FICTION

The Sleep Room

Pegasus Crime. Oct. 2013. 384p. ISBN 9781605984766. $25.95. F
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OrangeReviewStarYoung psychiatrist James Richardson couldn't be happier to accept the highly regarded Dr. Hugh Maitland's job offer at the remote Wyldehope Hall on the English coast. James has always admired Dr. Maitland's work, and he's particularly intrigued by his experiments with sleep therapy. As the new arrival, James is puzzled as to why Maitland will not discuss the sleep patients' backgrounds, but he has plenty to distract him in the form of a romance with one of the nurses and some very strange occurrences that seem to be supernatural in nature. Soon what began as a promising opportunity for the young doctor begins to look like something more sinister, and James begins to suspect that the purpose of the Sleep Room isn't quite aboveboard.
VERDICT Edgar Award-nominated Tallis ("Max Liebermann" series) is in fine form in this gothic flavored chiller set in the 1950s. The remote, seaside village makes the perfect venue for this mystery with ghostly elements, which is punctuated by moments of violence made even more shocking by the old fashioned tone. The twist, when it comes, may not come as a complete surprise, but the journey is a very creepy, rewarding one.
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