Hysteria

• Author: LJ Ross
• Genre: Mystery/Thriller
• Publication Date: June 2, 2026
• Publisher: Poisoned Pen Press
• Series: Alexander Gregory #2

Thank you to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for providing me with an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

From internationally bestselling author LJ Ross comes the second book in the gripping Alexander Gregory Series—a fast-paced thriller set amidst the spectacular Parisian landscape laced with murder, mystery, and a chilling dark humor.

Recently returned from his last case in Ireland, elite forensic psychologist and criminal profiler Dr. Alexander Gregory receives a call from the French police he can’t ignore. It’s Paris Fashion Week, and some of the world’s most beautiful women are turning up dead—each killed in a frenzy, their faces slashed as the world’s press looks on. 

Amid the carnage, one victim survives—but she’s too traumatized to speak. Without her testimony, the police are powerless to stop the killer before he strikes again. Can Gregory unlock the secrets buried in her mind before it’s too late? 

Murder, beauty, and obsession collide in this fast-paced psychological thriller set against the glittering, dangerous backdrop of Paris. 

I really enjoyed two other books by LJ Ross that I have read recently—Holy Island and Impostor, and the latter is the first book in the Alexander Gregory series. There’s something about the characters and the plots that just called to me, so I was thrilled to dive into this one.

Dr. Alexander Gregory has returned from Ireland only to have to travel to Paris during fashion week to solve a baffling case where someone slashed a female model’s face and body. As they investigate, another model turns up with similar wounds, although she was killed. The first victim wasn’t murdered, just slashed up. And while she is in the hospital recovering from her wounds, it falls to Dr. Alexander Gregory to get this mute woman to start talking.

As a person who has worked in mental health, I really appreciated the way Alexander handled himself and his cases. He’s a really complex character, but he’s one that I’m glad I get to know a bit more about him. Diagnoses are referred to with the proper clinical names, and I found the psychological aspect of this story and its characters to be completely engrossing. If you don’t know much about mental health, psychology, or therapy, trust me on this, Ross does a fantastic job. There’s also hints of Alexander’s past, which sounded traumatic to me from his mini-flashbacks, and while I wish I could sit and pick his brain, instead I have to wait until the next book is released. There is a heavy focus on psychology, and it felt realistic to me. It’s rare where I find a book that includes such depth in this area while focusing on realistic mental health issues and treatments.

Hysteria, the condition, used to be an accepted diagnosis where the womb was thought to wander around the body and cause hysteria. Fortunately, psychology has come a long way since then, although it can be very hard to diagnose a person who doesn’t talk. Instead, Alexander makes some changes to her regimen, overruling the treating psychiatrist at the hospital. While talking to her, she reveals that she has no memory of the attack or anything that happened, It becomes Alexander’s job to try to figure out how to help this woman while helping her recover the lost memories if possible. 

Against the backdrop of Paris Fashion Week, the city is crowded with people involved in the fashion industry, but most importantly, models. Alexander is comfortable working anywhere and with anyone, which is a rare trait. Ross captured my heart with her accurate information and ethical standards for psychology, a rare find in books lately. At the end of the investigation each day, which seems to be kicking up a lot of his own repressed trauma, Alexander finds himself in a cafe with a singer, and gets to know her by going back repeatedly to see her. They eventually strike up a friendship of sorts, but it doesn’t go past that. 

This is one of those books where there are plenty of shocking twists, including a couple at the end that I didn’t see coming at all. However, the pacing wasn’t consistent. It was a pretty slow moving story that sped up significantly at the end. Also, in the beginning of the book, there is a chapter featuring a woman named Eva, and it quickly becomes clear that she is in an abusive relationship with her husband. Yet this scene doesn’t tie into anything until close to the end of the story, because Eva doesn’t make an appearance until much later in the book. There is also a LOT of French used throughout the story, and most of it isn’t translated, leaving me in the dark about anything going on while they were speaking French.

Overall, this was a wonderful read and I am eager to continue reading the series. There were a lot of things that I liked about this book (and series, TBH). I love seeing mental healthcare being portrayed accurately and ethically. It was fascinating to see how Alexander interacts with people—obviously his patients, but also the people he works with. In this story, he’s working with the Paris police which requires a bit of suspension of disbelief that I don’t often see, but Alexander is a fascinating character on his own. He has a complex and layered personality, and he shows some flashes of vulnerability, which makes me want to read more about him and get an understanding of who he really is under the layers. Alexander struggles with guilt, although it does feel repetitive and overdone, leaving the reader desperate to know more about why he feels guilty, and less about his feeling guilty. Aside from that and the undefined French woven throughout the story, it was really enjoyable and I am looking forward to checking out the next book.

Bottom line: A fascinating psychological mystery/thriller, the uneven pacing, excessive guilt, and undefined French still don’t detract from how much I enjoyed the story.

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