They were meant to be safe on Fleet Ward: psychiatric patients monitored, treated, cared for. But now one of their number is murdered and the accusations begin to fly. When one of her fellow patients is murdered, Alice becomes convinced that she has identified the killer and that she can catch them. Ignored by the police, she begins her own investigation. But when her prime suspect becomes the second victim, Alice’s life begins to unravel still further as she realises that she cannot trust anyone, least of all herself. Alice Armitage is a patient in an acute psychiatric ward following a debilitating bout of PTSD, self-medication with drink and drugs, and a psychotic breakdown. When one of Alice’s fellow patients is murdered she is convinced that she hunt down the killer. After witnessing her police partner’s murder, Alice Armitage experiences a psychotic episode and is admitted to a psychiatric hospital. She is suffering from PTSD and has been self-medicating with alcohol and drugs. While living on the psych ward, Alice befriends the other patients. When her new friend, Kevin, is brutally murdered on the ward, she decides to begin her own investigation into the case. She is an expert at this because she is a police officer. Or is she? Who murdered Kevin? Billingham's picture of the ward and its staff is full of humanity, leaving us with a clear sense that this kind of illness could affect any of us, and the story offers an excellent twist. He gets better and better. * Literary Review *

I enjoy reading Mark Billingham’s Tom Thorne series so I was really looking forward to this one. Unfortunately it was an ok read but not up to the previous high standard. This is a stand alone novel that I did enjoy and is different to his other books.I loved the sense of looking out for each other that Al had with some of the other patients and whilst there are two murders, I found this to be a heartwarming story. Rabbit Hole is a mind-bending psychological thriller that puts protagonist Alice Armitage through the toughest investigation of her life. Billingham plays the unreliable narrator card brilliantly here, as we never really know the truth about what’s going on, leading to an electrifying conclusion. Alice is a complicated and intriguing protagonist, and Billingham’s portrayal of her PTSD is realistic yet sensitively handled. Her state of mind is always in a constant state of dismay, so everything she says or does has to be taken with a grain of salt.

On the Fleet Ward of a psychiatric hospital for those that have been sectioned, a patient has been brutally murdered. Told and thought in the first person by DCI Alice Armitage, working alone, she deep dig investigates the murder; I suppose that there's one thing I should also mention, Alice is also an in-patient in the Ward! Although there is always a lot happening on the ward, things are about to become even more intense, when one of the patients is found dead. Missing her previous life desperately, Alice throws herself into investigating the case, to the annoyance of staff and the amusement of the other residents of Fleet Ward; while you can understand Alice’s extreme frustration and annoyance as she is not taken seriously. Brilliant, suspenseful, poignant, heartbreaking, surprisingly funny, and Mark Billingham, magician that he is, pulls that proverbial rabbit out of the hat at the end. More than just about any other book I've read, I HAD to know how it would all come together * Linwood Barclay *There’s a murder in the hospital and Al wants to help investigate. She has a friend in the Police and asks him for information but this doesn’t get her very far. Immense skill and heart'Eve Chase ' Brilliant, suspenseful, poignant, heartbreaking, surprisingly funny'Linwood Barclay 'One of the most consistently entertaining, insightful crime writers working today'Gillian Flynn I got it because my wife in 1970s was on psyc ward it's Sucide is painful it brings on meany changes but so does Murders Billingham is a world-class writer and Tom Thorne is a wonderful creation. Rush to read these books.”—Karin Slaughter, international bestselling author

Reading Rabbit Hole was a nostalgic experience for me. It reawakened a lot of memories of patients and incidents from my psychiatric nursing days, some amusing, some not. Billingham has done his research well. At the very least it should reach the shortlist of this year's Booker prize' THE TIMES________________________ Billingham creates the dark, claustrophobic world of the psychiatric ward with immense skill and heart.”— Eve Chase, author of The Glass HouseDISCLOSURE: Thank you to Grove Atlantic via Netgalley for providing a digital ARC of Rabbit Hole by Mark Billingham for review. All opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own personal opinions.

Alice Armitage is (or, at least, believes she is) a former police officer who is now a patient on a psychiatric ward, suffering from PTSD after her partner Jonno is stabbed to death during a routine investigation. When one of her fellow patients is murdered, Alice secretly mounts her own investigation and becomes convinced she knows who the killer is. Unfortunately, a few days later, Alice’s suspect becomes the second victim. Mark Bellingham has pulled the rabbit out of the hat on this one. The Rabbit Hole is told in a way that strikes a perfect balance between sensitively dealing with PTSD and murder whilst injecting tasteful humour throughout the book. Despite the suffering that goes on in the ward we witness so many strange and hilarious antics both before and after the murder of the patient but then a couple of weeks later a nurse is murdered.... Superb . . . Billingham adds tantalizing red herrings throughout. The book’s masterly ending features a heart-stopping chase to apprehend Kieron’s surprising kidnapper. Established fans and newcomers alike will be thrilled.”— Publishers Weekly (starred review), on Cry Baby I really tried… honestly I did. To the tune of 60%. It was just too difficult to hook into, constantly felt as if there was some revelation coming but never happened. It may well reveal at the end but I just couldn’t wait for it.Uh huh, a patient is murdered and Alice, as police, decides to work the case from inside. Great premise! Oh, Alice is a wonderfully unreliable narrator! She has memory issues, is paranoid and takes a boatload of meds every day - as does everyone she lives with. The killer could be any one of the residents.