The Killer in Room Five

I have been a BIG fan of Sam Holland's Major Crimes series since The Echo Man hit store shelves in 2022. Her latest book, The Killer in Room Five, is a standalone and a departure from the series and its premise intrigued me - a long-term psychiatric patient confesses to brutal murder, but he's been locked away for years. How could he know the details?

This is a case of 'loved the premise, but not the execution' and I'm sad to say that I didn't enjoy this dark thriller. It felt convoluted, had a slow, meandering pace, the killer was obvious early on and the main character in DC Abby Fox was frustrating with her professional and personal decisions often being questionable.

While her signature 'dark and a bit gruesome', this book unfortunately doesn't showcase Holland's talent at creating a sinister, edge-of-your-seat read. For that, I'd suggest reading her Major Crime series starting with The Echo Man.

My Rating: 2.5 stars

Author: Sam Holland

Genre: Suspense

Type and Source: Trade paperback from public library

Publisher: Hemlock Press

First Published: May 21, 2026

Read: Aug 19-22, 2026

Book Description from GoodReads: 

A terrible confession

In an isolated room in Hollowpines, an infamous psychiatric hospital, Joe Sinclair is confessing to a violent murder.

An impossible crime
Locked away, Joe couldn't possibly have killed the man, so how does he know so many of the horrifying details?

A detective at her limits
Suspended after a colleague was stabbed on her watch, DC Abby Fox has only just returned to work. But at Hollowpines, she must find out what really happened and how exactly Joe is involved.

Is he to blame, or the only one who can stop the killer?