The Locked Ward
Whatever the cause, it's the Crime of the Decade when glamorous Georgia Cartwright, who was adopted as a newborn, is accused of killing the biological daughter of her wealthy, Southern family.
Georgia is locked in a psychiatric institution where the most violent offenders are held while she awaits trial. The only words she whispers when her estranged twin sister Mandy visits are, “I didn’t do it. You’ve got to get me out of here.”
Mandy doesn't trust Georgia, but she can't abandon her in a place so eerie and menacing that it seems to exist in another dimension. Is Georgia the victim of a powerful family that's so depraved murder is the least of their crimes? Or is Mandy being led down a path of madness into the web of a master manipulator?
- Georgia - Wedding planner, 32
- Mandy - Owner of Sweetbays bar, Georgia's twin
- Annabelle - Georgia’s sister, 32
- Honey and Stephen - Annabelle and Georgia’s parents
- Patty - Psychiatric patient
- Michael Dawson - US Senator for North Carolina
- Tony - Private investigator who helped Georgia find Mandy
- Georgia’s lawyer calls Mandy and says they are twins and Georgia wants to see her.
- Mandy visits Georgia in the psychiatric ward and Georgia asks her to help prove she's innocent of killing Annabelle.
- Georgia lets Mandy take her things which includes her house key.
- Mandy pokes around Georgia’s apartment trying to learn more about her and finds a thumb drive in her mailbox.
- The thumb drive contains a video of Senator Dawson leaving Annabelle’s residence.
- Mandy visits Georgia again and she tells Mandy that Annabelle was sleeping with Senator Dawson and gives her Tony's name.
- Patty, a new patient on the unit, takes a liking to Georgia and stays close by her for the few days she is there before her release.
- Mandy calls Tony and arranges to meet with him but when she gets to his office, he’s dead.
- After her release, Patty goes to visit Georgia who decides to confide everything in Patty, hoping Patty will help her.
- Patty tells Georgia that she works for Senator Dawson and she got admitted on purpose to spy on Georgia and find out what she knows.
- Shortly before her death, Annabelle and Georgia had actually started getting close, Georgia even told her about Mandy.
- Mandy goes to Honey looking for answers.
- Honey tells her they paid her dad to take Mandy away because she didn't want three babies.
- Mandy tells Honey everything she has uncovered and is able to figure out that Honey is the one who killed Annabelle.
- Annabelle had done a DNA test and found out Senator Dawson was her father, he was not sleeping with her - his actions were those of a protective father.
- Annabelle was going to confront Senator Dawson and Honey the night of her birthday but Honey didn't want the truth coming out so she killed Annabelle to keep her quiet.
- Senator Dawson shows up and hears Honey admit she killed Annabelle so he attacks her.
- Afterwards, Senator Dawson admits to the affair with Honey and turns her in to the police.
- Epilogue: Honey is trying to spin a story that she’s sacrificing herself to save Georgia.
- Final twist: Georgia isn’t a killer but Mandy is; she killed the man who raped her roommate in college.
- Georgia - Alive - Mourning Annabelle but happy to have Mandy in her life
- Mandy - Alive - Happy to have Georgia in her life
- Annabelle - Dead - Bludgeoned with a paperweight by Honey
- Tony - Dead - Presumed to have been killed by someone hired by Patty
- Honey - Alive - In prison for murdering Annabelle
- Stephen - Alive - Hoping to repair his relationship with Georgia
- Senator Dawson - Alive - Mourning Annabelle but still seeking to rise in politics
- Colby - Alive - No further information
- Patty - Alive - No further information
- Murder
- Institutionalization
- Mental illness
- Self harm
- Infertility
- Rape
- Infidelity
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
ISBN: 9781250349514
Publish Date: August 5, 2025
Note: Details are for the original edition. Other formats, editions, and audiobook versions may be available.