Turn of Mind

by Alice LaPlante

First published 2011

Dr. Jennifer White stares at the police officers in her living room. Her neighbor Amanda has been found dead with four fingers surgically removed. The retired orthopedic surgeon knows she had the skills to make those precise cuts. She also knows her mind no longer works the way it once did. Dementia clouds her thoughts and fragments her memories. She cannot remember if she killed her lifelong friend. The two women shared decades of friendship marked by fierce loyalty and bitter rivalry. As detectives press their investigation, Jennifer struggles to distinguish reality from confusion. Her live-in caretaker watches her carefully. Her two adult children visit with worried faces. Jennifer fights to hold onto pieces of truth while her memory crumbles. She cannot tell if her failing mind hides guilt or innocence. The answer lies somewhere in the wreckage of a brilliant woman's disintegrating thoughts.

Genres: suspense, mystery, crime, psychological-thriller

Vibes: dark, emotional, intimate, suspenseful, thought-provoking

Tropes: unreliable-narrator

307 pages · Hardcover · Grove Press

Content warnings: mental-illness

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