If you told me tomorrow that my long-lost twin sister was locked in a psych ward for allegedly killing her other sister and her first words to me were, “I didn’t do it. You’ve got to get me out of here,” I would not be doing DNA tests or interrogating family secrets. I would be doing theater. I would be in full Nicole Kidman in “The Others” mode, lighting candles and whispering, “Who killed Annabelle?” into the mirror. Which is basically how “The Locked Ward” operates: high drama, dubious choices, and a big old Southern Gothic swirl of “Did she do it?” meets “Who even are you?”

We open with Georgia Cartwright, adopted daughter of a rich family, former wedding planner (like, the expensive kind, not the “Pinterest board with vibes” kind), now locked up in a psychiatric ward for the murder of her sister Annabelle. Except twist, Georgia’s real sister might actually be Amanda, a completely unsuspecting bar owner who was just trying to live her life pouring whiskey, not unraveling a conspiracy that smells like money, murder, and a real weird adoption story.

When Amanda gets summoned to the psych ward by Georgia’s lawyer, she’s like, “Hi, what?” But then she walks in, sees some of her features on someone else’s body, and suddenly it’s giving “Parent Trap” meets “The Sixth Sense”. Georgia, doing her best haunted porcelain doll impression, is like “They’re gonna kill me. You gotta help.” And instead of immediately running in the opposite direction like a normal person, Amanda does what all thriller protagonists with no impulse control do: she gets involved.

The book bounces back and forth between Georgia’s locked-down paranoia and Amanda’s “what in the ancestry.com is happening” sleuthing. And while some of the reveals feel like they crawled out of a soap opera in designer heels, I was into it. We’re talking family secrets so deep you’d need a headlamp and a shovel. There’s corruption. There’s manipulation. There’s a mom named Honey, which tells you everything you need to know about the Southern high society horror vibes we’re working with. Oh, and because chaos loves company, let’s just casually sprinkle in a senator and his son.

Now, Georgia is either a fragile little hummingbird caught in the gears of a powerful machine, or the kind of manipulative genius who could cry on cue and convince you the moon is just a spotlight following her around. And Amanda? Girl. She is doing her best. But half the time I was yelling at her like I was watching a horror movie through my fingers. Ma’am, no, you don’t follow a mysterious man into a basement. You don’t trust anyone whose family yacht has a name like Second Chance. These are basic survival rules!

I will say, the pacing rips. The short chapters and dual POVs are like literary potato chips, you will keep saying “just one more” and suddenly it’s 2 a.m. and you’re Googling whether twin ESP is real. And while the final twist didn’t make me scream, it did make me sit up and go “Ohhh, you sneaky little psycho,” which is honestly all I ask from a thriller these days.

It’s not perfect. The psych ward setting sometimes feels more like a set from "American Horror Story" than a real facility. And if you’re hoping for an airtight psychological deep dive… you’re in the wrong genre. But if you’re here for drama, delusion, and sisters doing the absolute most while reality crumbles around them, this one delivers. 3.5 stars, bumped for commitment to the bit.

Whodunity Award: For Making Me Suspect Every Southern Woman Over Fifty With a Monogrammed Handbag

Huge thanks to Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for the early access. And shoutout to January LaVoy, who absolutely ate the narration. Those twin voices? Chilling. Iconic. Give her an Emmy, a Grammy, and probably a restraining order from the Cartwright family.

Georgia and Mandy have an unlikely connection, and are thrown together for the first time when Georgia, who is in a psych ward after being accused of murdering her sister, asks to speak to Amanda and only Amanda. Georgia's family are questionable characters, and I struggled to connect with literally anyone. I guessed some twists early on but the story hooked me anyway. 3.5 stars, rounded up for a well written, entertaining book.

Thanks to NetGalley and MacMillan Audio for early access to what will be a highly anticipated thriller.

I was very excited to read this because I've enjoyed this author's works in the past. I did enjoy this for the most part, but it's unfotunately not a favorite from this author. I really liked discussions about sibling rivalry, what it's like to be institutionalized in a mental health facility, and twin dynamics. For my personal reading taste, the short chapters and alternating POV's worked very well for me. Overall, I feel like this was lacking the tension and suspense that I was expecting from a story such as this. For the audiobook, January LaVoy is phenomenal, as usual. All that being said, I will continue to read from this author in the future.

Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press, and the author for a ALC of this book!

4/5 stars

Thank you Macmillan Audio for the advanced listening copy!

This is one book where you just have to trust the process -- believe me!!

Overall, I was definetly entertained AND FRUSTRATED while reading this one. Mandy could be so annoying and dumb. I was confused by the entire premise and the way she just trusted this random woman being like "I'm your twin!" and then takes on her murder case essentially.

I really had no idea where this was going while it was happening. SO MUCH makes sense in hindsight, that you really do just need to let it all unfold before you. I bumped this one up half a star for the ending and the twists and turns throughout. Overall a wild ride!

The story revolves around two twin sisters’ perspectives:
Georgia, who is locked in an asylum after being arrested for murdering her sister Annabelle. She pleads insanity and awaits her trial, holding onto the last hope that Mandy will believe in her innocence and help her get out before she’s murdered or gets the death penalty.
Mandy (Amanda), who runs her family’s bar after inheriting the place following her parents’ deaths. She left her PR job behind, only to find herself at the center of a shocking revelation: the murderer making headlines—the one accused of vengefully killing her sister—is actually her twin sister, a sibling she never even knew existed.
One day, Georgia’s lawyer calls Mandy, urging her to visit the hospital and meet her sister. Though skeptical, Mandy is too intrigued to resist confronting the presumed cold-blooded killer. When they finally meet, the unexplainable physical bond between them is undeniable. Then, Georgia hands over strands of her own hair, encouraging Mandy to conduct a DNA test. But deep in her gut, Mandy already knows the truth—Georgia is her real sister, and someone deliberately separated them at birth.
However, the biggest revelation is yet to come: Georgia insists she’s innocent. She warns Mandy that if she doesn’t help get her out, someone will kill her. But is Georgia telling the truth? Or is Mandy just a pawn in her twin’s dangerous endgame?

*Special thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for this digital audio e.arc.*

Very much a popcorn thriller and not one that will probably stick with me, but I was very entertained by listening to this story of two separated-at-birth twin sisters who find each other after one of them, Georgia, has been arrested for the murder of her adopted sister and is in a psychiatric ward. The other sister, Mandy, has to step into Georgia's higher class life on the outside in order to find out the real story and how to exonerate her sister. Escapist and a little soap opera-y, this book was fun to listen to and the ending was satisfying, even if I didn't quite buy the motive that was revealed.

The narrator, January LaVoy did a great job with the distinctive voices of Georgia and Mandy, as well as side characters, and at least to my northern ears her southern accents enhanced the atmosphere and feeling that this book was set in the South.

This is my favorite Sarah Pekkanen book so far!

I loved the high society mystery and the mental ward setting! I love a good thriller with a unreliable narrator. This book did not dissapoint.

Georgia is accused of a murder and locked in a mental ward. She was separated from her twin sister at birth, and her twin, Amanda has no idea Georgia exists. So imagine Amanda's surprise when a lawyer representing Georgia calls her and ask for her help to prove her sister's innocence. Is Georgia innocent? Read to find out!

I recommend this book.

Twisty!

Wildly successful wedding planner Georgia Cartwright is accused of murdering her little sister, Annabelle. As an added complication to this case, Georgia was adopted as a baby and Annabelle is the biological daughter of her wealthy prestigious parents. They want Georgia to pay for her despicable crime against their family. ‘It is the crime of the decade’ after all! Georgia is being held in a psychiatric facility for violent offenders while she waits for her trial to begin. When her estranged sister, Mandy, comes to visit, Georgia whispers sinister pleas like, “help me before they kill me”, and “this could’ve been you”. Mandy goes looking for answers and for a way to help her newfound twin sister but she can’t decide if Georgia is a scapegoat of her powerful family or if she actually the psychopath she is accused of being.

Nothing is as it seems in this story, my jaw dropped more than once at the plot twists. I think this author’s thrillers are just getting better and I can’t wait to read what she comes up with next!

The audio narration was fantastic performed by January LaVoy.

Thank you Netgalley, Macmillan Audio, and the author for this ALC in exchange for my honest review. This book will be available for purchase on August 5, 2025

Sara Pekkanen's latest thriller - The Locked Ward - was a fun summer read.
It's surely not the first novel about twins separated at birth who come to know each other. But this one has its own special twist: One of the twins - Georgia - has been charged with murder, is feigning a semi-catatonic state that keeps her in a mental health facility allowing her to delay her trial and to reach out to her birth sister Mandy - who did not know of her existence - to help her prove her innocence.
It is a really interesting story, not just about how Mandy becomes interested in determining whether Georgia is actually innocent, but how the two were separated and why. There's plenty of intrigue - an ambitious Senator, his connection to the wealthy family that adopted Georgia and the far from wealthy parents - now dead, who adopted Mandy and can no longer answer her questions about her past.
The narrator was great. A real page-turner!

Sarah Pekkanen never disappoints! This is the PERFECT summer thriller. Five stars for her twistiest book yet!

This one grabs you from the first page. Georgia Cartwright is accused of murdering her sister Annabelle. She is transferred to the fifth floor of the hospital - the locked ward. This is where the violent criminals go. She knows her only way out is to get in touch with her newly found twin sister Mandy.

This story alternates between Georgia and Mandy’s POVs. The chapters are fast and short, and the twists and turns never stop coming. Mandy is trying to get answers to her own questions about her new sister, and Georgia weaves a tale that will eventually answer all of the reader’s questions. I had so many theories about this one, but I never saw the ending coming. And that epilogue - buckle up!

January LaVoy does an amazing job with the audiobook - as always. If you prefer audiobooks, this one is a winner!

Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press, and Macmillan Audio for the digital and audiobook copies of this book! I was so excited to read/listen to this one early. It is out on August 5th - preorder it now!

Couldn’t put this down! Great twists. Honest portrayal of dysfunctional families/bad mothers. (I appreciate stories where authors are honest about both topics)
Some fun facts about twins! I ended up goggling to see if it was true! Would make for a great mini series.

Super narration.

This is one of my must-read authors and this latest novel did not disappoint. The storyline felt fresh and creative.

I went in blind and am glad I did—the synopsis has spoilers imho and ruins what could be a fun first twist

Georgia Cartwright has been brought up in the lofty circles of the elite and powerful. Adopted and shunned by her mother Honey who favored her natural born daughter Annabelle, she now stands accused of murdering this sister in a fit of jealousy and is placed in a locked ward until her mental competency for trial is determined.

Mandy (Amanda) Ravenel is a bartender raised as an only child by loving parents in more modest circumstances. Her life is stable and predictable until her phone rings one morning with news she could never have imagined:

Georgia is not only her twin, but she’s asking for her help to prove she didn’t murder Annabelle.

This is where my buy-in faltered. Long-lost twin or not, I struggled to believe Mandy would risk life and limb amongst powerful threats that would want to silence her for the sake of a woman she literally just met.

Don’t get me wrong, I kept turning those pages and listening along while January LaVoy expertly narrated the unfolding drama, so I was definitely invested in where the story was going. The short chapters flew by, creating the “just one more” effect that I love in books, and Pekkanen’s writing is very good, so no issues with that.

My main issue was simply that stories about twins or rich and powerful politically-connected people behaving badly or misusing their influence just don’t excite me much. I can turn on the news and see abuses of power every day that I WISH were just fiction.

The best part of the book for me was Georgia’s experience inside the locked ward. That part felt terribly menacing! If the whole book was about a character in those circumstances, I’d have been hooked. It felt genuinely threatening. Mandy’s efforts on the outside in trying to clear Georgia fell flat for me and had none of that nail-biting tension, nor did the ending reveal and the epilogue, both of which felt a bit predictable and anticlimactic.

The story is a decent, well-written story, so the issue is just one of what kind of plots I prefer. While I enjoyed the story to a point, this plot didn’t work as well for me, but there’s definitely an audience for these kinds of characters and their stories. I’d encourage you to read others' reviews before you decide. The audio is very good if you do try this!

★★★ ½

Amanda's sister is locked in a ward for violent offenders. All she says is, "I didn't do it. Get me out of her." Amanda doesn't know what to believe: Did Georgia kill the daughter of her wealthy family? Amanda quickly finds nothing is as it seems.

This was twisty Sarah Pekkanen at her very best. I loved it.

I enjoyed this thriller, but it felt more like a mystery than a thriller. I felt like the prologue really made it seem like this book was going to get very creepy and a little scary, but it never quite reached that point. I was not blown away by the twists either.

Thanks so much to Netgalley and the publisher for this ARC audiobook.
Now this was an excellent thriller!
I immensely enjoyed this and finished in one day.
And the narration by January LaVoy was superb. (As usual!)

This is not a criticism of the author at all. I like her a lot. I just cannot read or listen to anything in second person. It is so unlike how we tell a story in the real world unless we are being insincere., like telling someone else how they experienced something. For example, if I said to my husband "you forgot to make the coffee again. You were playing a videogame and got distracted." Is feels off and rude. It also reminds me of the "love letters" men would send me in my 20s. Like no sir, that is not what happened and it is not how I would perceive this situation.
I read up on it and it is apparently a common enough writing style now, meant to make us feel more of a connection with the scene. It does not do that for me. It puts me in a defensive mode. I have also never woken up in grippy socks and sought a connection with a long lost twin, so what do I know?
I like the parts that are not written this way and I commend the author for trying new writing styles. I hope everyone else loves this.

The narration was flawless.

After thoroughly enjoying Sarah Pekkanen’s House of Glass last year, I was quick to request an ARC of this book as soon as I saw it hit NetGalley. The premise intrigued me. We have twins, a murder, a psychiatric institution, and a web of family secrets. Sold. I’m always up for a tense, twisty psychological thriller, especially when it promises complex sister dynamics and a potentially unreliable narrator. Unfortunately, while this one had all the ingredients I usually love, the final result didn’t quite land for me.

The setup is compelling enough: Georgia Cartwright, the adopted daughter of a wealthy Southern family, is accused of murdering her sister. While she waits for trial, she’s being held in a psychiatric hospital reserved for the most violent offenders. Her estranged twin, Amanda, shows up for a visit and is quickly pulled into the swirling mystery of whether Georgia is a wrongfully accused pawn in a twisted family game, or something far more manipulative. It’s juicy. It’s atmospheric. It should work. And it mostly does. The plot moves at a decent pace, and there’s enough tension to keep the pages turning.

But where the book stumbled for me was in its execution, particularly the choice of narration style. Georgia's chapters are told in second-person. Now, I understand what Pekkanen was trying to do here. She wanted the reader to embody Georgia, to experience the psychological breakdown and claustrophobia of confinement firsthand. But second-person is a tough sell. It rarely works for me, and in this case, it created way too much distance between Georgia and I instead of bringing me closer. I kept stumbling over lines like “The smell of bleach fills your nose” or “Your arms and legs ache,” and thinking, "No, it doesn't", or "my arms and legs are fine, thanks". I know it's a weird personal quirk, but I think it comes from a pet peeve of being told how to feel, speak, or act. I always push back against that. If a book starts telling me what I should be feeling or thinking, it pulls me right out of the story. It totally breaks the spell.

This won't bother everyone. Some readers may find the second-person approach haunting and immersive. For me, it pulled me out of the story every time it showed up, and that made it hard to feel emotionally invested in Georgia. I never quite connected to Amanda either, which is disappointing since so much of the book relies on her shifting perceptions and unraveling sense of trust. I was more of a passive observer than an active participant in her story.

The mystery itself is fine. Solid, but not particularly shocking. I guessed most of the major beats well before they were revealed. There’s no real gut-punch twist, no gasp-worthy moment that resets your understanding of the plot. That’s not to say it’s poorly done, it just plays things pretty safe for a psychological thriller. The atmosphere is eerie, the pacing is steady, and there’s a few unsettling scenes, but it never fully grabbed me the way I wanted it to. If you’ve read widely in the genre, this one won’t surprise you.

Now, on a more positive note: the audiobook is fantastic. January LaVoy is one of my favorite narrators, and she does an outstanding job here. Her delivery is precise, emotionally nuanced, and she gives distinct voices to each character without making it feel performative. She brings energy to the narrative and smooths over some of the pacing dips in the middle. Honestly, her narration probably added an extra half-star to my reading experience. If you’re going to pick this one up, I’d recommend the audio format for that reason alone.

So where does that leave me? It’s not a bad book. Not by any stretch. It’s readable, well-paced, and competently written. It just didn’t click with me on a deeper level. Between the second-person narration and a plot that didn’t quite deliver on its dark promise, I walked away feeling lukewarm. That said, I’ll still read Pekkanen’s future work. She has a strong sense of mood and clearly knows how to structure a thriller. This one just wasn’t the hit I hoped for, but that doesn’t mean it won’t work for someone else.

The Locked Ward written by Sarah Pekkanen and narrated by January LaVoy

This psychological thriller opens when Georgia wakens to find her arms and ankles constrained to a bed. She had been admitted to a hospital after allegedly killing her younger sister at her sister’s birthday party. The story is told in short, alternating chapters – Georgia and her newfound sister (separated after birth and raised by different families).
Amanda, recently orphaned, as an adult, recognizing that “Georgia is the only family I have left”, agrees to meet her at “the locked ward”. At the end of their brief visit, Georgia tells Amanda (Mandy) “I didn’t do it: they’re going to kill me”. Amanda leaves with this message resonating in her mind, determined to learn more about Georgia and whether she is capable of murder. Is she guilty or innocent? In her need to see Georgia under the lens of her need for family, does she have a predisposition to believe in her innocence?
Is Georgia an unreliable narrator (as an event planner Mandy wonders if she staged it all to get sympathy from her)? These are the questions Mandy ponders in her quest to learn who her sister is and understand the relationships of their respective families.
January LaVoy was an excellent narrator – she spoke at a reasonable pace with voice modulation that generated suspense as well as voices for the different characters. Her telling the story as well as the quick back and forth of the chapters telling the story of both sisters’ POV’s made it a quick listen/read as I wanted to know if Georgia really did kill her sister and if not, who did and why.

Thank you to NetGalley, Sarah Pekkanen, January LaVoy and Macmillan Audio for an advanced copy of this audio book.

I have mixed thoughts on this one.

The story is told via two POV narrators. One is in first person, the other in the rarely used second person. I’m just not a fan of second person narration. It’s weird, and no matter how well executed, the constant “you” did this and “you” did that takes me out of the story.

The premise fascinated me. I wanted to know if Georgia was guilty of murder, and if not, who was.

But the execution didn’t work well for me. The wealthy family felt too superficial and stereotypical of this type of domestic thriller. And the second half of the story went off the rails a bit too much.

I listened to the audiobook, which is narrated by the fabulous January LaVoy. She truly makes every book a better experience.

I typically love January LaVoy but the forced southern accent kept taking me out.

I really was not a fan of the switching from 1st to 2nd person POV. The characters felt flat and 2 dimensional and the twist was really underwhelming.