A thriller set at an exclusive rehab? What did The Clinic add to the very crowded locked room subgenre? I will reveal all! Check out my Review of The Clinic by Cate Quinn with protected spoilers!
Written and edited by Jen Ryland. Last updated on:
The Clinic by Cate Quinn
To be published on January 23, 2024 by Sourcebooks Landmark. Thanks to the publisher for the advance copy used to write my honest review.
Plot Summary for The Clinic by Cate Quinn
Meg survived a tough childhood. She now has a job catching scammers in a Las Vegas casino, a job that has landed her in stressful situaitons and made her dangerous enemies.
When Meg learns that her older sister Haley, an up-and-coming pop star, has died in rehab, she decides to check herself in and investigate.
Meg is hooked on opioids, making her the perfect candidate for a visit to …. the Clinic. But will she come out alive?
Jen’s Quick Take on The Clinic by Cate Quinn
- Rehab setting
- A sister story
- Celebrity element, as the Clinic is for famous people
- Locked room element (yes, it’s a locked ward)
- A surprising amount of psychological depth and insight
Review of the Clinic by Cate Quinn
The cover of The Clinic is giving me Sanatorium vibes, and there are parallels. The Sanatorium was a police procedural + family story + past trauma story, and The Clinic also has family elements and discusses trauma a fair amount.
The book is told from two POVs: from Cara, the manager of the clinic, and Meg, the sister of the murder victim.
One of my quirks as a reader is that I am fascinated by books set in rehab. I just sat down and made a list of some of my favorites. The Clinic felt a little like Girl, Interrupted plus a murder mystery, and I enjoyed that aspect of the story, as odd as it might sound.
In the afterward, the author says that she spent time in rehab, which would explain the fact that the setting wasn’t just an unusual backdrop. The book spent a good deal of time talking about the connections between life trauma and addiction/substance abuse/alcohol abuse in pretty insightful ways.
However, The Clinic is definitely fiction. When you think about it, rehab or a medical facility is an ideal setting for a locked room mystery. The patients are stuck there and might be going through withdrawal or treatments that lead them to question their perceptions of reality.
I did predict one aspect of the plot, and I’d also add that things got a little wacky at the end. But all in all, this book was pleasant surprise to me and I enjoyed the ride!
Spoilers for The Clinic by Cate Quinn
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