ARC REVIEW Asylum by Jeannette de Beauvoir

Asylum is a mystery thriller that takes place in Canada. Jeannette de Beauvoir took actual events from Montreal's past, the skeleton in the closet that no one likes to talk about and and weaves a fictional story around these events. The fact that this was based on actual events makes the story all that more enjoyable and heart breaking. This book is not a romance it is strictly a mystery thriller. The main character Martine LeDuc is the head PR for the mayor's office, she is married to a quite a character, I almost wish he was in it more. Martine gets partnered up with a stereotypical rich boy who disappointed the family by going into social services, ie. Police Detective. It's a wonderful mystery and it satisfied my craving for one. It keeps you guessing up until the very end.

Martine loves her job as the director of PR for the mayor's office, the mayor not so much. Montreal has had a series of murders over the summer and  the mayor is afraid it will affect the upcoming tourist season, so he puts Martine in the position of liaison between the mayors office and the police. Martine isn't pleased with it but she finds out one of her workers was dating the latest victim, and she promises to do her best. Police Detective Julian Fletcher is assigned to help Martine. The theory on the serial murders is sexual, they were all raped and posed on different park benches, they were also mutilated. Julian has a different theory. All the woman didn't have anything in common, that they have found yet. Together with Martine's help they uncover that each of the woman were looking into the past, specifically the orphanages and asylums back in the fifties and sixties.

Running parallel to Martine's story are what looks like diary excerpts from a girl who was forced into an orphanage for being a bastard. At the end of most chapters is a little bit of what she went through and what she uncovered in her time at the orphanage and then the move to the asylum. Its adds a touch of drama and foreshadowing. I read this straight through, it was so good. The Author's note at the end separates truth from fiction and the truth of the story makes you cry.