The Therapist: A Novel

Rounded up to 2.5.The Circle – A gated estate of twelve houses, built around a garden square. Alice and Leo are new to number 6, and Alice is eager to fit in and make friends. But her happiness is soon overshadowed when she discovers that the previous owner – Therapist Nina Maxwell – was murdered by her husband in her new home. And the more Alice learns about Nina's death the less convinced she is that the Therapist was indeed killed by her husband. And in The Circle, there are eyes everywhere.In all honesty, I struggled to keep my eyes open for most of it. Follow Alice's routine as she spends the first 70% going to the park, meeting and socialising with neighbours, chatting with old friends, discussing living arrangements, and even more mundane – working, eating, and sleeping. The Therapist is 90% domestic drama, 10% mystery/suspense. There's little development to the thriller plot in the first three quarters of the novel and what there is, was rehashed endlessly, with multiple conversations repeating the same information.The pace accelerated towards the end – finally! – and included a couple of satisfying twists, one red herring, and some cleverly planted clues, but it was too little too late I'm afraid.If you enjoy reading about Alice's trust issues, obsessive thoughts and behaviour, and her mourning her country cottage and struggling to adjust to London life, then you might relate to this more. There just wasn't enough to hold my interest or move the plot forward.I'm afraid this is where BA Paris and I part ways. She started strong with Behind Closed Doors, and The Break Down, but has gone steadily downhill since.I'd like to thank Netgalley, HQ Australia, and BA Paris for the e-ARC.UK/AUS/NZ Publication Date: 7th January, 2021.US Publication Date: 13th July, 2021.

The only "mystery" with this book is: how can any reader give it more than a one-star rating???!!! The main character is pathetic, and apparently very few of her brain cells are connected; she truly seems to be in need of a good therapist! This story droned on and on far too long, without providing any suspense. And the ending was less than satisfying; it actually made no sense, and left the reader without any detailed explanation of the actual crime that the main character committed. Such a waste of time reading this one-- it was very mundane, uninteresting, and disappointing. I won't be purchasing any more of this author's work.

A good idea for a story, yet didn’t quite live up to the hype. Main character, Alice, is not the brightest star in the universe. Flipflopping between suspects – her neighbours, estate agent, partner – was intriguing, each of them possibilities for a murder suspect, and that’s when the plot worked well. However, when Alice could have done in-depth online research and didn’t, when she trusted/untrusted various people, she comes across as dim-witted, running around in mental circles that led nowhere. Repetitive references to everyday living slowed down the tension and I frequently put the book down until the last 20-30 pages, at which stage the tension ramped up. Not as gripping as ‘Behind Closed Doors’.

My relationship with B.A. Paris's books was good while it lasted. After reading, and not caring much for, 'The Dilemma', I decided to give her another shot with this one and pre-ordered. Wrong decision. The main character in the book, Alice, was extremely annoying and needy. Not to mention a hypocrite. It was bad for her boyfriend to lie when he didn't want her to know something but ok for her to lie to him and others when it suited her and was to her benefit. Not to mention her attempts to forcefully shove herself into a group of friends. And I don't know why anyone would WANT to live in The Circle. Who would want their neighbors all up in their business 24/7? Alice's attempts at amateur sleuth were ridiculous - and whoever in the book (can't remember which character) that said she was running around like a 'chicken with it's head cut off' was 100% accurate. Had to force myself to finish. Waste of time. The most likeable character in the book was Alice's friend, Debbie. And she was a character on the periphery. Don't waste your time and money on this one - not if you're expecting a book with the early tomes of this author. You'll be sorely disappointed if you do.

I bought and read this book, taking into account that it was a Sunday times best seller. I was disappointed after the first few chapters. It was no better than the free books I have read on my kindle. There was no intrigue, depth. Every paragraph it seemed, as though Alice thought the murderer was someone in the circle, her partner, the estate agent..... It was a tedious and disappointing read. Intense... It was not .....

The main character is unlikable and slightly hysterical. Nothing about her reasoning is logical or believable! Her relationship with Leo would not have got passed the first date in reality. The theme of the murder victim having the same name as her dead sister is nonsensical. Although her parents apparently died in the same accident little mention is given to them. The whole book was a hard slog, one I wished I'd not bothered with by the convoluted unconvincing end!

I really don’t understand the hype about this book. I thought it was a ridiculous far-fetched yarn, full of one dimensional characters - the main protagonist a moany, single-minded, unlikeable female. The ‘twists’ were implausible as was the story itself. I won’t be reading any more BA Paris books now.

Definitely a return to form for BA Paris after I didn’t enjoy her previous book.This is the best book I have read this year and I get through a book every week.Gripping page turner, great characters, absolute whodunnit that you genuinely can’t put down!

I generally like the work of B.A. Paris and have huge admiration for anyone who can actually write a book and get it published and sold! I have to say, at 55% I am struggling. It feels a bit like wading through treacle - laborious, not very rewarding and hoping there might be something to make it worthwhile on the other side. Not much character development, nothing to draw me to the characters and just a bit bland. I hate leaving a poor review and of course it is only my opinion, but read it with moderate expectations. I will finish it, but very easy to put down.