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by MM Desch
A psychiatrist facing career-ending allegations investigates a murder to prove innocence, discovering she and the victim are pawns in a criminal scheme.
When a psychiatric clinical assistant turns up dead, Dr. Leslie Schoen finds herself a suspect in the case—and facing allegations which could destroy her career.
As Detective Davis works the investigation, Leslie launches her own inquiries. She soon uncovers deception and illegal schemes involving stolen prescription opioids. It seems everyone around her is hiding something, and as she gets closer to the truth, the threats against her escalate. She struggles with keeping dangerous information from her pregnant wife, Izzy, and knows she needs to confront traumatic demons from her own past. But as she delves deeper into a web of lies, one thing becomes clear: someone will do anything to keep their criminal plans in the shadows.
With her family and even her life on the line, Leslie must outwit those who want her silenced before it's too late. No one's motives are what they seem, and the killer may be closer than anyone thinks.
In a twisted web of lies, she's either the spider or the fly.
"Exquisite tension... thought-provoking insights paired with unexpected twists. A satisfyingly complex suspense thriller." —The Midwest BookReview, Diane Donovan, Senior Reviewer
"A layered, unnerving debut... lean, sharp prose moving with tight momentum. Equal parts medical thriller, psychological drama, and moral reckoning." —The Prairies Book Review
This information about Tangled Darkness was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Mary Desch penned her debut psychological thriller, Tangled Darkness, after practicing psychiatry for years in Minnesota, Arizona, and Portland, Oregon. As a former general and addiction psychiatrist, she worked with people's motivations, conflicts, trauma recovery, and addictive disorders. Naturally drawn to psychological suspense, Mary's medical work primed her to create relatable fictional characters and situations of psychological and physical danger. Her childhood attraction to the Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine grew into a college love for detective fiction and a lifelong passion for mystery thrillers. Crafting a psychological thriller was a natural fit. Tangled Darkness was named to the 2023 Chanticleer Clue Awards shortlist. When not investigating another facet of writing, Mary enjoys hiking and long dog walks with her wife and their rascal mini schnauzer, Portland food carts, golf, and the WNBA.
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