At one time Dr. Anna Fox - 38-years-old - was a successful child psychologist living in a renovated four-story Manhattan townhouse with her husband Ed and school age daughter Olivia.
Now Anna is an agoraphobic who can't leave her home.
Ed and Olivia reside elsewhere, and Anna lives alone except for her cat Punch, and her tenant/handyman, David - who rents the house's basement maisonette.
Since Anna is housebound, she gets her medication, groceries, produce, wine, and other needs delivered.....and David takes care of trash and routine maintenance.
Anna calls Ed and Olivia every day, always opening the conversation with a cheery, "Guess whooooo?" Anna misses her family terribly, and delights in these daily talks.
Though Anna is confined, she's not averse to seeing people, and her doorbell rings frequently - heralding visits from her renter David, her physical therapist Bina, her psychiatrist Dr. Fielding, and her new neighbors, Alistair and Jane Russell and their teenage son Ethan. The Russells just moved into a multimillion dollar townhouse across from Anna's home, and the agoraphobic has a clear view into their residence from her windows.
With all this traffic through her house, you'd think Anna would take care of her appearance, but the psychologist takes A LOT of medication - including powerful psychotropic drugs - and drinks AT LEAST a bottle or two of Merlot a day (which is strictly contraindicated with her meds).
Thus Anna is usually 'impaired', and often wanders around the house unshowered, in a grubby bathrobe and slippers.
Anna occupies her time playing online chess, taking computer French lessons, visiting a chat website for agoraphobics, and watching vintage suspense movies - especially Hitchcock classics.
Anna's favorite activity, though, is spying on her neighbors with her Nikon telephoto camera.....and data mining them online.
Thus the psychologist knows all about her neighbors' education, jobs, income, day-to-day routines, spending habits, food preferences, favorite television programs, book clubs, romantic affairs, and so on. (If I had a neighbor like this I would buy blackout curtains!)
After a visit from her new neighbor Jane Russell - during which the women play chess, tour the house, and drink 3 or 4 bottles of wine - Anna thinks she's made a new friend.
Things go south, however, when the psychologist sees a violent occurrence in the Russell household. Anna calls the police, but the Russells deny that anything happened, and NO ONE believes the 'delusional' agoraphobic.' One male detective tries to be kind but his female partner is especially cruel, and makes it clear she thinks Anna is an attention-seeking liar.
The psychologist is positive she saw a crime, though, and sets out to look for evidence. Anna makes it her business to investigate the Russells, and proceeds to accuse everyone in sight of various misdeeds. Meanwhile, strange things start to happen to Anna, which she can't explain. In part, this is the agoraphobic's own fault, since she overshares online. You'd think an intelligent woman with a Ph.D would know better.....but maybe it's the drugs and alcohol.
As the story unfolds we find out what led to Anna's illess and what secrets the Russells are hiding. Eventually, everything comes to a head in a dramatic - though VERY drawn out - denouement.
For the most part, I enjoyed the book.The portrayal of Anna's debilitating syndrome is realistic, and I found her to be a (mostly) sympathetic protagonist. The other characters in the book are also well-drawn, and the story is compelling.
I do have reservations about (what I consider to be) huge holes in the plot. These are spoilers, so if you haven't read the book you might want to skip this part.
SPOILER ALERT / SPOILER ALERT
First.....haven't these New York detectives ever heard of fingerprints? When there's a question about whether someone was inside Anna's house, the police should just dust for prints. Even if it's just to humor the 'delusional' agoraphobic. Fingerprints (or the lack thereof) would prove the matter one way or the other.
Second.....There are VERY STRICT hipaa regulations about doctor-patient confidentiality. In the book, Dr. Fielding (moronically) blabs all about Anna's condition to the cops. Psychiatrists are NOT PERMITTED to do this. I was ABSOLUTELY AGHAST at this breach of professional responsibility!!
Third.....When the cops learn about Anna's diagnosis, they proceed to talk to her about it in front of David and the Russells. WTF?? The police shouldn't have this information to begin with, and CERTAINLY HAVE NO BUSINESS discussing it in front of the whole neighborhood.
If it was me, I would sue the crap out of the psychiatrist and the cops.
END SPOILER ALERT / END SPOILER ALERT
In spite of my reservations, this is one of the better mysteries I've read recently. I had an idea about the book's climax - and I was right - but this didn't detract from my enjoyment of the story. I'd recommend the novel to fans of psychological thrillers.
Rating: 3.5 stars
Ed and Olivia reside elsewhere, and Anna lives alone except for her cat Punch, and her tenant/handyman, David - who rents the house's basement maisonette.
Since Anna is housebound, she gets her medication, groceries, produce, wine, and other needs delivered.....and David takes care of trash and routine maintenance.
Anna calls Ed and Olivia every day, always opening the conversation with a cheery, "Guess whooooo?" Anna misses her family terribly, and delights in these daily talks.
Though Anna is confined, she's not averse to seeing people, and her doorbell rings frequently - heralding visits from her renter David, her physical therapist Bina, her psychiatrist Dr. Fielding, and her new neighbors, Alistair and Jane Russell and their teenage son Ethan. The Russells just moved into a multimillion dollar townhouse across from Anna's home, and the agoraphobic has a clear view into their residence from her windows.
With all this traffic through her house, you'd think Anna would take care of her appearance, but the psychologist takes A LOT of medication - including powerful psychotropic drugs - and drinks AT LEAST a bottle or two of Merlot a day (which is strictly contraindicated with her meds).
Thus Anna is usually 'impaired', and often wanders around the house unshowered, in a grubby bathrobe and slippers.
Anna occupies her time playing online chess, taking computer French lessons, visiting a chat website for agoraphobics, and watching vintage suspense movies - especially Hitchcock classics.
Anna's favorite activity, though, is spying on her neighbors with her Nikon telephoto camera.....and data mining them online.
Thus the psychologist knows all about her neighbors' education, jobs, income, day-to-day routines, spending habits, food preferences, favorite television programs, book clubs, romantic affairs, and so on. (If I had a neighbor like this I would buy blackout curtains!)
After a visit from her new neighbor Jane Russell - during which the women play chess, tour the house, and drink 3 or 4 bottles of wine - Anna thinks she's made a new friend.
Things go south, however, when the psychologist sees a violent occurrence in the Russell household. Anna calls the police, but the Russells deny that anything happened, and NO ONE believes the 'delusional' agoraphobic.' One male detective tries to be kind but his female partner is especially cruel, and makes it clear she thinks Anna is an attention-seeking liar.
The psychologist is positive she saw a crime, though, and sets out to look for evidence. Anna makes it her business to investigate the Russells, and proceeds to accuse everyone in sight of various misdeeds. Meanwhile, strange things start to happen to Anna, which she can't explain. In part, this is the agoraphobic's own fault, since she overshares online. You'd think an intelligent woman with a Ph.D would know better.....but maybe it's the drugs and alcohol.
As the story unfolds we find out what led to Anna's illess and what secrets the Russells are hiding. Eventually, everything comes to a head in a dramatic - though VERY drawn out - denouement.
For the most part, I enjoyed the book.The portrayal of Anna's debilitating syndrome is realistic, and I found her to be a (mostly) sympathetic protagonist. The other characters in the book are also well-drawn, and the story is compelling.
I do have reservations about (what I consider to be) huge holes in the plot. These are spoilers, so if you haven't read the book you might want to skip this part.
SPOILER ALERT / SPOILER ALERT
First.....haven't these New York detectives ever heard of fingerprints? When there's a question about whether someone was inside Anna's house, the police should just dust for prints. Even if it's just to humor the 'delusional' agoraphobic. Fingerprints (or the lack thereof) would prove the matter one way or the other.
Second.....There are VERY STRICT hipaa regulations about doctor-patient confidentiality. In the book, Dr. Fielding (moronically) blabs all about Anna's condition to the cops. Psychiatrists are NOT PERMITTED to do this. I was ABSOLUTELY AGHAST at this breach of professional responsibility!!
Third.....When the cops learn about Anna's diagnosis, they proceed to talk to her about it in front of David and the Russells. WTF?? The police shouldn't have this information to begin with, and CERTAINLY HAVE NO BUSINESS discussing it in front of the whole neighborhood.
If it was me, I would sue the crap out of the psychiatrist and the cops.
END SPOILER ALERT / END SPOILER ALERT
In spite of my reservations, this is one of the better mysteries I've read recently. I had an idea about the book's climax - and I was right - but this didn't detract from my enjoyment of the story. I'd recommend the novel to fans of psychological thrillers.
Rating: 3.5 stars
Nice review, Barb! I have this book on my to-read list.
ReplyDeleteThank you Sandra. 😊
ReplyDeleteI am still on the list at the library for this one so I didn't read the spoilers. Nice review Barb.
ReplyDeleteThank you Carla. Hope you get the book soon. 🧡
ReplyDelete