Locked Ward

Natalie King may be a psychiatrist, but that doesn’t mean she can persuade her baby to go to sleep. Sienna wants to party through the night—and lack of sleep is a major trigger for Natalie’s bipolar disorder.

Sleep school at Southside private psych unit, however, turns out to have its own hazards. It’s bad enough that Natalie doesn’t really want to be there, that she wants to keep her professional status quiet and that she’s seen enough group therapy to be quite sure it’s not her thing. But then someone arrives who Natalie knows very well indeed—and not in a good way.

Luckily she’s out of Southside by the time the murder happens. Unluckily, she knows everyone who’s involved, including the cops. They think they have an open-and-shut case. Natalie’s pretty sure they’ve locked the door on the wrong person.

Anne Buist is the author of the psychological thrillers Medea’s Curse, Dangerous to Know, This I Would Kill For and The Long Shadow, and Professor of Women’s Mental Health at the University of Melbourne. She lives with Graeme Simsion, co-author of Two Steps Forward and Two Steps Onward, in Melbourne, Australia.


‘In The Long Shadow, Buist continues to impress with her smart brand of psychological thriller. A brooding story about small-town secrets and the lies we tell to protect ourselves.’ Emma Viskic on The Long Shadow


‘Buist’s own extensive background in psychiatry shines through.’ Herald Sun on The Long Shadow

‘The strength of this crime novel...lies in its exploration of the workings of the Family Court and its experts…This book should come with a warning: you may never be able to look at your own children’s drawings in the same way again.’ Age on This I Would Kill For