Primary Obsessions
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- $9.99
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- $9.99
Publisher Description
The endearing and unflappable Dr. Annick Boudreau regularly confronts a myriad of mental health issues in her psychology practice at the West Coast Cognitive Behavioural Therapy Clinic in Vancouver, British Columbia. But even Annick is stunned when Sanjay, a young patient who suffers from Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, is arrested for the brutal murder of his roommate. While Sanjay is tortured by repeated violent thoughts, everything Annick knows about her patient and his illness has her convinced that he’s innocent. But the police and prosecutor are convinced that they have caught the perpetrator and aren’t interested in looking very hard. Unable to talk to the authorities because of doctor-patient confidentiality, Annick feels compelled to investigate on her own, finding herself drawn into the darker side of her postcard-perfect city in the process.
Primary Obsessions is the first book in a series of mysteries starring Dr. Annick Boudreau and involving themes of mental health. Author (and longtime CBT patient) Charles Demers deftly reveals a particular aspect of psychology practice in each book, illuminating shadowy subject matter with masterful sensitivity and sharp wit. Primary Obsessions is an engrossing page-turner and a refreshing reboot of the sleuth genre.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Vancouver psychologist Annick Boudreau, the protagonist of this unimpressive series launch from Demers (The Prescription Errors), has been trying to convince her patient Sanjay Desai, who's been diagnosed with obsessive-compulsive disorder, that his violent thoughts of repeatedly stabbing his mother signify nothing. Boudreau's feeling that she's made progress is shattered when Desai is arrested for the murder of his roommate, Jason MacGregor, whose throat was slashed. When the police searched Desai's room, they found his journal, which was full of images of stabbing and slashings. While the evidence against Desai appears solid, Boudreau refuses to believe that she was wrong about him and tries to find the real killer herself, despite her lack of investigative training. (At one point, Desai's defense attorney accuses her of actually harming his client's case through her ham-handed efforts.) Alternate suspects include MacGregor's stripper girlfriend and a customer thrown out of the nightclub where he worked as a bouncer. The author's good intentions to explore the realities of mental illness aren't matched by the uninspired plotting and execution. Few readers are likely to look forward to the sequel.
