Alice (Al) Armitage is in an intermediate length ward in London for mental health and addiction treatment. We are told she has PTSD, substance misuse issues and intermittent paranoia (is this truly her diagnosis?) She is a former copper (is she or isn't she?) Her life has fallen apart and she ends up mandated to have long term treatment for her mental illness and anti-social behaviors (is she a criminal as well?) Billingham is a world-class writer and Tom Thorne is a wonderful creation. Rush to read these books.”—Karin Slaughter, international bestselling author They were meant to be safe on Fleet Ward: psychiatric patients monitored, treated, cared for. But now one of their number is found murdered, and the accusations begin to fly.

This is a book that truly delivers the goods in one of the best mysteries that I have read in a very long time. I received this book for free from the Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review. Rabbit Hole by Mark BillinghamWhen 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. The unreliable narrator has been a favorite vehicle for authors in recent years. Here, Billingham gives us perhaps the most unreliable narrator of all: A woman sectioned into a mental health ward following a psychotic episode brought on by PTSD. This woman is a former police detective who, although having been medically retired from the force, still sees herself as on the Job. At the very least it should reach the shortlist of this year's Booker prize' THE TIMES________________________ Author Mark Billingham gets almost everything right here --- the character of Alice, who is by turns fascinating, pitiful and manipulative; the atmosphere of the ward and its grimness; the unctuous posturing of the staff; and the effects of the various drugs. Overall, the book is an effective hybrid --- an absorbing character study doubling as a travelogue through a place that many of us find intimidating.

Maybe though, that was only how the main character saw them all, through her own eyes whilst she wasn't well herself?. It had been a while since I read a Mark Billingham novel. I read lots of the Tom Thorne books but then got out of sequence and never returned to them.

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. Mark Billingham pens one of my favourite crime series - the Tom Thorne books. But he also writes standalones - the latest is Rabbit Hole. Alice Armitage is a police officer. Or she was. Or perhaps she just imagines she was. Whatever the truth is, following a debilitating bout of PTSD, self-medication with drink and drugs, and a psychotic breakdown, Alice is now a long-term patient in an acute psychiatric ward. A fantastic thriller, combining a gripping plot and lead characters of remarkable depth…Readers who grab this one but aren’t familiar with its predecessors will be seeking them out. A series to savor.”— Booklist (starred review), on Their Little Secret Alice (Al) Armitage previously worked in law enforcement but is currently confined to a psychiatric facility as the pressures of the job and the loss of her partner culminated in her abusing drugs and alcohol. A patient on the ward is murdered and Alice convinces herself that the police are in need of her help in the investigation.