The Locked Ward

New from Sarah Pekkanen, the #1 New York Times bestselling author of House of Glass and co-author of The Wife Between Us.

A shocking psychological thriller about the complex bonds of sisterhood―and what happens when they are stretched to the breaking point, The Locked Ward "will leave you guessing until the very end" (Jeneva Rose, bestselling author of The Perfect Marriage).

Some doors should never be opened.

Was it bitter, all-consuming jealousy? Pathological sibling rivalry? Pure insanity?

Whatever the cause―and everyone has a theory―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 Amanda visits are, "I didn't do it. You've got to get me out of here."

Amanda 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 Amanda being led down a path of madness into the web of a master manipulator?

Author: Sarah Pekkanen
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
Published: 07/14/2026
Pages: 336
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 0.55lbs
Size: 8.20h x 5.40w x 0.90d
ISBN13: 9781250349538
ISBN10: 1250349532
BISAC Categories:
- Fiction | Thrillers | Domestic
- Fiction | Women
- Fiction | Thrillers | Psychological

About the Author
Sarah Pekkanen is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of fifteen solo and co-authored novels. Her books are sold in thirty-six countries, with several optioned for TV and film. Sarah also co-wrote the screenplay for The Wife Between Us for Steven Spielberg's Amblin Entertainment. She serves on the board of directors of International Thriller Writers, and is the founder of the nonprofit IndiaStreetPaws.com, which rescues injured and abused street dogs in India. She lives just outside of Washington, DC.