This book was OK, not great, not terrible. I thought the main character, Alison, was very horror movie stupid girl who checks on scary noises when she knows she is being stalked.

Dr. Alison Wilson has taken a new job in a small town in the UK to get away from her ex and previous humiliations in London. She knows her predecessor left rather abruptly but is determined to pick up the pieces and improve the hospital. Unfortunately, she undertakes much more than she bargained for with an unexplained high mortality rate, faulty equipment, drug theft and hostile staff. I admire her perseverance as she is clearly being gaslighted, though it takes her a while to catch on. I was pleasantly surprised my suspect was wrong. I always like it when I think I have the whodunit figured out and the author catches me off guard but it all still makes great sense.

There are plenty of unlikeable characters in this book. I would daresay they outnumber the likeable ones. Alison herself I disliked at times. This is a good hospital mystery if you like the drama of Grey's Anatomy (or whatever the UK equivalent is?). Not something I'd read again but a good way to pass the time.

Our central character Dr Alison Wilson has moved to a hospital in a small coastal town, Wayleigh, which is aesthetically pleasant but a world away from the cut and thrust of life in a London teaching hospital. She has taken on the position of medical director of a failing hospital which has a poor Care Quality Commission rating, where unexpected deaths are abnormally high. A challenge but seemingly well within the ability of a senior stroke consultant.

After a brief settling-in period Alison starts to make changes and then she comes across resistance. She’s works wholly electronically which doesn’t go well with the administration staff, the previous director, Dr Atkinson, was a belt and braces man and everything was written down. On the wards her changes come up against resistance and the head of the stroke ward, Dr Carrick, goes on sick leave with stress which he claims is down to Alison’s bullying. This leaves the ward critically under resourced, funding is tight across the NHS but this hospital it seems acutely so, no wonder moral is so low.

Further digging makes Alison certain that there are financial and medical irregularities at the hospital, but when she acts as whistle blower life gets complicated. It seems everyone is against Alison as pressure mounts and unexplained events start to rack up. What she needs is support, whereas her ex-husband wants her to return to London for a reconciliation now his mistress has left him.

The reader gets a sense of Alison’s struggles against those who are set in their ways, the rigid departments, hints of the bureaucracy and of course the self-serving career first directors. (I’m sure there are some great managers and directors in the NHS but that would make for dull reading.) The epitome of the situation is highlighted by the nameplate on Alison’s door, yes people do fret about such things. Alison takes off her predecessor’s name plate and must make to with paper while a new one is made. When it comes it is spelt ‘Alsion’ in error or more likely in a magnificent show of passive-aggressive revenge.

The story narrative is split two ways with the thoughts of the killer in first person and the remainder in the third person. We hear from the killer right at the beginning and we are left in doubt they are a killer but as it is told in the first person, we do not know who the killer is or even what sex they are.

The plot revolves around Alison and her steps to make improvements at the hospital, which of course, upsets the status quo for employees and the killer. Ideally the killer would like her to leave by her own volition so arranges things to make life uncomfortable for Alison by hacking her computer and cancelling appointments and then vandalism of her property. Later when it appears that she will not be easily forced out the stakes are ratcheted up and the plan is to discredit her leading to dismissal, which requires secrets to be revealed. Then finally Alison finds her life in danger.

This is very much a psychological thriller, and such the pacing of the story becomes vital. The tension is allowed to build slowly as events gradually take over Alison’s life leading to initially frustration, then self-doubt, followed by some paranoia before realising she has been right all along. Throughout Alison has odd encounters with Dr Atkinson in the street, but she not only has taken over his old job, initially unbeknown to her she is also renting his former home. People she thought liked her seem to turn against her, such that she is unsure who to trust. There are murders but the victims are despatched in a clinical fashion, this is no blood and gore thriller even though there is some jeopardy. All of this is nicely judged.

The Doctor chillingly demonstrates how simple it could be to kill for revenge or to fuel a desire for power and control over life due to mental illness. Entertaining and slightly disturbing.

I was allowed access to a pdf review copy on Net Galley in exchange for a fair review. I would like to thank the Author and Publisher for arranging this.

A quick and easy read, Alison left her job in a London hospital under a bit of a cloud, relocating to a smaller hospital by the coast in a new role as Medical Director. But right from the start she picks up in many discrepancies and aims to improve the rating. But someone is against her all the way trying to make her look incompetent.
Although I guessed the protagonist from the start I did enjoy the book. I haven't read many books based in hospitals and this had the right amount of drama for me

Who doesnt love a hospital story ! This one gives a lot of insight into how the NHS works and makes a brilliant gripping story from the very first page. I was hooked to the very last page. This would make a fabulous film .
Thanks to Netgalley for the opportunity to read this ARC

A good read but I did guess the guessable bits fairly quickly,a great premise though and good writing that created an atmospheric story that kept me reading,would make a great tv series

This is the first book I have read by this author, so I didn’t know what to expect. I found the book to have a steady pace, with the main character – Dr Alison Wilson being well rounded and likable, and I quickly found myself caring about her and wanting her to succeed. There are some frustrating aspects to this tale – the regular occurrence of meetings disappearing from her diary, altered board reports and vandalism to her home and car – with people struggling to believe and help her, were a little repetitive and drawn out. That said, this book has a fascinating storyline and a host of well-developed, well written characters.

A debut medical mystery thriller, The Doctor by Annie Payne is a medical psychological thriller. Dr. Alison Wilson is a stroke specialist who moves from London to Wayleigh Village to be the Medical Director at Saint Margaret’s Hospital. With an array of problems to fix including the hospital’s CQC Rating, her presence is undermined by staff members unwilling to change. Of most concern is the high rate of patient mortality. As Alison digs deeper, she believes there may be a killer at work. An engaging narrative with tension-building twists that make for a three and a half stars read rating. With thanks to Avon Books UK and the author for an uncorrected proof copy for review purposes. As always, the opinions herein are totally my own and freely given.

I am afraid that this one isn't working for me at all. There isn't too.much of the thriller aspect that I was expecting in the story line.

The main character comes across and rude and annoying which is not what you want from somebody working in a hospital. Her main concern seemed to be about her new name plate from her door.

Thanks Avon UK for the ARC but this was a miss for me

I enjoyed this book. Dr Alison Wilson has escaped from a difficult time in London to take up the post of Medical Director at an underachieving hospital by the sea. She finds some of the staff cold and unfriendly and there is clearly something very wrong. Part of the narrative is told by an unnamed person who has clearly some serious issues to hide and is desperate to get rid of Alison. This is a good story that will keep you guessing to the end. Thanks to NetGalley for a preview copy.
Copied to Goodreads.

I really wanted to love this book more but it was so predictable. The premise was good and there was some tension and suspense but not as much as I was promised. I am sure other readers will enjoy it more just not for me.

Dr Alison Wilson starts her new job as Medical Officer in a seaside hospital that is having problems with a high mortality rate, missing drugs and an unsettled staff. It's a slow burner but one with enough twists and turns to keep you reading. I enjoyed this book and look forward to reading more from Annie Payne. Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for an advance copy of this book.

The Doctor by Annie Payne is an outstanding psychological thriller that keeps you gripped from start to finish.

The novel takes you on an adrenaline-fuelled rollercoaster, beginning with the fresh-faced Dr Alison Wilson as she moves to a new town to start a new job. Her story of being a life saver and care giver soon spirals as she discovers something sinister afoot at the hospital she’s working at.
The characters within the story are enthralling, their moral compass becomes increasingly warped and blurred as their true nature is revealed. You really root for Alison throughout her mission to uncover the hidden depths of St Margaret's and the various dark secrets kept within it's walls.

Annie Payne creates an impeccably structured story with constant surprises and turns. With powerful, descriptive writing and captivating suspense, The Doctor is an incredibly addictive read with a bold and original ending.

If you're a fan of psychological thrillers like Doctor Foster and Harriet Tyce, you'll find yourself lost in the vivid world created by Payne, where lies run deep and murder lurks in the shadows.

This was my first ever medical thriller, and I have to say I absolutely loved it! Dr Alison Wilson has started her new job as medical director at a failing hospital. It soon becomes clear that Alison’s job will be a lot harder than she first thought.

Staff moral is through the floor, drugs are missing and the hospital has many deaths that are unexplained and could be suspicious. As Alison begins to look into what’s gone wrong and tries to make some changes it soon becomes clear that someone doesn’t want her digging and will go to extreme measures to stop her discovering the truth.

As I said above I really enjoyed this book the only thing I found a little disappointing was that it was quite predictable and I found that I guessed who was behind what was going on quite early on in the book, but still I wouldn’t let that put off recommending this book to others and it certainly didn’t take away the enjoyment that I got from reading this book.

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher and the author for an advance copy of this book in exchange for this review.

An enjoyable read. Are patient deaths murder or just unfortunate? Although by half way through it's pretty obvious who the murderer is , the end reveals why.

I wanted to love this one and it was alright, I think I just expected a lot more.

Its not a bad read by any means, but its quite average and I dont think that memorable. Id still recommend it to most readers though.

I was super excited to read this novel by author Annie Payne as the blurb sounded really intriguing and interesting.

I found this book to be quite slow paced to start with but nevertheless I did enjoy reading about main character Dr Alison. Alison has moved jobs to a new hospital to start a job as a Medical Officer. Alison comes across a few things that do not add up and she sets out to investigate what has been going on. We meet a plethora of characters and it can be quite confusing but the main aspect of the story held well for me personally.

I enjoyed reading about Alison, some bits I felt like my mind was completely wondering off the page which for me is not the best sign but I am glad that I persevered with this book.

Thanks to Netgalley, Annie Payne and the publishers for allowing me a copy of this novel.

A good medical mystery that I thoroughly enjoyed with good characters that kept me involved in the storyline from the beginning until the end.

Thank you to Netgalley and Avon Books for this ARC which I can thoroughly recommend.

This was quite a fast paced medical thriller where it was difficult to figure out who Alison could trust from the array of characters we were introduced to! All of the people she worked with seemed to have their own reasons for making life as difficult as possible for her. Some just resistant to change, some trying to cover their tracks, there were a lot of people standing in the way of Alison doing what she felt was necessary to improve the fate of her new hospital.
It was fascinating reading all that was being done to her and trying to work out from the vast array of suspects who it could be and if it was just one or maybe even a conspiracy of most of those putting up blocks in her way.
There were many clues and when they all unravelled it did make sense of everything that had happened but it wasn't quite the ending I had guessed at which was fun!
I really enjoyed this read and hope to read more by this author in future.

I would recommend this book.
Alison has moved away from her London life, she hopes as medical director, to turn around failing hospital St Margarets. However things are worse than she expected - unexplained deaths, equipment failure, she begins to think she is losing her mind.
I loved seeing how it all played out, I had suspicions but then was thrown off.
Thank you netgally for the ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Dr Alison Wilson has fled London and her divorce for a new role in a rural hospital. She plans to throw herself into her work and turn the failing hospital around. However from the moment she starts her new role, someone is messing with her head and creating obstacles to intimidate her. What’s more, someone in the hospital has an even darker agenda and patients are dying in record numbers. The question is, who is the killer?

I loved the sound of the book from its blurb but didn’t really enjoy its execution. I guessed the killer quite quickly. I didn’t really enjoy the writing style and found the dialogue quite clunky. The pace was a little slower than I would like from a thriller too. Unfortunately, it wasn’t the book for me but I think it will be more than of a hit for a reader who is new to the thriller genre.

Thank you to the author, publisher and Netgalley for an advanced copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.