The King is back - no, not, Elvis Presley, but wild-living, on-the-edge, one-of-a-kind, bipolar psychiatrist Dr Natalie King, who has already featured in Medea's Curse and Dangerous To Know (click through for my reviews) and now returns for the third instalment, This I Would Kill For.
With her intense career, chaotic love life and unstable mental health, Natalie already has a lot on her plate, but things become even more stressful when she is embroiled in an emotionally charged custody battle, involving accusations of sexual abuse. With both the mother and adoptive father slinging insults and accusations at each other and revealing their less palatable sides, Natalie has her work cut out trying to decide what is best, and safest, for those who really matter : eight-year-old Chelsea and her little brother Chris. There are numerous twists and turns and red herrings along the way so you never know how the plot is going to pan out and, even if the culprit did feature in my mental list of suspects early on, he wasn't the main contender.
The character of Natalie has really grown on me as the series continues. She is complex, unpredictable and frequently imprudent, but her heart is always in the right place and she seems to be thinking more of others and less of herself as her character evolves. In this book, we see her coming to terms with impending motherhood but, in typical Natalie King fashion, she first has to figure out who the father is and which of her two love interests would be the best bet for her and her unborn child.
The scenes of Natalie working with Chelsea in play-therapy and trying to understand her plight and unlock her secrets are poignant and believable. The highly-charged interplay between the feuding parents, both in and out of the courtroom, sometimes seems slightly over-the-top but sadly, high profile cases in the news do show that some custody battles lead to shocking and tragic conclusions. The fact that author Anne Buist is the Chair of Women's Mental Health at the University of Melbourne and has over 25 years of clinical and research experience in perinatal psychiatry, working on cases of abuse, kidnapping, infanticide and murder, adds authenticity to the drama and makes it into an even more chilling and poignant read.
star rating : 4.5/5
RRP : £8.99
- Paperback: 288 pages
- Publisher: Legend Press (15 Jun. 2018)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 178719812X
- ISBN-13: 978-1787198128
Disclosure : I received a review copy of the book.
I remember reading your previous reviews of the series. It sounds like a riveting read, and the author's experience makes it more authentic.
ReplyDeleteSounds a great read!
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