A Multilayered Debut You Won't Forget

A stunning debut novel about a woman accused of murdering her best friend.

The police are convinced that Jennifer White has killed her best friend. Amanda’s body has been discovered in her home, stabbed to death and with four fingers from her right hand neatly removed. The murder is a horrifying shock to a quiet and genteel neighbourhood. Jennifer’s work as an accomplished surgeon and the stormy nature of her friendship with Amanda make her the prime suspect. However, even Jennifer cannot tell if she really is responsible. Her days are spent in confusion and her memories are fragmented thanks to the Alzheimer’s that is gradually destroying her once brilliant mind.

Fractured images and remembered conversations return to her over the days of the police investigation, and Jennifer pieces together recollections from the near and distant past that cast light on her current predicament. As her condition deteriorates, she struggles against succumbing to the indignities of her merciless illness. She frequently fails to recognise her children, Mark and Fiona, when they come to visit but at times she finds herself vividly reliving distinct moments from her most significant relationships – with her late husband James, her much-loved medical career and of course Amanda, who knew even her most intimate and dangerous family secrets.

Turn of Mind is a portrait of a complex friendship of vexed intimacy, with a compelling mystery at its heart. It is a powerful and moving debut that will haunt readers long after the police have drawn their final conclusions about what happened on the cold February evening when Amanda lost her life.

Listen to what NPR has to say about the book.

And here is the publisher's perspective.



Jackie says:
"This debut novel is getting A LOT of attention, and rightfully so.  It's a very literary and complex character study with a mystery/thriller element to it as well.

It focuses on Dr. Jennifer White, a hand surgeon in her mid sixties who is suffering from advanced dementia. She is suspected of killing her neighbor and best friend Amanda.  And certainly she is the ultimate unreliable narrator since Jennifer has no idea of whether she's done it or not--some days she forgets her children, or shifts around in time and general awareness of what is happening around her (at times recognizing no one), let alone what she herself is doing at any moment.  Her reality can switch nearly instantly, mid- conversation.  She does become violent at times.  And she certainly has the skill to do what was done to Amanda.

This book is a delightful puzzle to read as we are presented with Jennifer's ever shifting states of mind and memory.  We learn a great deal about her children, her marriage, her friendship with Amanda, and what the general perception she had created of herself before her illness.  But we learn these things in disjointed pieces that we must move around constantly as more bits are added, trying to figure out just what it is we are looking at.  It will keep you puzzling all the way to the very last pages.

This book is being lauded for its remarkable handling of what it's like to live with dementia, as well as its deft storytelling and masterful building of suspense.  I highly, highly, HIGHLY recommend you read this book."