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Book Summary and Reviews of Shrink Solves Murder by Philippa Perry

Shrink Solves Murder by Philippa Perry

Shrink Solves Murder

Her three o'clock just became a murder case . . .

by Philippa Perry

  • Publishes:
  • Jul 28, 2026, 336 pages
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About this book

Book Summary

A small-town psychotherapist draws on all her knowledge of the human psyche to solve the murder of a patient in this warm and witty mystery novel—by a real psychotherapist turned #1 internationally bestselling author.

Living in picturesque coastal Sussex, Patricia Philipps enjoys her quiet life—walking the cliffs, shouting at poorly disciplined dog owners, telling tourists to keep their distance from the crumbling cliff edges, and cold-water swimming.

Then a body washes up near Beachy Head, upending her carefully curated life as she discovers the deceased is one of her clients—her "Three O'Clock," in fact.

The police chalk it up to suicide, but Pat sees things differently. She reads people. She understands them—their lusts, their loves, their quirks, their ticks, their tells, their deepest desires. She looks, she listens, she watches. And she never jumps to conclusions. After all, she spends her days listening to secrets, resentments, fantasies, and motives. She's certain someone wanted Henry Clayton dead.

With her chaotic best friend Pritchard (part-time poet, full-time meddler) in tow, Pat swaps the therapist's couch for the crime scene. It's time to unpick the lies, untangle the egos, and catch a killer hiding in plain sight.

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Reviews

Media Reviews

"Artist and psychotherapist Perry (The Book You Want Everyone You Love to Read) makes her fiction debut with a wonderfully witty cozy starring 62-year-old shrink Patricia "Pat" Phillips... . Readers will be eager for a sequel." —Publishers Weekly (starred review)

"A cunning murder disguised as a suicide, a brilliant psychotherapist who doesn't believe what she's told, and a cast of village eccentrics who help (and hinder) her investigations, this is cozy crime at its most enjoyable." —Natalie Haynes, New York Times bestselling author of A Thousand Ships

"What a joy Shrink Solves Murder by Philippa Perry is. This is cozy crime with a side order of psychological insight and fabulously real characters. Already looking forward to the next one!" —Jennie Godfrey, author of The List of Suspicious Things

This information about Shrink Solves Murder 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.

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More Information

Philippa Perry is an artist and psychotherapist as well as a TV and radio host. She is the bestselling author of The Book You Wish Your Parents Had Read and The Book You Want Everyone You Love* to Read (*And Maybe a Few You Don't). Her books have been translated into over forty languages. Perry lives in London with her husband, Sir Grayson, and their cat, The Honourable Kevin.

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