Hollowpines, a psychiatric hospital with a long history and Joe Sinclair, an inmate, has a story to tell. In his sleep, he saw someone being brutally murdered in a park – a murder that actually took place that night. There was no possibility that Joe could have left the facility, and he has no communication with the outside world, so how could he have known so many details about the crime, right down to where to find the murder weapon?

DC Abby Fox has just returned to work, suspended for a year after a colleague was stabbed on her watch. In a workplace surrounded by colleagues who don’t want her there and a boss that she used to go out with, the chance to investigate the goings-on at Hollowpines seems a good chance to make an impression without constantly being undermined. But there is more than one killer at the hospital – it’s full of them. But at least one of them isn’t locked away…

Another Stockport Noir 2026 name ticked off the list. Admittedly a) I forgot until I was about a third of the way through and b) I’ve actually already read a book by her as she also writes as Louisa Scarr. Those books are significantly less messy and icky that this one…

Facebook has been sending me an advert for this book, 99p on Kindle at time of writing, for days and annoyingly, I decided to cave. After all, 99p is less than the price of a packet of crisps, and this is significantly better for my health. Well, my physical health, anyway, not necessarily for my mental health. As I said, it’s a bit icky. And the phrase “a bit” is doing some heavy lifting there…

I mentioned in my review of The Pinnacle that the problem that I had was that I didn’t empathise with any of the lead characters. This one has, primarily, three – Abby, Joe and Mac, Abby’s boss, and I liked all three of them and found myself caring what happened to them. That’s why I tore through this book, not simply to get to the end but to see what fate lay in store for them. And the fact that I was absolutely gripped by the plot.

It’s an interesting idea and the story keeps pushing forward. To be honest, I’m not convinced that the plot made a ton of sense – I’m still not sure why Joe has his dream on the same nights that murders occur and at no other time, and the villain’s grand plan is, quite frankly, bananas, and relies on quite a few coincidences. And while the villain isn’t obvious for the most part of the narrative, I did feel that there’s quite a long gap between the part where their identity becomes inevitable and the actual reveal, so there’s no sense of “Wow!”, just a sense of “Finally!”

I wonder – did it need to be as extreme as it is? At least two characters in the book rape someone, the stories of the violent women from D Wing are quite horrifying, there’s a long sex scene (consensual this time, to be clear) and then the fate of one character at the end is so gruesome that it’s almost funny. Almost. Now I’m not a prude – well, maybe a bit of one – but the book didn’t need such graphic details in my mind. If anything, it might stop some readers from enjoying a gripping if somewhat unbelievable thriller/mystery.

All in all, despite its faults, I really enjoyed The Killer In Room Five, and, once suitably braced, will definitely try Sam’s work again, especially if she writes another book featuring Abby. Once I’ve worked out what the title means that is – the room number is mentioned exactly once in the book, so I’m really not sure why it made the title…