Primary Obsessions

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. (Oct.)