Primary Obsessions

Dr. Annick Boudreau Mystery #1

by Charles Demers

In this exciting new series by Charles Demers, the endearing and unflappable Dr. Annick Boudreau regularly confronts a myriad of mental health issues in her psychology practice at the West Coast Cognitive Behavioural Therapy Clinic in Vancouver, British Columbia. But even Annick is stunned when Sanjay, a young patient who suffers from Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, is arrested for the brutal murder of his roommate. While Sanjay is tortured by repeated violent thoughts, everything Annick knows about her patient and his illness has her convinced that he’s innocent. But the police and prosecution are convinced that they have caught the perpetrator and aren’t interested in looking for other suspects. Unable to talk to the authorities because of doctor-patient confidentiality, Annick feels compelled to investigate on her own, finding herself drawn into the darker side of her postcard-perfect city in the process.

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Canada, Crime

221 pages, Paperback

Published May 2, 2020

About the author

Charles Demers (born 1980) is a Canadian writer, comedian and political activist. He was born in Vancouver, British Columbia. He is a lecturer at the University of British Columbia, where he teaches a Creative Writing course about writing comedy.

Demers has published three books: a novel and two collections of essays. His first essay collection, Vancouver Special, was nominated for a Hubert Evans Non-Fiction Prize. He also frequently performs comedy at live venues across Canada and on the CBC Radio One, where he often appears on the show The Debaters. Demers was one of the hosts of the CityNews show The List. He used to be the membership secretary for the Coalition of Progressive Electors.

He is the voice of Walter from Beat Bugs.


Source: Wikipedia.

Reviews

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Perhaps this series will blossom as new books are written. I appreciated the Canadian setting and found the cultural diversity appealing, but I found the characters more like cardboard cut outs. The actions taken by the protagonist and her reporter partner were extraordinary and I just couldn’t suspend disbelief.

[Natasha Gregory · Rating 1 out of 5]

The blurb made me think this would be right up my street but I was wrong, I skipped through a lot of boring bits and it just didn’t hit the mark

[Stephen Hui · Rating 5 out of 5]

What an entertaining page-turner. I look forward to accompanying Dr. Annick Boudreau on many a future case.

[Alan Clark · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyed the portrayal of Vancouver in this quirky mystery.

[Sean · Rating 4 out of 5]

I felt pulled into this mystery/thriller right from the beginning, and found it all the more interesting because the setting of the book is Vancouver, which is where I live. The prose is so vividly descriptive that the characters in the book are truly brought to life.

When talking about Vancouver, the author really sets the scene, each one richly atmospheric and painting an accurate picture of Vancouver and Annick's surroundings at the time. I felt like I was on that journey around the city with each of the characters, Dr. Annick Boudreau at the center of it all.

I found that Demers masterfully sets the scenes, and puts each detail put into play for a reason. Throughout the book we get the chance to meet some of Dr. Boudreau's other patients, learn about her media work, and her personal life outside the office, which really kept me engaged beyond the story of Sanjay. It also made for great character development as the plot thickened.

I felt like there was no looking back once I started this story, consuming the entire book in one sitting. When Annick starts to become involved in the investigation, Primary Obsessions really picks up in pace, and I felt I couldn't look away for a moment, so entirely engrossed in the story, and her Nancy Drew-esque adventures.

As I reached the end of the book my hairs were standing at full attention. I was so eager to get to the end to figure it all out. This book held me from start to finish.

Avocado Diaries

[Fawn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this book - Vancouver highlighted, a strong (and laughable!) lead character, cultural family dynamics and some therapy talk on mental health. Overall a great read, and I can’t wait to read the next one in the series.

[Phil Cunningham · Rating 4 out of 5]

So well written; a joy to read. I have experience with OCD, and Demers’s descriptions are all too familiar. The compassion of the narrator is genuine and comforting. Demers also makes Vancouver seem cool, not exactly an easy thing, in my opinion. Looking forward to the second Boudreau mystery!

[Kelly · Rating 3 out of 5]

Primary Obsessions – Charles Demers (227 pages) - Dr. Annick Boudreau #1 Pub Date: 15 Sep 2021

Genre: mental health thriller, mystery, suspense
Rating: 3 stars

Primary Obsessions is the first novel in a series featuring Dr Annick Boudreau by author, Charles Demers. This was my first book by this author. Sanjay, a patient of Dr Annick Boudreau who experiences violent intrusive thoughts is arrested for a terrible crime. Dr Boudreau knows Sanjay didn’t commit murder, individuals with primary obsessive OCD don’t act on their thoughts, or do they? Torn between loyalty to her patient and ethical obligations, Dr Boudreau sets out to find the truth, no matter where it leads.

What drew me into this book was the pairing of mystery and mental health. So often mental health is used as a plot device to explain away the actions of the villain/antagonist. What I liked about this story was the realistic portrayal of mental health issues, therapy and the way in which the author and characters seek to breakdown these stereotypes. As someone who works in the mental health field myself, I found the authors portrayal of OCD and mental health in general to be poignant, factual and genuine. I believe this may have come from the authors own experiences which feed into this story. What starts out as a mystery, becomes more of a story about the human experience and how our perceptions of people’s actions can be biased. It’s easy to empathise with Sanjay and his fears, shame and distress. I found myself wanting to read more if only to find out his fate.

The mystery itself felt a little lacking to me. I would have liked a little more action or excitement. The streets of Canada and the criminal aspects I felt could have been more fleshed out and might have helped to hold my interest more overall. Some parts I felt were a little slow paced. Primary Obsessions is a quick, enjoyable mystery featuring a strong, interesting female main character. I’d recommend this to anyone who enjoys mysteries featuring an amateur sleuth or someone looking for a crime mystery which offers something different than your standard police procedural.

[Grant · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've found Charlie to be a really endearing and personable comedian for a number of years, and I think this novel demonstrates real growth as a novel writer. I'm not sure if it has the darkness or twists and turns that voracious mystery or murder novel fans may demand, but it does transcend what could be a gimmick (a novel franchise centered on a CBT therapist, with each novel to focus on a case involving a certain type of affliction) by treating OCD informatively, with deep humanity and dignity, owing to the author's own challenges and relationship to his therapist.

I found the supporting cast could be a little twee, and while Demers doesn't insert a character patterned on himself in this book, I still found a number of the characters spoke in a zingy comedy podcast fashion that didn't always feel like how I would expect standard Vancouver urban professionals to share repartee.

[Courtney (caffeinereadrepeat) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bah-humbug! 🧐😳

I kept hoping for more with this novel; for the ending. But I also felt this had very similar vibes to A. J. Torre's "The Good Lie", but not as intense or shocking. A therapist's patient is charged with murder. This patient has something called "primary obsession OCD". But did therapist, Dr. Annick, enable and cause this with her therapy choices? Plus, this author is Canadian, which is also a win in my books! I thoroughly enjoyed this journey I was led on and couldn't read fast enough! Although the "mystery" / "thriller" angle wasn't quite up to snuff, it still was a great read.

Thank you to NetGalley for allowing me to read this book!
Currently out now.

I give this 3 / 5 snowflakes! ❄️

[Jo Owens · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's a good thing I'm a relatively fast reader because I couldn't go to bed until I finished this one. Here is only a few of the things I liked about this book:
- the witty, snappy writing
- the presence of thoughtful, intelligent women
- the pacing! Chop chop! I could barely spare the time to lick my finger to turn the page.
- the 'out-of-body' factor: for the duration of the novel, je n'existais pas.

Reality has been nipping on my heels a bit too much recently (thanks for nothing, 2020); Charles Demers's novel was just the panacea that I needed at this time. So grateful for an afternoon/evening well spent on the kind of escapism that left me feeling better than I felt before.

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

At its heart it's a pretty basic detective story, and a fairly unremarkable one at that -- complete with all the familiar tropes. What brought this book up to 4 stars for me is a. the humour (not a surprise for anyone who's familiar with Charlie Demers in his comedian persona), b. the thoughtful presentation of mental health issues, and c. the Vancouver references on every page (ok, that might be for a pretty limited audience).

[Pawan Dubey · Rating 2 out of 5]

"adorably cluttered cubicle"

The author would do well to cut out about 75% of his adjectives. I gave up at 60%.

[Katya · Rating 2 out of 5]

Too wordy. It seems as though the author is in love with his own humour.
A waste of time for what seemed like a promising storyline.

[Tasha · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good little novel (comes in at 199 pages) which covers a lot - a Canadian murder mystery, told from the viewpoint of a psychiatrist who gets rather involved in a case.

Blurb:
The endearing and unflappable Dr. Annick Boudreau regularly confronts a myriad of mental health issues in her psychiatric practice at the West Coast Cognitive Behavioural Therapy Clinic. But even Annick is stunned when Sanjay, a young patient who suffers from obsessive compulsive disorder, is arrested for the brutal murder of his roommate.
While Sanjay is tortured by repeat violent thoughts, he is horrified by them and Annick is convinced that he would never enact one of them in real life. But the police and prosecutor are convinced that they have caught the perpetrator and aren't interested in looking very hard.


Good plot, good dialogue, good characterisation - and a quick read. Just what the doctor ordered! No spoilers from me as to Whodunnit, but it wasn't overly complicated (as so many murder mysteries are these days), and was thoroughly enjoyable.

Thanks to A Box of Stories #ABoS for putting this in my latest box. An author I'll keep an eye out for. However, like many similar books, you only need to read it once, so I'll put it in the charity pile to carry on spreading the love!

[Kade Reimer · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book. In a detective novel, it was such an exciting intersection of critique of criminal justice, race, privilege, and mental illness! The book was rooted in analyzing how our criminal justice system hurts people with mental illness and POC people. Sanjay's mother provides the analytical analysis of the ways race intersects with the policing system that does not seem to care to consider other suspects as he can fit their narrative and profile. While Sanjay's mother is a critical lens, Annick provides with the medical but also empathetic understanding of his incarceration. She shows how Sanjay's OCD and compulsive thoughts caused him to accept injustice and his fate. Annick is also there to counter these thoughts and affirm his value and humanity.
"'I'm really proud of you Sanjay' Annick said. 'Why?' he asks. 'Because you're here'"
Also was fun to hear the history, current culture and mockery of Canada- particularly Vancouver.

[E Dod · Rating 4 out of 5]

My first read by this author, and I did enjoy the novel. I did find it was quite hard to get into and my mind did wander a little but all in all it was a good read and somewhat different to what I normally devour.

We meet psychologist Annick who meets many a different and intriguing clientele, but one of her clients Sanjay is arrested for the slaying of his roommate.

Annick investigates this matter as she does not believe that Sanjay has indeed turned into a murderer and this sets off the premise for this novel.

I enjoyed the setting of this novel and the descriptive language that Charles Demers uses. A good mystery.

Thanks to Charles Demers, NetGalley and the publishers for an advanced copy of this novel in exchange for my honest review.

[Bryan Macleod · Rating 3 out of 5]

If I could give 3.5 stars I would. This book is very well written. It provides a great deal of insight into the world of the clinical psychologist, so much so I will would've thought the author was one and not actually one of my favourite Canadian comedians, but perhaps there is overlap in the 2 professions...

The storyline is more like a novel than a thriller or complicated mystery. For those fans of PD James or other mystery authors to throw tons of complicated fact that you to deliver the truths they hide, this is in that type of novel… More an exploration of character… A very pleasant stroll through a story and generally a fine well written and read. Just not what I turn to in choosing the mystery genre.

[Sarah Bradley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Moderately interesting plot and a sympathetic (if frustrating) protagonist, but wow, was this ever over-written! At first the verbosity was entertaining but it became cumbersome and took away from the believability of the characters, relationships, and situations. I did appreciate that the author appears to have drawn from his own experience with OCD and CBT and found the conversations between Annick and her fellow psychologists were revealing - particularly in what we can / should / choose to share when we are concerned about others' mental wellbeing. Anyway, made for a good plane read and I could see this becoming a decent tv series...

[Arabella Wheeler · Rating 3 out of 5]

Received this book in my 2nd 'A Box of Stories' box and is definitely not something i would have usually gone for. I thought I would give it a go though, and was pleasantly surprised.
This was a quick and easy read for me, which was very well suited to reading on my commute to work each morning.
The story line was good for such a short book (199 pages) and I found the character of Dr Annick likable. The concise story line meant that the ending was quite abrupt, the action of finding out the murderer was quite predictable, but it was fine.
Overall a good book, if anything i would like it to a bit more punchy and darker.

[Diana Cook · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found the main characters interesting, as well as the location, Vancouver. The plot itself was a bit far-fetched, in my opinion, but then mystery novels abound that have main characters who become somehow involved in murder investigations, when it realisticially would never be so. I thought the concept of the plot was good, the ending not very believable, but worth a read. I particularly liked the main character's habit of losing her coffee go cups, because it gave her an air of authenticity. I very much enjoyed the protagonist, actually...I'm curious enough to read another one in the series.

[Melinda Worfolk · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars rounded up to 4. Nice fast read, enjoyable. It’s fun to read a book set in a city I know so well. Demers describes a car chase that goes straight through my old neighbourhood in East Vancouver and it’s a delight to be able to picture exactly where he’s writing about.

I wouldn’t say there’s that much of a mystery to this, but Demers does do a nice job of introducing us to the likeable and flawed main character, psychologist Dr. Annick Boudreaux, and her friends, family, and colleagues. He also does a good job of explaining the nuts and bolts of primary obsessions OCD, which the author struggles with according to his afterword.

I will probably read the next one.

[Bill Koch · Rating 3 out of 5]

The strengths of this novel include: the sympathetic and detailed analysis of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, particularly Primary Obsessions (intrusive distressing thoughts without overt behavioural compulsions), the detailed description of Vancouver's east side, and the charming presentation of the protagonist. The weaknesses include the somewhat stilted and unrealistic focus on the duty of patient confidentiality (professional ethical guidelines support consultation with professional peers about challenging patients), and the somewhat unrealistic scenarios of Dr. Boudreau's detective work. Nonetheless, a short and entertaining page turner.

[Liz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Charlie Demers does it again, this time pitting the Granville St underworld against a plucky Acadian psychologist and, when he’s not out for a run, her CBC-employee sometimes-sidekick boyfriend. As with Demers’ previous book, Property Values, Vancouverites will enjoy following the plot through the streets and social issues of the Lower Mainland, and this time there’s a deeply personal connection between the story and the author’s own experience of OCD. Local crime fiction with a helpful message about mental illness, peppered with Acadian French? Oui, merci. Très bien.

[Enid Wray · Rating 5 out of 5]

Delightful! A quick, light read that is highly entertaining.

This ticks many of my reading boxes (murder mystery, mental health, and oh so Canadian - a love letter to Vancouver especially). Addresses some really big issues with wit and charm. Very similar to - but different from - The War Widow (which I’ve also just read and thoroughly enjoyed), though both have a very similar vibe to them. The War Widow set historically, this one set in a very contemporary moment.

For sure, I’ll be looking to read more of these… as it is planned from the start to be a series.

[Brenton Walters · Rating 4 out of 5]

I want to put some time into this but I'm tired and I have a headache, so

This was a fun read. Charlie's a good writer, and this was a really interesting premise. Some of the sentences were perfect: the Cyndi Lauper version of I Drove All Night, the warm summers of the Anthropocene era.

There was one jarring moment that didn't ring true to me, maybe it needed a smoother transition, but overall the story moves along well.

The mystery angle felt a bit simple, but the real story was the doctor's relationships, and that part of the book shines.

[babs · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a highly entertaining book. I had no idea what I was up to when I started this quick read.

The story centers around Dr. Annick Boudreau. Her patient, Sanjay, is accused of murdering his flatmate. Sanjay suffers from violent intrusive thoughts. Dr. Boudreau suggests to keep a diary about these thoughts as part of his therapy. Unfortunately this diary is proof for the police that Sanjay is a brutal killer.
I particularly enjoyed the mixture of mental illness topics combined with a solid crime story.

Thanks #Netgalley #Legend Press for an ARC of this book

[Sam · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a great mystery thriller that follows Dr. Annick Boudreau as she fights for justice on behalf of one of her patients who is being railroaded by discrimination and negative persceptions of race and mental health. I did enjoy the story overall but I did find that some of the Dr's actions were a bit extreme and ill thoughtout given how intelligent she clearly is. This aside, the story was very engrossing and moved rapidly and even when the truth is clear there is still the issue of prejudice and how to get past it.

[Read with Demi · Rating 4 out of 5]

I picked this book up from the library as part of their "Blind date with a book" event. I likely wouldn't have read it otherwise, so I am eternally grateful to the librarian who wrapped it up!
This is one of those books that you read and think to yourself "This. This is how I want to write."
It's like a spicier, intersectional, Nancy Drew.
Loved it.

[Megan · Rating 1 out of 5]

Gosh, I thought that as this book was short it would be interesting but how wrong was I?! Far too many characters, dialogue that was too hard to understand including French. However I did push through and finished it and as expected it was obvious from the get go how it would end! Very disappointing overall