I loved this book! It's well-written, enjoyable, and a great read. Benjamin Gilmre did a great job of writing in a way that captures the readers attention, and makes you not want to put it down until you're finished! I would highly recommend it!

Thank you to Ballantine Books for the eARC of The Other Dr. Gilmer. When Dr. Benjamin Gilmer starts at a rural clinic in North Carolina he learns that his predecessor Dr. Vince Gilmer (no relation) had strangled his father, and was now incarcerated. Trying to reconcile this crime with the stories he hears from his patients sends Dr. B Gilmer on a quest to understand Dr. V Gilmer, and ultimately the mental health issues plaguing those incarcerated. A powerful memoir it highlights the inadequate mental health treatment available to incarcerated people, and how the system continues to fail them.

When Dr. Benjamin Gilmer got a job at a rural health clinic, he discovered he was replacing Dr. Vince Gilmer and thought it was quite a coincidence. When he learned the other Dr. Gilmer’s background, he was fearful at first but connecting with him changed his life.

I went into THE OTHER DR. GILMER only knowing what’s presented in the subtitle - TWO MEN, A MURDER, AND AN UNLIKELY FIGHT FOR JUSTICE and I think that’s the best way to approach this book. It was an engrossing, quick read for me even when the subject matter was difficult to stomach. Even though it’s redundant at times, this is an important book about the American medical and justice systems.

Part true crime, part medical mystery this fascinating book delves into the undiagnosed mental health crisis of America’s justice system. It raises questions of punishment versus rehabilitation and the often cruel treatment of incarcerated persons with both physical and mental disease. I will admit that I just did not connect with the cover and thus put off reading it time and again- only to tear through it once I began.

It seems an improbable coinsidence, but this is the story of Dr. Benjamin Gilmer, who begins practicing in Cane Creek, North Carolina, essentially taking over for Dr. Vince Gilmer - no relation. The men are not related, but their lives will become entwined in ways that the former never could have imagined. This is due to the fact that the latter shocked his rural community by committing a terrible crime - murdering his father.

Prior to the crime, Dr. Vince was deeply loved by his patients and community. He went out of his way to provide exceptional care, going above and beyond what would be expected. Dr. Benjamin repeatedly hears from these patients, who are now his, how they could not believe Dr. Vince was capable of something so terrible, and this serves as the basis to draw him into the case and as Dr. Benjamin looked into it more and more, that something was not right.

These facts are not in dispute: In 2004 Dr. Vince picked up his father from the assisted living facility where he stayed. He then strangled his father, cut off his fingertips, and dumped the body. On top of all that, Dr. Vince then went about his daily life, showing up to his clinic the next morning for another day with patients.

So ten years later, Dr. Benjamin arrives in Cane Creek and as he learns more, he is determined to find out what really happened. He can't reconcile the portrait painted of Dr. Vince by his former patients with the convicted murderer who was sentences to life in prison for the brutal crime.

When Dr. Benjamin finally works up the courage to visit Dr. Vince in prison, he is shocked as to who he finds sitting across from him. Dr. Vince is suffering from a combination of disabilities that could have contributed to his committing murder. The disabilites are both mental and physical, and to Dr. Benjamin it is clear that Dr. Vince is mentally unwell. Yet others dismiss this as him attempting to wiggle his way out of his lengthy prison sentence.

Yet Dr. Vince is receiving no medical care in any way, shape or form. The book is as much as an indictment of our incredibly shitty treatment of those with mental illnesses who are trapped in the endless cycle of being in and out of the prison system.

Dr. Benjamin uncovers several things that could have contributed to Dr. Vince "snapping". As a child Dr. Vince was sexually abused by his father and as a result had PTSD. On top of that he had recently suffered a traumatic brain injury. We also find out that shortly before Dr. Vince murdered his father, he stopped taking Lexapro cold turkey, which I understand is a terrible thing to do. I take Lexapro to help combat my a-typical anxiety/stress-induced migraines (they're awful, like, SERIOUSLY. They're in the same spot and when one comes on, it feels like the whole right side of my face is melting). My doctor made it very clear that missing a dose would not be good, and starting it I only took half a pill before working up to the full one. And when I went in for a med check the following year, we agreed coming off the Lexapro in the beginning of a global pandemic would not be a good idea.

The whole point of my sharing this is to show how powerful drugs like Lexapro are. Dr. Vince talked repeatedly about feeling like there was something wrong with his brain prior to him stopping the meds, and the murder. In fact, Dr. Vince chose to represent himself at his trial - something that should have also been a major red flag that something was not right in his head. Instead people just assumed that he was using it as a way to get out of a guilty verdict.

Dr. Vince uses the term SSRI brain as his defense. This was something I looked into more in-depth outside the book and it basically means the brain is attempting to withdraw from the med that it no longer has access to.

Dr. Benjamin visits Dr. Vince several times as he comes to believe that Dr. Vince has some pretty severe brain damage. At one point he brings a colleague he agrees that something is not right. He notes several symptoms - tics and tremors, difficulty walking - that could indicate Huntington's. Add to this the statements Dr. Vince made about his brain "not working", and it makes sense.

It will probably not surprise you to find that after finally securing the genetic testing needed to get a diagnosis, that Dr. Vince does in fact have Huntington's. If you are unfamiliar with this degenerative disease, it is devastating. Huntington's causes a breakdown of nerve cells in the brain. This in turn impacts a person's whole ability to live, from physical movement to cognitive functioning. It is a disease for which there is no cure, only treatments that can make the patient as comfortable as possible until dying a horrific, painful death.

Dr. Benjamin spent the next several years working tirelessly to advocate for Dr. Vince to get the treatment he needed, in an appropriate placement; prison was clearly not the right place.

In the end, this is a deeply fascinating and moving story that demands attention. Highly recommended.

Dr. Benjamin Gilmer takes over a medical practice in a rural North Carolina town. He soon learns the previous physician was also named Dr Gilmer, and is now in prison serving a life sentence for murdering his father. At first Dr Gilmer is disturbed and afraid of the other Dr Gilmer, but once NPR This American Life contacts him to develop a radio broadcast on the coincidence, he is forced to confront his fears. What starts off is as medical murder mystery turns into a spiritual journey for Benjamin Gilmer as he learns all lives have value, even the prisoners and the mentally ill.

Dr. Benjamin Gilmer finds himself in an odd position: taking the position at a small rural doctor's office, replacing the doctor who was now a convicted murder -- Dr. Vince Gilmer. As author Dr. Gilmer begins learning about the case and the community, he realizes that the old Dr. Gilmer may not have been a crazed psychopath, but perhaps suffering with a medical condition that likely could have caused him to commit such a heinous crime. As Gilmer himself says, this is not a true crime book in the sense that it is not a story whose sole purpose is to cover the murder and the investigation. It is, rather, a story about the potential medical cause of the murder, the search for a medical diagnosis for the murderer, and the experiences of the mentally or physically ill in America's prison systems.

Admittedly, however, I enjoyed the more true crime aspects towards the beginning of the book more than the appeal process near the end. The murder, the trial, the aftermath -- the competing facts of each of these kept me hooked and interested in reading further. Once we get a diagnosis and Ben Gilmer begins narrating the experience of the appeals process and Vince's decline in prison, I found my interest waning. There were definitely moments I found interesting in the back half, especially with the conversations about the systematic neglect of people who have been incarcerated, but I wished the pacing was a bit more balanced.

If you like books like "The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks" or "Just Mercy", you'll love this one!

3⭐️s
Would I recommend? Yes

Publication Date: March 1, 2022
By Ballantine Books

Who should read this? Fans of memoir who also like true crime, people interested in the criminal justice system and criminal justice reform.

This book was much more than I expected. It is a memoir but also a first hand account of how the criminal justice system in the United States is very broken. The story is a fascinating intersection of medicine, the legal system, the penal system, mental health, and rural America.

The pacing of this book was a bit inconsistent and the story was choppy at times. I had trouble following the timeline of events. I also felt like the truly heinous nature of Dr. Gilmer’s crime was glossed over toward the end of the book.

I appreciate the copy of this book from NetGalley and Ballantine in exchange for this honest review.

Better than watching a crime investigation show on television, I was able to visualize my own “show”. First of all, the coincidence of the same names is incredible. Our mental health, health care and prison systems need much attention and overhauls
I truly enjoyed this book from the perspective of the victim, prisoner, the legal and mental health system and yes Dr. Gilmer and those close to him.

This was a very well done and well rounded novel. I really enjoyed the characters and the development of the plot throughout.

I didn't really know what to expect from the title of this book. What I found was an interesting true crime story that involved a rural doctor. This doctor was imprisoned for killing his father in Virginia. Oddly enough, another doctor with the same surname took over the first doctor's rural practice after he went to prison. The second doctor became involved in trying to obtain the freedom of the first doctor after visiting him in prison and discovering that he suffered an inherited mental and physical illness that should have been treated in a psychiatric facility, not prison. I highly recommend this book to other readers of true crime and human interest stories.

This book is a true eye-opening expose about how the legal and/or prison system has failed the prisoners who are either truly mentally ill or who have undiagnosed serious illnesses. It goes without saying that there are many imposters who pretend to be mentally incompetent to avoid prison time but this is not such a case. This book is about two country doctors-ironically not related but sharing the same last name. The older Dr. Gilmer, beloved by his patients for his kindness, patience and good care suddenly, inexplicably kills his father. He pleads guilty and insists on defending himself although he is totally inexperienced. His behavior in the courtroom is bizarre and often doesn’t make sense and yet he is sentenced to a lengthy jail term. His replacement, the second Dr. Gilmer wants to know more about him and after several visits to the prison he is convinced that what he needs is hospitalization, medication and a chance at rehabilitation. He recognizes his symptoms as characteristic of a serious incurable disease and lobbies multiple times for clemency only to have his efforts turned down repeatedly. This is a real eye opener to the deficiencies of the legal and prison systems. Is it really fair to incarcerate someone without first trying to establish their mental and physical state? Is a jail cell the easy way out rather than a comprehensive diagnosis? You be the judge.

Such a fascinating and heartbreaking read. Not much of a memoir reader but really enjoyed this one.

Part true crime, part medical mystery this fascinating book delves into the undiagnosed mental health crisis of America’s justice system. It raises questions of punishment versus rehabilitation and the often cruel treatment of incarcerated persons with both physical and mental disease. I will admit that I just did not connect with the cover and thus put off reading it time and again- only to tear through it once I began. I will no doubt think of the “other” Dr. Gilmer for a long time to come. 4.5 stars. Thank you, NetGalley!

As a fan of true crime podcasts, I really enjoyed the style and structure of this book. Fascinating story and also very informative. It all felt very timely.

THE OTHER DR. GILMER :: Benjamin Gilmer

Holy cats. Benjamin Gilmer may be a doctor, but he could have a second career as a thriller or true crime writer, because The Other Dr. Gilmer is a barnburner. A story that, almost too bizarre to be believed on multiple levels, held me rapt from cover to cover.

It's best to go in knowing as little as possible, because some of the links and coincidences between the two Drs. Gilmer are best when they are come across in the book and smack the reader upside the head. But a "whet your whistle" synopsis goes something like this:

Dr. Benjamin Gilmer was something of a late bloomer, a medical resident who, unlike his twenty-something classmates, was 39, married with a mortgage, one child and another on the way. He had decided on family medicine as his path and found a calling towards a rural practice. He found that at a tiny six-room clinic in Fletcher, North Carolina. After a three-year hiatus, the clinic was being reopened and desperately needed help.

Dr. Benjamin Gilmer learned that his predecessor, Dr. Vince Gilmer, had quite a story. Gilmer the second opens the book with this passage, hooking me instantly:

On June 28, 2004, in rural Appalachia, a man with my name and my profession strangled his father in the passenger seat of his Toyota Tacoma.

The morning after killing his father, Gilmer the first showed up for work as usual and saw his patients like nothing had happened.

Benjamin Gilmer was in a tough position, coming in after Vince Gilmer (no relation) and trying to win over the patients that, UNIVERSALLY, loved their prior doctor. An upstanding member of the community, beloved by his patients, a man who, according to all reports, went above and beyond to help people and couldn't even bear to kill the mice behind the clinic. No one ever had a glimmer of what was coming.

But how? And why? Feeling the need to answer those questions, Benjamin Gilmer started investigating. Little did he know that deep dive would require all of his (and others) medical acumen, a legal battle, and end in the most unimaginable way possible.

I can't recommend The Other Dr. Gilmer highly enough. On top of a top-notch true crime mystery unfolding before your eyes, the writing of Dr. Gilmer is fabulous, keeping the story moving at a wonderful pace while keeping the complex facts, medical issues and legal process easily comprehended. This is simply one of the most amazing stories I've ever read.

There are three things I want to say about this book, and they are things that I rarely say:

1. It made me cry (hard to do).
2. I learned a lot.
3. This book is a MUST READ.

I debated for a long time about how much to reveal about this story. I have decided that since it is a true story that was in the news (though I’d never heard of this particular case), that it was okay to share details. If you want to go into it fresh, stop reading now - but know that you should definitely read it.

Dr. Vince Gilmer was a rural doctor in the Appalachia area of southern America. He was gentle, kind, well-loved and very respected by all who knew him … until one day, when he took his father out of his healthcare facility, strangled him with a dog leash, cut off his fingers, and dumped his body on the side of the road.

Dr. Ben Gilmer (no relation) soon took his spot at the small clinic, and was horrified to hear what his predecessor had done. He was worried this tight-knit community wouldn’t accept him, especially since he is also Dr. Gilmer, and also worried that the “other” Dr. Gilmer would somehow get revenge while serving his life sentence. However, after hearing about the elder doctor and how much his patients loved him, he decided to visit the other doctor in prison to get his side of the story.

Long story short, he soon realized that Vince Gilmer was a man who was suffering. Shortly before killing his father, Vince went off the SSRI antidepressant he was on, Lexapro. As anyone who has been on an SSRI knows, when you start or stop taking them abruptly, you can literally go crazy. Was this a case of serotonin withdrawal? The other Dr. Gilmer had also been sexually abused by his father as a child, and had PTSD from that abuse. He ALSO had recently received a traumatic brain injury, which can certainly make people irrational and completely change their personalities. Was this a man with a brain that was severely damaged, or a psychopathic killer trying to make excuses for his behavior?

With all of these factors in play, Dr. Ben Gilmer realized that this doctor, who ended up defending himself in court, may not have been in his right mind when he murdered his father. He began visiting Vince more, and one day brought a colleague who noticed some disturbing physical symptoms that mimicked Huntington’s Disease. I had never heard of this, but it is kind of similar to having both Parkinson’s Disease and Alzheimer’s at the same time. It causes tics, tremors, walking issues and mental instability. The only way to find out for sure if he had it was to do genetic testing … which came back as positive for Huntington’s.

With this new knowledge, and after getting to know Vince, Ben realized that this entire situation was a miscarriage of justice. This man had multiple factors that could have caused him to “snap” and kill. He was allowed to defend himself, when it should have been clear to most people that he was suffering from a mental illness. He was sentenced to life in prison, and was left with no physical or psychiatric care - very common in the American prison system. Soon, Ben realized that he needed to step in and advocate for this man.

The rest of the book goes through the years-long process of trying to get clemency for this once kind and gentle man, and get him into a mental health facility that could help him. Huntington’s has no cure, but there are treatments that can bring some comfort as the victim’s mind and body are ravaged until they die a horrific death. I won’t spoil how it turned out, in case you are like me and had never heard of this story, but this book will keep you captivated and hoping for some justice.

I learned a lot while reading this book - not only about Huntington’s Disease, but about how so many mentally ill people fall through the cracks in our legal system. I knew it happens all the time, but the specifics of this situation are shocking. I found myself rooting for an admitted killer, and hating the people who failed him. He had been telling people that his brain wasn’t working properly, but it was brushed off as malingering. Had anyone intervened sooner, the murder may have been avoided. Why didn’t anyone see that this man was suffering? Why didn’t the legal system investigate the situation more thoroughly? Why did they automatically assume he was faking the physical symptoms he was having? WHY DID THIS HAVE TO HAPPEN?

As an advocate for mental health, I was shocked and saddened by how everything went down, as was Dr. Ben. He spent years getting to know Dr. Vince, and trying to get him out of prison and into someplace more appropriate for his situation. Again, I won’t spoil the very end, but it is very emotional and heart-wrenching. As I said earlier, this is a must-read book, and the case should be highly publicized as an example of how the American prison system just does not work. I can’t give this book anything less than five stars - it was involving, intriguing and very, very illustrative. I could not recommend it more highly, and I hope this book helps affect major changes to our legal and prison systems.

(Thank you to Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine, Dr. Benjamin Gilmer, and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my review. I’m kicking myself for sitting on it for so long.)

I love true crime so it was no surprise that I really enjoyed this one! This book takes us on a journey that explores a little bit of criminology- WHY people commit the crimes they do. In this case specifically, we look at SSRIs- things like antidepressants, and how they can play a role in all of this. We also learn a bit about certain medical conditions and if it’s possible for those conditions to give people violent tendencies to the point that you’ll murder them.

I personally LOVE criminology and so so enjoyed the parts of this book that discussed the murder and the actual WHY behind it. I got bored at points when the author spent a lot of time talking about his personal life or experience leading up to this and wished he would’ve spent more time focusing on other aspects that had more potential. Overall, an interesting read if you enjoy true crime or criminology. 🤍

This one is available now, and was just published on 03/01.
Thank you to @netgalley and @penguinrandomhouse for my ARC.

I received a complimentary copy of this book "The Other Dr Gilmer" and all opinions expressed are my own. I struggled to get through this one. The concept of the book was interesting but I just found it hard to read. It didn't flow. Of course I wanted to find out what happened but this book wasn't something I looked forward to reading each day. I know my score is low but it really wasn't for me.

I heard a re-aired version of the "This American Life" episode about this case. They mentioned that Dr. Benjamin Gilmer wrote a book about it, and I just had to read it. the original is here: https://www.thisamericanlife.org/492/dr-gilmer-and-mr-hyde. For some reason, I can't find the episode number of the re-aired version. Listen to it before or after, it's a great companion to the book.

This book is truly a labor of love from B. Gilmer. It's hard to do a review that will give it justice. Gilmer is an excellent writer, and the story he writes is heartbreaking. I highly recommend this book to everyone.