engaging since Connie had been in a mental health institution herself. You kept guessing along her and when she starts realizing that someone knows what she`s doing there, the suspense intensifies. The plot is balanced well, you have peaks where the suspense is almost giving you a heart attack, and periods where you get to know Connie better, which is necessary if you want to care about what happens to the character.

The Institution by Helen Fields

This book is absolutely fantastic and has quickly become my favourite mystery/thriller I've read this year.

The action is intense and the threat of looming danger is constant, hooking readers right from the beginning. I couldn't stop reading and became utterly enveloped in the drama.

Dr Connie is a brilliant character. She is flawed, having spent time in a mental health facility herself, but this just makes her human and all the more relatable. The way she speaks to Tara right at the beginning made me love her as a character right from the first chapter.

The use of the flashbacks from the killers on the ward, sharing the details of their horrific crimes, was an interesting addition by the author.. I found this really showed the reader how high the stakes are for Connie and left us feeling constantly on edge, waiting to see if she would make it out alive.

Although I spent a long time analysing the clues given to us by the author, I still ended up being wrong in all my assumptions and was shocked by the reveal at the end. Clearly some real thought and planning went into this book, and it shows!

Highly recommend this book to anyone looking for an adrenaline rush or just a brilliant book to pull you out your slump.

5 out of 5 stars. Thank you to NetGalley, Avon Books UK and Helen Fields for allowing me to read this ARC.

[Note: I received this book for free from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This in no way affected my opinion of the book, or the content of my review.] Thanks to Netgalley and @AvonBooksUK

I started reading this book when the cover was not available yet, so from that point of view, bravo to Avon for the nice cover.

Moving to the book, and having said that it was the first novel by Helen Fields I read, I was impressed with the story, keeping the suspense until the end, where you think you have identified the culprit and yet you are surprised that he wasn't alone...

The idea of a maximum security institute, with a map included, is a nice and fresh addiction to the usual whodunnit story mixed with a bunch of serial killers. You can slowly share the claustrophobic feeling growing insided the main character and are relieved with her as soon as she can find way to evade it...just to be brought back to reality almost immediately.

However, as another reviewer wrote, the reason I did not give it five stars, was that it just was too strange when the serial killers started to help.