After Georgia Cartwright, who was adopted as a baby, is accused of murdering her sister, Annabelle, she’s locked in a psychiatric institution while she awaits trial. There’s only one person she can call—Amanda, the twin she just found out existed and has never met. Georgia hopes Mandy can help to prove her innocence and get her released before it’s too late.

This was a great suspense thriller, full of family drama, secrets, and twists and turns. I love the family focus, looking at the sister relationship both between Annabelle and Georgia, as her adoptive sister, and between Georgia and Mandy, biological twins who never knew of the other’s existence. I had no idea what direction the book was going for a while, and I love that! It’s definitely a solid thriller that’s a little different than anything else I’ve read recently, so I’d recommend!

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for my gifted e-ARC!

Why did Georgia kill her sister? Is she a monster, was she jealous of her, did she always hate her? That's the narrative her family is pushing, and everyone has their own theory about this very public case of high society murder. Georgia decides to reach out to the only person who can help her while she is locked in a psychiatric institution - her biological twin sister, Amanda, who she has never met since they were separated and adopted as infants. Now Amanda is pulled in and doesn't know who can she trust - if she helps Georgia is she helping her sister get away with murder?

I have read mixed reviews on this one, but personally, I really enjoyed it and read it in less than a day. I thought it was a twisty fun popcorn thriller that would be perfect for a day at the beach. Pekkanen always seems to have great narrators for her audiobooks - the last audiobook was Laura Benanti and this one had @januarylavoy who was perfect for it (as she always is amazing). Fun and twisty and totally worth it!

Thank you to NetGalley and St Martins Press for the ARC t review

I was on the edge of my seat...in it to win it...so engrossed, I stayed up late to finish it. I couldn't wait to see how it all played out. it was a five star all the way...until the ending which seemed to come way out of left field in my opinion. There were plenty of twists and turns and u-turns and oh wait...look behind you...watch out moments I. this story that this last bit of "gotcha" seemed superfluous and just not needed to tie things up. That being said, I truly loved most of the story and how the author kept just enough detail to make us wonder how it would go.

Y’all! I had no idea where this book was going. Nor did I have any idea what was about to happen.

Georgia has been accused of killing her sister, Annabelle. But, Georgia has discovered a HUGE family secret. Georgia has a twin who was sent away for adoption at birth. Georgia reaches out to her twin, Amanda, for help.

Georgia is locked in a psychiatric institution where the most violent offenders are held while she awaits trial. The only words she whispers when her estranged twin sister Amanda visits are, “I didn’t do it. You’ve got to get me out of here.”

Talk about questions, intense family drama and huge secrets…this book has them all. I enjoyed all of it. But why did I give it 4 stars, you may ask? I wanted it to move just a bit faster. And to be honest, I was close to a 5 star on this one. It just needed to move a bit quicker. You cannot go wrong with this story though! Honestly…it has a little bit of everything!

The narrator, January LaVoy, is AMAZING! She added so much to the intensity! And this book is full of intensity and my favorite, secrets!

Need a thriller with a twist or two or three…THIS IS IT! Grab your copy today.

I received this novel from the publisher for a honest review.

My first Sarah Pekkanen!

This is twisty but somewhat predictable (I typically never guess the twists/endings of thrillers but I got this one).

Our two FMCs are twins separated at birth. One has been accused of murdering the biological daughter of her adoptive parents. Parents who worshiped their biological child and cast off Georgia as if she were an inconvenience/regret. Georgia’s parents are wealthy and powerful, with connections to high ranking politicians vying for a spot in DC. Georgia finds her self committed to a psychiatric facility pending evaluation for competency to go to trial. Enter Mandy, her twin sister whose existence only came to be known a month ago. Georgia wanted to know more about her past and she certainly found it with the help of a PI. She reaches out to Mandy as she feels Mandy is the only person out there who can help her. She states she is innocent and all of this is part of a much larger conspiracy that she is taking the fall for. She never got along with her sister so who better to pin a murder on?

Mandy ends up heavily involved looking for answers and trying to decide if she can trust Georgia at all or is she truly a master manipulator trying to pull Mandy into this with ulterior motives? Georgia got this right, who can you really trust and she soon learns, very few people when they all have so much to lose.

This was a page turner and I was invested the entire time. Yes, it was fairly predictable but I enjoyed this in spite of that.

The Locked Ward was a mess lol it is centered around Georgia, who is adopted, accused of murdering her sister who is the biological child of her adoptive parents. If that's clunky it's because it's indeed clunky. She's shipped to a psych ward while she stands trial, where she runs into her twin sister, Amanda, whom she hadn't met prior, and chaos hits you at every turn.

This is one of those thrillers that has twists and turns for twists and turns' sake and it got to a point where it all felt very kitschy and predictable and it stopped being fun. Despite these characters having the potential to be dynamic and interesting they're very one-dimensional, self-serving, and flat out annoying to journey with, making them impossible to believe or like. It's not necessary for me to like characters in thrillers, but I think we should kind of like someone if they're suspected of murder and we're meant to believe they didn't do it. I think if Pekkanen had ratcheted up the mystery and suspense aspects of this novel it would have been received much differently by me, and would have made for a much less frustrating read. As it stands, I felt very fatigued by the pacing and while some parts were so nuts they were humorous, I had a difficult time buying the premise.

If you're someone who gets very invested in thrillers with unreliable narrators who also are defending themselves against murder charges with a crumb of a psychology background, this will be a fantastic time!

2 ⭐️s
🚨 Pub Date: 08/05/25

Thank you to St. Martin's Press and Macmillan Audio for providing me with an ARC and ALC!

This book is highly suspenseful, with intriguing characters and a plot that takes you on a journey through multiple paths, leaving you bewildered and on the edge of your seat, eagerly awaiting the grand reveal. The payoff is absolutely worth the wait.

My review is voluntary and all comments and opinions are my own.

This is a fast-paced psychological thriller that explores family bonds especially regarding biological vs. adopted siblings. When Georgia is placed in a locked ward for a crime she claims she didn’t commit, the clock starts ticking in this whodunnit. How far will a family go to keep a secret and how many people will get hurt along the way? Can the mystery be solved before Georgia is medicated to a degree that she can’t come back from? Another hit from Pekkanen!

Thanks to St. Martin Press and NetGalley for the ARC. This is my honest review.

The Locked Ward - the fifth floor of a hospital, where you can’t be alone, you can’t be unsupervised, and you can’t trust anyone. That’s where Georgia finds herself after being arrested for the murder of her sister Annabelle, and without the help of her twin, who she was separated from at birth, it’s where she’s going to stay. But nothing is as it seems - in or out of the ward.

Holyyyyy crap. This book was insane. I was drawn into the story pretty immediately - with its dual POVs, a record breaking amount of twists and lies, and two characters that are so dynamic that you never know which way a chapter is going to go. This was such a quick read - if I hadn’t been super busy with work, I would have finished this in one sitting!

There’s so much to unpack in the storytelling here - family trauma, sisterhood, what it means to be loved - and it’s done in an incredibly smart and intricately told thriller novel that almost makes you as the reader feel paranoid. This is a great book for those who love psychological thrillers and unreliable narrators.

So far both of Sarah’s books have been five star reads for me - so I can’t wait to see what she writes next!

3.5 stars rounded up
Overall, I thought this was a pretty good book. I liked the storyline and the characters. I can usually predict twists, and I was surprised by one. I thought the ending seemed a bit rushed. I also thought there could have been more relationship building between the two main characters. But overall, a quick easy read! I would read more books by Sarah.

Thank you @stmartinspress via @netgalley for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Another absolute masterpiece from Sarah Pekkanen! If I could give it infinite stars, I would. She’s officially an auto-buy author for me—I’ll read anything she writes without hesitation.

I was completely hooked by the thriller and mystery elements, but what really stood out was the emotional depth, especially the focus on family and the powerful bond between sisters (and twins!). The attention to detail in this book is phenomenal—every scene felt vivid and intentional. I couldn’t put it down.

Is she guilty or not? That is the question on everyone's mind especially that of Amanda, the estranged twin sister of Georgia Cartwright who is accused of killing the daughter of her adoptive parents. And while the relationship between the sisters is strained, Amanda doesn't feel comfortable leaving Georgia to await trial in the psych ward when she claims she is innocent. Should Amanda believe her when she doesn't know what she is capable of?

Wealthy heiress, Georgia Cartwright, finds herself locked up in a psychiatric institution awaiting her trial. She is accused of murdering her beloved sister. She reaches out to the only person who might be able to help…her estranged twin Amanda. When Amanda receives word that an accused murderer wants to see her she doesn’t understand why. She quickly learns that she was a twin, given up at birth, a modest life compared to her wealthy sister. As she tries to prove Georgia’s innocence she finds herself tangled in a web of lies and deceit. She isn’t sure who to trust and now someone is threatening her life.

The Locked Ward is a new twisty thriller by author Sarah Pekkanen. I always enjoy her writing style as well as her knock for whodunnits that have you guessing till the very end. This novel was a fun read that follows twins Georgia and Amanda as they try to piece together a murder before Georgia stands trial. This one definitely has a cast of individuals who are not quite what they first appear to be. This would be a perfect, cozy, weekend read.

I had no idea where Georgia & Mandy’s story was heading, as these twin sisters discover the others existence while in the middle of a murder case. The first several chapters quickly drew me in, and the story overall had a good premises, but I think I would classify this more of a mystery versus a thriller. The story did have a few twists and turns that I was not expecting with an unpredictable ending. The author did a good job of letting you know there was something lingering beneath the surface, but it was not easy to guess what that was. I enjoyed the dual POV’s between the two FMC‘s in the story, considering these two sisters grew up in completely different circumstances. It was good to see the differences of their lifestyle. Overall, a decent read that fans ”whodunnit” storylines may enjoy. Thank you St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for this advanced reader copy. All opinions are my own.

Sarah Pekkanen never disappoints. This was a gripping, twisty thriller that I would certainly recommend.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for providing an ARC in exchange for my honest opinion and review.

The Locked Ward releases on August 5th.

The Locked Ward is a psychological thriller that kept me wanting to keep reading to see what was going to happen next. The short chapters also kept you reading--what's three more pages. While I was engaged the entire time I was reading, and actually could have read this in one setting, there was just one point that I wasn't quite sure how it played into the story.

This was exactly the kind of twisty thriller I live for—layered, suspenseful, and constantly keeping me on edge. It all kicks off with a set of twins who were separated at birth, and when one of them is accused of murder, the other is suddenly thrown into a world of secrets she never saw coming. Not only does she have to grapple with the shocking discovery that she even has a twin, but now she’s also trying to prove her innocence—without any help from her adoptive parents, who are no longer around to answer the tough questions. Talk about emotional whiplash!

The pacing was tight, the mystery kept me guessing, and I loved how the emotional beats were woven into the thriller elements. Every time I thought I had things figured out, another layer peeled back and proved me wrong. If you’re like me and crave thrillers that combine family secrets, identity twists, and high-stakes drama, then definitely give this one a go. I was hooked from the first chapter and couldn’t stop flipping pages.

Finding out that you have a twin sister would be surprising but finding out that your twin sister is being kept in a psychiatric ward while awaiting trial for the murder of her other sister, well, that is downright shocking.

Mandy and Georgia were both adopted as newborns. While Mandy was adopted by a middle-class couple who provided her with plenty of love, a good life, and security, Georgia was adopted into a wealthy, prestigious family with a great deal of influence in their community and state, but money doesn’t make for good parents, and Georgia lacked the love, care, and attention that children need, especially since the Cartwrights had a biological daughter of their own. Annabelle Cartwright was their pride and joy, the sun shone and set on her, but the relationship between Georgia and Anabelle had been filled with animosity and jealousy. So, when Annabelle is found bludgeoned at her own birthday party and Georgia is standing next to her, all the arrows pointed right at Georgia for this unthinkable crime.

Mandy doesn’t know what to believe, who can be trusted, or what actually transpired the day Annabelle Cartwright was murdered, all she knows is that she can’t abandon her twin, despite not knowing if she can even trust her.

The Locked Ward is filled with people with power, influence, and the means to make things happen. The chapters alternate between Mandy and Georgia and are kept on the shorter side, making this a propulsive, fast-paced read. I found myself wanting to keep reading one more chapter and then another. It was a gripping read that kept me intrigued from beginning to end. The only thing that I found that it lacked was that jaw-dropping moment or revelation that I always look forward to in a thriller. It had a satisfying ending but didn’t give me the shocking revelation that I was waiting for.

*4 Stars

Sarah Pekkanen’s The Locked Ward plunges readers into the shadowy, claustrophobic world of a psychiatric hospital where nothing—and no one—seems quite as it appears. Centered on a therapist determined to uncover the truth behind a patient’s sudden and suspicious death, the novel blends psychological suspense with an unsettling institutional backdrop.

A solid 4.5 rating

The Locked Ward is told through twins Georgia and Mandy's alternating point of views. Mandy and Georgia were adopted by different families as infants. 30 years later Georgia is found standing over her adopted sister's dead body covered in blood. Georgia is locked in a psych ward while awaiting trial and not speaking to anyone. Mandy receives a phone call out of the blue from Georgia's lawyer asking her to visit Georgia at the psych hospital. Mandy is blindsided that she has a twin sister and she is being held for murder charges. Mandy finds herself wrapped up in family drama, dark secrets and whole lot of danger. Mandy is torn whether to help Georgia or walk away.

I really loved the pace of this book and tore through it in two days. The psych ward scenes were descriptive and chilling. The author really dives deep into the head of Georgia as she is experiencing the psych ward and how vulnerable she feels. The twists were perfect, the plot unfolded flawlessly and the first chapter blew me away. I highly recommend.

Thank you Net Galley and St. Martin Press for my ARC.