A good read but I did guess the guessable bits fairly quickly,a great premise though and good writing that created an atmospheric story that kept me reading,would make a great tv series

This is the first book I have read by this author, so I didn’t know what to expect. I found the book to have a steady pace, with the main character – Dr Alison Wilson being well rounded and likable, and I quickly found myself caring about her and wanting her to succeed. There are some frustrating aspects to this tale – the regular occurrence of meetings disappearing from her diary, altered board reports and vandalism to her home and car – with people struggling to believe and help her, were a little repetitive and drawn out. That said, this book has a fascinating storyline and a host of well-developed, well written characters.

A debut medical mystery thriller, The Doctor by Annie Payne is a medical psychological thriller. Dr. Alison Wilson is a stroke specialist who moves from London to Wayleigh Village to be the Medical Director at Saint Margaret’s Hospital. With an array of problems to fix including the hospital’s CQC Rating, her presence is undermined by staff members unwilling to change. Of most concern is the high rate of patient mortality. As Alison digs deeper, she believes there may be a killer at work. An engaging narrative with tension-building twists that make for a three and a half stars read rating. With thanks to Avon Books UK and the author for an uncorrected proof copy for review purposes. As always, the opinions herein are totally my own and freely given.

I am afraid that this one isn't working for me at all. There isn't too.much of the thriller aspect that I was expecting in the story line.

The main character comes across and rude and annoying which is not what you want from somebody working in a hospital. Her main concern seemed to be about her new name plate from her door.

Thanks Avon UK for the ARC but this was a miss for me

I enjoyed this book. Dr Alison Wilson has escaped from a difficult time in London to take up the post of Medical Director at an underachieving hospital by the sea. She finds some of the staff cold and unfriendly and there is clearly something very wrong. Part of the narrative is told by an unnamed person who has clearly some serious issues to hide and is desperate to get rid of Alison. This is a good story that will keep you guessing to the end. Thanks to NetGalley for a preview copy.
Copied to Goodreads.

I really wanted to love this book more but it was so predictable. The premise was good and there was some tension and suspense but not as much as I was promised. I am sure other readers will enjoy it more just not for me.

Dr Alison Wilson starts her new job as Medical Officer in a seaside hospital that is having problems with a high mortality rate, missing drugs and an unsettled staff. It's a slow burner but one with enough twists and turns to keep you reading. I enjoyed this book and look forward to reading more from Annie Payne. Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for an advance copy of this book.

The Doctor by Annie Payne is an outstanding psychological thriller that keeps you gripped from start to finish.

The novel takes you on an adrenaline-fuelled rollercoaster, beginning with the fresh-faced Dr Alison Wilson as she moves to a new town to start a new job. Her story of being a life saver and care giver soon spirals as she discovers something sinister afoot at the hospital she’s working at.
The characters within the story are enthralling, their moral compass becomes increasingly warped and blurred as their true nature is revealed. You really root for Alison throughout her mission to uncover the hidden depths of St Margaret's and the various dark secrets kept within it's walls.

Annie Payne creates an impeccably structured story with constant surprises and turns. With powerful, descriptive writing and captivating suspense, The Doctor is an incredibly addictive read with a bold and original ending.

If you're a fan of psychological thrillers like Doctor Foster and Harriet Tyce, you'll find yourself lost in the vivid world created by Payne, where lies run deep and murder lurks in the shadows.

This was my first ever medical thriller, and I have to say I absolutely loved it! Dr Alison Wilson has started her new job as medical director at a failing hospital. It soon becomes clear that Alison’s job will be a lot harder than she first thought.

Staff moral is through the floor, drugs are missing and the hospital has many deaths that are unexplained and could be suspicious. As Alison begins to look into what’s gone wrong and tries to make some changes it soon becomes clear that someone doesn’t want her digging and will go to extreme measures to stop her discovering the truth.

As I said above I really enjoyed this book the only thing I found a little disappointing was that it was quite predictable and I found that I guessed who was behind what was going on quite early on in the book, but still I wouldn’t let that put off recommending this book to others and it certainly didn’t take away the enjoyment that I got from reading this book.

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher and the author for an advance copy of this book in exchange for this review.

An enjoyable read. Are patient deaths murder or just unfortunate? Although by half way through it's pretty obvious who the murderer is , the end reveals why.

I wanted to love this one and it was alright, I think I just expected a lot more.

Its not a bad read by any means, but its quite average and I dont think that memorable. Id still recommend it to most readers though.

I was super excited to read this novel by author Annie Payne as the blurb sounded really intriguing and interesting.

I found this book to be quite slow paced to start with but nevertheless I did enjoy reading about main character Dr Alison. Alison has moved jobs to a new hospital to start a job as a Medical Officer. Alison comes across a few things that do not add up and she sets out to investigate what has been going on. We meet a plethora of characters and it can be quite confusing but the main aspect of the story held well for me personally.

I enjoyed reading about Alison, some bits I felt like my mind was completely wondering off the page which for me is not the best sign but I am glad that I persevered with this book.

Thanks to Netgalley, Annie Payne and the publishers for allowing me a copy of this novel.

A good medical mystery that I thoroughly enjoyed with good characters that kept me involved in the storyline from the beginning until the end.

Thank you to Netgalley and Avon Books for this ARC which I can thoroughly recommend.

This was quite a fast paced medical thriller where it was difficult to figure out who Alison could trust from the array of characters we were introduced to! All of the people she worked with seemed to have their own reasons for making life as difficult as possible for her. Some just resistant to change, some trying to cover their tracks, there were a lot of people standing in the way of Alison doing what she felt was necessary to improve the fate of her new hospital.
It was fascinating reading all that was being done to her and trying to work out from the vast array of suspects who it could be and if it was just one or maybe even a conspiracy of most of those putting up blocks in her way.
There were many clues and when they all unravelled it did make sense of everything that had happened but it wasn't quite the ending I had guessed at which was fun!
I really enjoyed this read and hope to read more by this author in future.

I would recommend this book.
Alison has moved away from her London life, she hopes as medical director, to turn around failing hospital St Margarets. However things are worse than she expected - unexplained deaths, equipment failure, she begins to think she is losing her mind.
I loved seeing how it all played out, I had suspicions but then was thrown off.
Thank you netgally for the ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Dr Alison Wilson has fled London and her divorce for a new role in a rural hospital. She plans to throw herself into her work and turn the failing hospital around. However from the moment she starts her new role, someone is messing with her head and creating obstacles to intimidate her. What’s more, someone in the hospital has an even darker agenda and patients are dying in record numbers. The question is, who is the killer?

I loved the sound of the book from its blurb but didn’t really enjoy its execution. I guessed the killer quite quickly. I didn’t really enjoy the writing style and found the dialogue quite clunky. The pace was a little slower than I would like from a thriller too. Unfortunately, it wasn’t the book for me but I think it will be more than of a hit for a reader who is new to the thriller genre.

Thank you to the author, publisher and Netgalley for an advanced copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

I enjoyed this thriller and liked Alison, a well rounded and strong characters.
The plot kept me guessing even if some parts required a bit of suspension of belief.
I liked the solution and the style of writing.
Recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this arc, all opinions are mine

Thank you to NetGalley for my ARC.

I requested this as I liked the blurb. Alison has moved to the seaside to work at the local hospital. She’s moved from London after her relationship fell apart. But as she starts her new job it’s clear that there’s something sinister going on. The death rates are high, lots of the staff are against her and there’s something going on with the finances.

As it is written from someone with experience, the medical references will appeal to those who understand them.

There were a lot of good parts set up by the writer but many of them left me frustrated.
Alison left after meeting with senior members of staff but the true reason for this was never made clear.
There’s clearly someone messing with her but I found the relentlessness of this unnecessary.

However, the real reason that the locals seem to hate her was a good representation of the small town syndrome that you typically see. The positive relationships that she did manage to forge were good and believable.

It’s an enjoyable story just not one that is going to blow you away.

When you go into hospital, you do so trusting the Doctors and Nurses that work there to keep you safe from harm. That they have your best interests at heart and that their very purpose is to nurse you back to health, not rip that health away from you. It is very clear from the opening scene's of The Doctor, that someone at St Margaret's has a very different view on life - and death. And yet this is not the reason that stroke specialist, Alison Turner, is brought in as the new Medical Director. It is just one, well disguised, tragedy in a series of failings and issues that require her urgent attention. Issues that could end up costing her far more than her career.

I found that I grew to like Alison quite quickly. There are aspects to her character and her past that we don't know initially, ones that add a layer of mystery to an already twisted story but, in spite of that, I found I trusted her. The author builds that trust with the reader really quickly, making you invested in both her fate and that of the hospital and its patients. It's obvious from the beginning that she can't be behind the nefarious act that is leading to loss of life, and the more we learn of her predecessor, the easier it is to form an opinion of what is really going on around the hospital. Whether that is the correct opinion, remains to be seen.

It's fair to say that Alison faces no small amount of animosity and jealousy from her new colleagues, with very few seeming to be on her side. Whether it is professional jealousy, hatred of the person who has stepped into some very large, but ultimately dishonest shoes, or something far more sinister is unclear, but it was hard to get to like any of the other characters, with Alison left with few allies and suspicion cast on many of them as a possible source of the ill fate that befell her. She does find one very unlikely ally in local mechanic and one time emergency room patient, Mike Jenkins, who has his own reasons for hating the hospital staff and being distrustful of everyone who works there, and a its a pairing rich in chemistry, even if the course of their friendship is not entirely plain sailing.

There is a lot of tension throughout the book and a kind of unease that follows Alison around. I did guess some of the aspects of the story, and wonder at just why no-one else jumped to the more obvious conclusions that were there to be reached. But there there are a few moments of misdirection, and scenes that make you stop and reassess what is happening. I certainly wouldn't want to be a patient at St Margarets, and the constant battle between the hard working care givers (mostly) and penny pinching executive committee, had a sense of all to believable authenticity about it, Thankfully this is all a work fiction, St Margarets is not a real hospital and, with a few notable and notorious exceptions, hospitals and those who work in them are all wonderful, caring, and dedicated professionals.

But for a story with mystery, suspense, misdirection and just a touch of blossoming romance mixed in, this is a fab read that held my attention right to the end. I wanted Alison to succeed, loved the heightening of tension towards the end, and found the conclusion satisfying, if over a touch quicker and more dramatically that I expected. Had I guessed whodunnit? Honestly, yes. Was I bothered? Not at all - I thoroughly enjoyed it and look forward to reading more by the author.

Alison a consultant takes up a new post as a Medical Director with plans and hopes to turn around an ailing hospital. There is a lot of suspense around her role, the predecessor and strange things happening. A great novel and an easy read which kept me wanting to find out what the outcome would be. I look forward to the author’s next book.