I can always count on Pekkanen for a popcorn thriller. The short chapters (think 2 minutes each) and the dual POV were a solid choice to make this a fast paced unputdownable book. I thought going into it, I would be scared reading about a character stuck in a mental “ward” but I wasn’t in the slightest. Pekkanen didn’t spend time detailing the other patients in the ward (which I was nervous about) and I appreciated that. I will say that I predicted a few of the story lines pretty early in the book. If you are someone that wants to be guessing the entire time, than this may not be for you.

Georgia Carmichael, a rich wedding planner, is the main suspect in her sisters gruesome murder. She has been placed in “The Locked Ward” until the state deems her fit to stand trial. Once placed in the ward, she will not talk, until one day she asks her lawyer to find her sister Mandy. Mandy, a bartender, can’t believe that she has a long lost TWIN sister, let alone one that is a suspect for murder. Georgia admits that Mandy is her last hope and she needs her help to find the real murderer of her sister. Mandy then goes on a quest to find the real killer while finding out secrets about herself and her family along the way. Her quest, for her long lost sister, then puts her into immediate danger. Will she sacrafice herself for her sister or will she die trying?

If you like unreliable narrators, locked room mysteries, isolation, and female characters in peril than definitely pick this one up. You can finish it in 3 days TOPS.

Thank you to St. Martins press for the ARC.

This was such a good read. It was full of emotion and great writing! Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this ARC in exchange for my honest review

I really liked the story idea; long lost twins and the setting the pysch ward. I liked the dual pov and how we cant ever trust either are reliable. I liked the cliffhanger in the epilogue. However at times we got to much description in the mundane that didnt add to the storyline.
3.5 stars

I loved this unique mystery and will definitely be thinking about it for a while. The characters were fun to follow along with and I enjoyed the setting greatly.

The story is told in alternating chapters by Maddy and Georgia. The short chapters kept me turning the pages of this tale filled with family drama and secrets. It opens with Georgia being committed to a locked ward in a psychiatric facility after being accused of murdering her sister, Annabelle. Georgia enlists Maddy's help to prove her innocence and thereby opens the door to the first of the secrets. My sympathies were solidly in Georgia's camp until a twist or two occurred. I was kept guessing until the end which is always the sign of a good thriller. Sarah Pekkanen is becoming a favorite author and I was happy to receive an advance reading copy of this book.

I liked this book. It was maybe a bit too long and the plot ended up being not quite as twisty as I had hoped it would be, but I still enjoyed reading it. There’s something comfortable about Sarah Pekkanen’s books (at least the two I’ve read, not counting her books with Greer Hendricks). They’re easy and undemanding, while still being interesting enough to keep the pages turning, and because of that I think she’s now become an auto-buy author for me.

The locked ward by Sarah Pekkanen

Holy moly what a thriller! I was scooped up in this psychological thriller from the get go!

When a young woman named Georgia who was adopted as a baby is accused of killing her families biological child. All reason slips away. She is taken to a psychiatric unit to wait until her fate is decided.

The real kicker is when Georgias twin sister Mandy gets into the mix and visits her at the institution and she conveys that she needs to be gotten out of there immediately before someone kills her. With tensions high this book just gets nuttier and nuttier! What a whirlwind!

Thank you NetGalley and St Martins Press.

decently intriguing storyline and super quick read but i really did not enjoy this basic closed captioned ass writing. did we need 4 paragraphs about her going to the kitchen to cook eggs? I’ve enjoyed Pekkanen’s books before but this one got on my nerves.

Thank you to NetGalley and St Martins Press for the digital ARC of this book.
I did not know who to trust reading this book and was questioning everyone!!! I love when that happens! This book had a few unexpected turns, and would be enjoyed most by those who like mysteries or a mild thriller. As someone who has had experience working with patients who are of the psychiatric variety, this book gets you questioning all the things.

The Locked Ward Sarah Pekkanen. Unique premise. The author masterfully weaves a captivating story, blending emotional depth with spine-chilling suspense, delivering an exciting psychological thriller. The ending was quite clever.
Thank you to the author, St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for the opportunity to preview the book.

This was a quick and easy to read thriller that will appeal to a lot of fans of the genre. The ward setting was a creepy element that really lent itself to the story as well!

Thank you Netgalley for the opportunity to read and review this ARC.

This was a solid twisty mystery with good character development and fast paced action. The mystery element kept me guessing and turning pages. A fun read

Pretty good short read, not my favorite book by this author. Don’t want to go into to much detail to spoil the book. But I give it 3 stars

Thank you to Netgalley and the Publsiher for an ARC of this book in exchange for feedback.

Like most books by Pekkanen this one is hard to put down. The book grabs you on the first page and doesn’t let go. Short chapters make this book one that can easily be read in an afternoon if you have nothing better to do.

So why 3 stars? The book was super predictable and there were characters/events introduced to throw you off that weren’t even resolved by the end of book (Colby?). I still enjoyed the book but there wasn’t anything that set it apart from the other books by the author that made it stand out. Again, that’s not a bad thing if you’re looking to deliver reliable stories year after year but this one just wasn’t a favorite.

I like Pekkanen’s books. Her writing keeps me engaged and she always has some good twists and turns!

I am always excited to read a new Sarah Pekkanen book! I spent the entire book trying to figure out what the twist would be and naturally I was wrong!!

I was so excited for this book since I’ve read others by the author and really liked them… the golden couple and gone tonight were both really good. This book started out really strong for me… The premise was great… Twin girls separated at birth, raised by different families and also so many secrets. The book starts with Georgia ( a twin) waking up in a mental institution, accused of killing her sister Annabelle. Mandy (a twin) comes to visit… The first time she’s ever met her twin. Georgia lets Mandy know there are people out to get her… People in high places. Mandy starts to try and unravel the truth behind Annabel‘s murder. The book goes back-and-forth from the perspective of both sisters and is Entertaining, but as the story progressed, I found myself shaking my head… A lot of of the situations just seemed really far-fetched to me. There is one scene where they’re talking about a private investigator who is most likely murdered by politicians aid. The reaction by the sisters is so Blasé -like who talks about a murder like that? I just found myself amused by the situations and how they were portrayed. There was a lot of character exploration that gets into how the girls feel about having a sister they missed growing up with., but that didn’t feel very emotional but fell kind of flat. Then there was the “big reveal” plot twist at the very end that had me thinking “that’s it?”. Overall, the book kept me entertained, but it wasn’t my favorite Pekkanen novel. Thank you NetGalley for the advance digital copy. All opinions are my own.

While this wasn't a 5 star read for me, it did hold my attention and was fast paced throughout. I did guess the ending pretty early on, but it didn't take away from the journey. I liked both the main characters.

I enjoyed this but not as much as her other books I’ve read. It was not as fast-paced as I’d have liked. The characters were a bit flat and the ending was just okay.

Georgia is sent to the locked ward after she is found standing over her sisters dead body. She reaches out to her adopted twin Mandy (who didn’t know she existed) to help clear her name of murder but all the rumors about Georgia as a child make her question whether or not she should be trusted.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for this advanced e-copy in exchange for my honest review.

While The Locked Ward was a fast read and keeps you wondering just enough about where it’s going and what’s going to happen next, I wouldn’t necessarily classify it as a thriller, as it didn’t have that sense of tension I’d typically associate with a thriller. The book centers around long lost sisters, a murder, and hardly a truly likable character.

Some of my issues were - There was a side storyline that popped up occasionally that just didn’t really add anything to the main story and felt very out of place and unnecessary. The way people interacted with each other felt forced, unnatural, and/or cringey through the entire book. And I found the descriptions of the phenomenon of being a twin excessive and overdone.

I’m a big fan of some of Pekkanen’s other books, but this one just didn’t hit for me, unfortunately. It is definitely worth a read though, for someone that wants an easy-read mystery.