The crime of the decade! Georgia Cartwright, who was adopted when she was a baby, is in The Locked Ward of a psychiatric institution for killing the biological daughter of her family. While she awaits trial, she tells her estranged sister, Amanda, that she did not do it!

All is not cut and dry in The Locked Ward. There are long lost twins, who have just been reunited by tragedy, secrets, lies, and power, and tension. This book moved at a nice rate, and I enjoyed the twists and turns along the way. While I enjoyed this book, I didn't love it. It did have some intruding characters, and I never quite knew what was going to happen next! Having said that, this book didn't quite hit the spot for me as the author's previous books. I had very high hopes for this book and thought it would be a slam dunk. I can't quite put my finger on exactly what it was missing to make my rating higher, but I do have to give it high marks for the well thought out plot.

The Locked Ward gripped me with the promise of a psychological thriller featuring estranged twin sisters, potentially unreliable narration, and the tense backdrop of a psychiatric ward.
What I appreciated most about this book was the concept. The tension between the Georgia and Mandy, the emotional weight of their histories, and the intensity of a family secrets and suspicion of murder had strong potential.
In general, the writing leaned heavily on telling rather than showing and often felt clunky. The second-person narration used in Georgia’s chapters seemed underdeveloped. I initially thought it may be intended to enhance the psychological elements, but that never played out. As it didn’t seem to ever be used for any functional purpose, it ultimately came off as more distracting, especially when it occasionally shifted back to first-person within a chapter. I really wish this had been better developed, as this change in POV could have really been used to play up the psychological tension.
The biggest disappointment is that the plot didn’t hold together. Key elements of the family secrets felt inconsistent, and several of the suspenseful threads set up in the locked ward never paid off. We never really got to the “psychological thriller” part of the story. Unfortunately, The Locked Ward did not deliver on its premise. I’ve enjoyed other works by this author and have to say this one is not her best work.
That said, it’s a fast-paced read and might appeal to those who enjoy light thrillers and aren’t overly concerned with the deeper logic of how a mystery might play out. If you’re looking for a quick, twisty ride and can overlook some rough edges, this might still be worth a try.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Locked Ward
By: Sarah Pekkanen
Publisher: St. Martin’s Press
Pub Date: 8/5/25

Georgia Cartwright is the adopted child of an extremely wealthy southern family. When her little biological sister is murdered, she is accused of killing her instead of sending her to jail. They send her to a psych ward where she makes contact with her twin sister Manda to help her get out. The only problem is Amanda didn’t know she was a twin so this is all shocking news to her. The twists and turns are so good it keeps you wanting more! This author is becoming a must read for me!
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Georgia is the adopted child of a wealthy family. She has been accused of killing the family’s biological daughter and is being held in a locked ward rather than a prison for her crime. She recently learned she has a twin sister that was adopted to another family, so she reaches out to try to get someone to believe her innocence. Can she convince the courts to let her free, or will she be stuck in the ward forever?

I love Sarah Pekkanen books, so this was a big hit for me. I couldn’t put it down! I always love a long lost twin storyline. Maybe it was all my years of being in the Olsen twins’ fan club. 😂

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martins Press for a free digital copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

It’s been a while since I’ve read a thriller but I really enjoyed this one!
The POV’s worked great and a plot twist definitely had my jaw drop.
If you enjoy thrillers, add this to your TBR. You won’t regret it.
Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to read this ARC

This book grabs you by the throat. I could NOT put it down. Georgia is locked in a psychiatric institution awaiting 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." This book is an edge of your seat. keep you guessing thriller. It is dark and twisty. I highly recommend this book...you won't be disappointed!

Thank you to Netgalley & St. Martin's Press for allowing to read and review this ARC!

Mandy is living her life tending bar at her late parents’ place, unknowingly about to be pulled in to a family secret. Georgia is a high profile wedding planner, from wealth herself, who finds herself in a psychiatric facility after being accused of murdering her sister. These two women seem to have nothing in common, but that quickly changes.

This book was so eery. I really enjoyed the dual POV, and trying to figure out the connections between Mandy and Georgia as they worked through them themselves. I enjoyed the deep family secrets and family dramas that surrounded the story. Though I don’t think there was any super “jaw dropping” moments, I thoroughly enjoyed the dark and twisty drama that unfolded.

Thank you to Net galley, St. Martins Press, and Sarah Pekkanen for providing me an ebook of the Locked Ward. I have read all of Sarah Pekkanens books and was happy to get a copy. Georgia the enstranged sister of a twin is accused of killing her biological sister. This is a twisty fast paced booked where the setting is the locked ward where mystery occurs in uncovering the reality of what really happened in the murder of the sister and the antics of the psyche ward. I look forward to reading books from this author.

I’ve read a few books by Sarah Pekkanen and I always mostly enjoy them. Her thrillers feel more realistic than most. So many thrillers are outlandish just to be outlandish, but hers are more level.

I did have a hard time connecting to the characters, and found myself not really caring about either of them. When some things are revealed about Georgia, I definitely felt more of a connection to her than Mandy. Pekkanen did a great job making me question which narrative was true and which was false.

I also really enjoyed the twist because I didn’t see it coming until right before it was revealed. I thought I’d figured it out a couple of times, but in the end only had parts.

Overall I enjoyed it. I kept going back to it and thought about it a few times when I wasn’t reading. Will definitely be checking out more from her in the future.

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the chance to read and review this book.

The Locked Ward was such a fast-paced, binge-worthy read. The short chapters and constant suspense had me flying through it. It’s told from two POVs, and I loved that Georgia’s POV is in second person – it made her experience in the locked ward feel way more intense and personal. I feel like second person POV isn’t seen often, but it really worked well here and added to the whole vibe of the story. While the twists didn’t completely blow me away, they were solid and built on lots of tension that unfolded in a satisfying way.

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for an eARC of this book!

I thought this was such an interesting thriller that kept me guessing the entire time. This book has dual-POVs and short chapters. As someone with a short attention span, I really appreciated this. Each time the POV switched, something new was happening and more information was being revealed. This was super effective at keeping me reading, since chapters were easy to get through and I kept wanting to know what was going to happen with each new chapter!!
A character’s chapters are written in 2nd-person. It’s a little jarring at first, but I got used to it fairly quickly.

I was suspicious of EVERYONE. This book does a great job at making you second guess everyone. I was hyper aware of every detail and it made me feel like I was being watched. The major reveal was completely unexpected, but made total sense.
I thought the Beth stuff was a little random, especially with the details in the epilogue. It just seemed to be thrown in there for another shock, but because the Beth storyline was only minor, it didn’t really hit me like I wished it had.

Ultimately, this was a really great novel and I’m excited to see what more the author has in store!

I was pulled into The Locked Ward from the first chapter and read this over two days.

On the one hand, it definitely kept my attention but on the other, it was predictable.



Thank you to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for the DRC

I was in the mood for a good twisty thriller, and this fit the bill! I also loved the premise of a woman in a mental institution and unsure if she’s crazy or not!

Georgia was adopted as a newborn by a wealthy couple, Honey and Stephen Cartwright, and had a horrible upbringing despite the luxuries available to her. The adoption papers were already signed when Honey realized she was pregnant - something she was told would be next to impossible for her - so Georgia had a new sister by the time she was four months old. Their parents always put Annabelle ahead of Georgia, making sure Georgia knew that she was the inferior, unwanted child. When the two girls started fighting, Georgia was sent to boarding school, and grew apart from her family.

On the night of Annabelle’s 32nd birthday, Georgia showed up for the party…the party that ended with Annabelle being murdered. She was immediately accused of killing her adoptive sister, and was sent to a psychiatric facility to determine if she was competent enough to stand trial. One thing her family didn’t know is that Georgia had figured out through a private detective that she has a twin sister who was adopted by another couple. While pretending to dissociate, she manages to get Amanda (Mandy) to visit her, where her only words were “I didn’t do it. If you don’t get me out of here, they’re going to kill me”. She then rips out pieces of her hair, gives it to Mandy for DNA proof that they are twins, and asks her to find out who really killed Annabelle.

Mandy, who grew up in a modest family with parents who are now gone, decides to help. They aren’t identical, but they have odd twin things, like their apartments being furnished with the same colors, both being left-handed, and the same taste in food and entertainment. There is an immediate connection, and Mandy wants to find out not only who killed Annabelle, but why they were separated and never told about each other.

The chapters go back and forth between Georgia and Mandy, and I did find it slightly annoying that Georgia’s chapters were in third-person while Mandy’s were written in first. This is a relatively basic murder mystery, but the additions of a sinister politician and people from the psychiatric ward make for some entertaining suspense. I wish the ending had more to it, but that’s my only other complaint. Overall, this book was thoroughly enjoyable! Four stars.

(Thank you to St. Martin’s Press, Sarah Pekkanen and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my review. This book is slated to be released on August 5, 2025.)

This book was terrifying from beginning to end. There has always been something about a locked psychiatric ward that leaves an outsider with a sense of terror and apprehension and this book completely plays off of those feelings. This book centers around our two main character Mandy and Georgia. Georgia is in a psychiatric facility after she allegedly murdered her sister. Mandy is very busy running a restaurant and living her life when she suddenly receives a call from lawyer saying her twin sister wants to talk to her. Mandy is legitimately confused because she's an only child however curiosity soon gets the best of her since she is adopted maybe this woman knows more than she says. Georgia on the other hand is desperate to get a hold of her twin and clear her name. This book gave the reader lots of questions and every time one was answered a new one popped up. I was desperate to get to the bottom of things just like our main character and I couldn't speed through this book fast enough. There's a sense of confusion apprehension mystery and many other themes were predominant in this story. While I loved Mandy's character I also loved George's because who doesn't love an anti-hero. There was something so eerie about George's parts of the story that I just couldn't get enough of. Something about the second person narrative towards her story really made it that much more eerie. Instead of getting a first-hand glimpse with all of her thoughts and feels you were instead looking onward to all of the chaos that is going on around her. This gave an unsettling vibe to the reader especially in contrast to the other perspective, and it almost made you feel like you were slowly losing your mind along with her. Thankfully we jump back to the other point of view which grounded me as the reader and allowed me to fully appreciate both viewpoints. I've never read anything quite like this before that really left me speechless or guessing and left my mind reeling at the same time. I was in a constant state of fluctuation the whole time I was reading this book trying to decide who was in the right, if anyone was and every time I thought I knew I read something else that changed my mind. This book was very complex but Georgia parts were so eerie that I couldn't get enough. Great book and I'm so glad I was able to check it out because it was so magnetic in a way I never would have expected. I can't wait to read more by this author and I hope that she continues on her thrillers as well because it was unlike anything I had read before. She truely has a gift. This is the kind of thriller that leave you up at all hours as the shocking reveals keep coming in waves. Great read I loved every minute of this book. The ending of this book was fantastic, the perfect cherry on top.

The Locked Ward by Sarah Pekkanen

Thank You NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for a complimentary copy in exchange for an honest review! All thoughts and opinions expressed are my own.
A few months after Georgia Cartwright was adopted, her adoptive parents find out they’re expecting a child, their own biological daughter. Annabelle is born to the rich and powerful Cartwright family. Years later, Annabelle is found murdered in their home and the only suspect is Georgia! As they were growing up, it always seemed Georgia has it out for Annabelle. Was it jealousy? Sibling rivalry? Georgia is now locked up in a psychiatric ward to see if she is competent to stand trial. She maintains her innocence. Meanwhile, a month ago, before Annabelle’s murder, Georgia discovered she has a twin. So, she gets her lawyer to contact Mandy to come and help her prove her innocence – if she even is innocent! All through the novel, Mandy is having to watch out for herself – she gets the feeling she is being followed. Mandy isn’t sure who to trust and if Georgia is telling the truth, but she better find out before it’s too late!
Look for this fast-paced thriller when it comes out August 5, 2025!

Opening the door into someone's past can be dangerous

Southern families are known to have a skeleton or two, and the wealthy Cartwright clan is no exception. They have two daughters: Georgia, the elder one who was adopted, and Annabelle, younger and the biological daughter of the parents. When Annabelle is killed it is Georgia who is accused of the heinous crime, what the media delights in calling the "Crime of the Decade", and Georgia is confined to a (creepy) psychiatric hospital for violent offenders while she awaits her trial. In fact, her own attorneys argue that she is not fit to stand trial and she worries she may never leave the hospital. Georgia's one hope is Amanda, the twin sister she has never met (they were separated at birth), and to whom Georgia's attorneys reach out asking her to visit her sister. The bonds of sisterhood are strong and out of curiosity Mandy agrees to visit Georgia, who swears she didn't kill Annabelle and that Mandy has to get her out of the hospital before someone kills her. Is this a case of a wealthy but dysfunctional family sacrificing an adopted child to hide their own sins, or was Georgia either jealous of a sibling she considered a rival or maybe even truly insane and now manipulating Amanda? The more Amanda probes, the more lies she uncovers...nothing, and no one, is what they seem.
The Locked Ward is a psychological thriller featuring a demonstrably unreliable character in Georgia, the chilling setting where she is trapped, and a look at the bonds of sisterhood. As she has in the past author Sarah Pekkanen has created an intricate and twisted plot and this time has woven in the dynamic of long-separated twins. The chapters are short and the pace brisk with plenty of twists along the way, all keeping the reader guessing right up to the ending. I wish a little more had been explained about the initial separation of the twin girls, but it is a solid and entertaining read with an intriguing premise, one likely to appeal to readers of Lisa Jewell, Ruth Ware and Megan Miranda. My thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for allowing me access to a copy of the novel in exchange for my honest review.

What do you do when you find out that your non-existent twin until now is in an asylum awaiting a trial for killing her sister, who is the full-blood daughter of your adopted parents?
Drop everything and help her, of course.
Georgia (accused of murder) and Amanda (new to knowing she has a twin) start a relationship at a horrible time in their lives. Can one sister save the other from prison? Does Amanda believe Georgia is innocent? Read this fast-paced thriller by Sarah Pekkanen to find out. I was hooked almost instantly. Short chapters and dual POV!
Thank you, NetGalley and St. Martin's Press, for an early copy of The Locked Ward.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the advance reading copy of The Locked Ward by Sarah Pekkanen. I really enjoyed this one and found it to be a compelling, twisty read that kept me hooked from the start.

The murder storyline was gripping and well-paced, with just the right amount of suspense and detail to keep me invested throughout. Pekkanen does a great job building tension and layering clues in a way that kept me guessing, but never confused. The setting inside the psychiatric ward added an eerie, closed-in element that heightened the tension even more.

The only part that felt a little overdone for me was the connection between the twins. It leaned into the dramatic a bit too hard as the story unfolded, but it didn’t take away from my overall enjoyment. The character development and emotional threads were still strong enough to carry the story to a satisfying end.

I’d definitely recommend this one to fans of psychological thrillers. It’s smart, dark, and hard to pause once you get going.

The Locked Ward by Sarah Pekkanen is a suspenseful story about Georgia, a socialite who is in a mental ward for killing her sister. The only person she’ll talk to is her twin sister. However, Amanda didn’t know about her as they were both adopted by different parents. Amanda can’t help but want to know more about her sister, but every rock she turns over trying to prove her sister is innocent uncovers a new secret. Did Georgia do it! Will the sisters survive their families’ dirty little secrets?

I loved this book. Its twists and turns kept me engaged. However, I felt like the side story about Amanda’s life in college took me out of the story a bit as it never felt glossed over and only briefly mentioned throughout the story, so the ending didn’t hit as hard as it could have. However, I loved Georgia’s story and how the narration went between the two sisters. I would give it 4.5 stars out of five.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for access to an advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.