The Institution

When I read The Shadow Man I was really hoping for another book featuring Dr Connie Woolwine, a fiercely clever forensic profiler, and here it is. The Institution is a locked-room mystery with terror and a cloying sense of claustrophobia at its core.

Connie is taken to the remote and isolated towers of The Institution by helicopter to work undercover in a place occupied by some of the most dangerous serial killers. Her task is to discover who killed Nurse Tara Cameron and stole her baby, and time is running out. Connie's own past is working against her though, and that plus the suspicion of the staff and patients makes her job an extremely difficult one.

As always, Helen Fields drops the reader right into the action and the momentum never show more lets up. The finer details of Tara's death, and the information Connie finds out about the patients' crimes, are shocking and disturbing. Being thrust straight into The Institution offered me a parallel view to that of Connie, hitting the ground running, but it also meant that I felt like I had a bit of settling in of my own to do. Once I had (and it happened quickly) I found this book hard to put down. I had a few ideas as to the killer but honestly, it could have been anyone in that place.

Fields is a superb writer and a master plotter. Connie is an amazing heroine and I found her psychological insights fascinating. The Institution itself is steeped in menace and as the story progresses the insidious sensation just grows and grows. There are quite a few hairy moments! This is a fabulously dark and sinister, totally gripping read. More Connie Woolwine please. show less

The Institution by Helen Sarah Fields

Dark & chilling, grim & gritty, fast-paced thriller that kept me hoping for the best from beginning to end.

What I liked:
* Dr. Connie Woolwine: intelligent, forensic profiler, psych background, American, partners on cases with Brodie Baarda, considered odd-different by others, intriguing, wondered if there was more about her in The Shadow Man that I should have read
* Brodie Baarda: ex-policeman, divorced, father, partner to Connie, stoic, interesting, British, wondered what I had missed about him that I might have enjoyed in the previous book
* The plot, location, atmosphere, pacing, intensity, and writing
* Learning about the “guests” in The Institution and why they were there
* Finding out more show more about the employees, their motivations, and how varied they were
* The shades of gray or evil and seeing that not all who do evil things are totally evil – and that not all who are in charge are good
* Being able to visualize what happened to some of the victims without all the graphic details
* That I was able to read this without having read the first book in the series
* Being immersed in the story, being able to relate, and being taken back to memories of teaching nursing students at a hospital for those deemed criminally insane

What I didn’t like:
* Who and what I was meant not to like – and there were many!
* Knowing that though this is fiction there is much that happens in this book that has happened in fact

Did I like this book? Yes
Would I read more in this series? Definitely.

Thank you to NetGalley and Avod for the ARC – This is my honest review

5 Stars show less

A new take on a locked room mystery as it takes place in a mental institution in the middle of nowhere on the highest security ward. The Institution did not disappoint, the characters were thoroughly developed, the setting was fantastic, and the mystery kept me guessing up until the end. We reunite with Dr. Connie Woolwine as she goes undercover in the Institution to try and solve the mystery, we first met Connie in The Shadow Man (another great book) but you do not need to read the books in order you can jump straight into this book. I highly recommend reading both The Institution and The Shadow Man because they were both dark thrillers and great reads.

Looking forward to reading more books from Helen Fields in the future.

Listened on audible, couldn't focus on it enough and found the accents really distracting! I believe this book would be a higher star read IF read as a book and not listened too. This really felt like a chore to finish, which disappointed me as I was hoping, from the blurb, to be captivated throughout.

Saai, en ongelofelijk traag.
Helemaal geen binding met de personages.

Een moord wordt gepleegd op een gesloten afdeling van een beveiligde afdeling voor geesteszieke criminelen