Close Your Eyes

February 8, 2016
In Robotham’s gripping 10th thriller featuring British psychologist Joe O’Loughlin and retired detective Vincent Ruiz (after 2014’s Watching You), brusque Det. Chief Supt. Veronica Cray wants Joe’s opinion on the murders of Elizabeth Crowe and her university-bound daughter, Harper, in their West Country home. Elizabeth’s death was from a frenzied knife attack, while Harper was asphyxiated in her bed and laid out like Sleeping Beauty. Joe is dismayed to learn that another psychologist has already leapt in to offer his so-called expertise on the case. Calling himself “the Mindhunter,” Milo Coleman, a former graduate student of Joe’s, is more stage performer than asset, jeopardizing the investigation at every turn by revealing key details to a public salivating for answers. Joe and Vincent dig into Elizabeth’s background and discover her predilection for unconventional sexual exploits, even before more bodies start turning up. Robotham’s tightly plotted whodunit meshes beautifully with a truly emotional family saga involving Joe’s former wife, Julianne. Agent: Richard Pine, Inkwell Management.

When a former student mishandles the investigation of a series of brutal murders, Joe O'Loughlin is forced--reluctantly--onto the case. Meanwhile, his estranged wife discovers she has cancer. Sean Barrett again lends his voice to Michael Robotham's series as the renowned psychologist finds himself juggling personal and professional issues with great difficulty. Robotham's plot is intensely cerebral, and Barrett's narration, while at times a bit slow, captures O'Loughlin's mental state. The conflicts and calculations of his mind take shape even when some of the supporting characters fall flat. While the novel can be appreciated on its own, those who have listened to previous series installments will likely reap the most from Book 8. J.F. © AudioFile 2016, Portland, Maine

November 15, 2015

A mother and daughter are found grotesquely murdered in an isolated farmhouse, and clinical psychologist Joseph O'Loughlin is drawn in when a former student blows the case by leaking key details to the press. Robotham won the Crime Writers' Association Goldsboro Gold Dagger for Life or Death.

Copyright 2015 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from February 1, 2016
Beleaguered clinical psychologist Joe O'Loughlin's back as Robotham pits the brilliant, battered, and world-weary shrink against a killer who's not above stalking Joe's own family. Joe, who struggles with Parkinson's disease, has worked hard to keep himself in the lives of his two daughters, Charlie and Emma. His estranged wife, Julianne, who's facing surgery in connection with her newly discovered cancer, has softened a bit toward Joe, and he's hoping it will open the door to a reconciliation. Meanwhile, Joe's helping police in England's West Country unravel the horrifying murder of an attractive mother and her college-bound daughter. Elizabeth Crowe was found butchered in their sitting room, while daughter Harper was discovered upstairs in her bedroom, laid out like Sleeping Beauty. Further investigation reveals that mom--who was stabbed 36 times--was into a sexual fetish called "dogging," in which strangers meet and have sex in public places. While Detective Chief Superintendent Veronica Cray grows impatient to resolve the killing, Joe and his perennial sidekick, retired cop Vincent Ruiz, discover that Elizabeth's death bears more than a passing resemblance to other killings in the area. Meanwhile, police fume while Milo Coleman, a former student of Joe's who initially consulted on the investigation, captures the press by calling himself "the Mindhunter" and releasing confidential details. As Coleman spills secrets police hoped to keep quiet, Joe and Ruiz narrow the field to six main suspects. Before it's all over, they'll have only minutes to figure out the killer's identity and location before Joe loses everything that's precious to him. As usual, Robotham turns in a tightly written story that's flawlessly plotted, although past experience should have told Joe that letting his family become involved in his cases never turns out well. But Robotham's writing is so smooth and his characters so well-drawn that readers can forgive him almost anything. Robotham's crime thrillers are at the top of the genre's food chain.

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Starred review from January 1, 2016
Psychologist Joe O'Loughlin has given up profiling for the police, but he's lured back by the antics of a former student to look into a headline-grabbing murder. Milo Coleman, calling himself the Mindhunter, is jeopardizing the investigation into the killings of Elizabeth Crowe, an attractive divorcee prone to having sex in public places, and her 18-year-old daughter by releasing details of the crime to the media. O'Loughlin recruits the help of retired police inspector Vincent Ruiz, a former adversary who became a close friend, but little progress is made until O'Loughlin spots a link between the murders and a series of attacks in which womenand menhave been left with the letter A (for adultery) carved into their foreheads. At the same time, O'Loughlin's beloved wife, Julianne, from whom he's been separated for six years, invites him back to their former home, shared with their two daughters, in advance of her pending cancer surgery. Interspersed first-person accounts by the killer provide insight, but it's O'Loughlin who shines, as he deals with his Parkinson's disease, hopes for a true reconciliation with Julianne, and must make a terrible choice between those he loves most. First-rate suspense with a strong emotional component.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2016, American Library Association.)