"Lingers long after the final page" - review of THE GIRL IN CELL A

THE GIRL IN CELL A by Vaseem Khan (Hachette, 2025)

Reviewed by Craig Sisterson

Convicted of murder at seventeen, infamous killer and true crime celebrity Orianna Negi has always maintained her innocence. BUT IF SHE DIDN'T KILL GIDEON WYCLERC...

Orianna has a blind spot over that fateful she can't remember what happened. Forensic psychologist Annie Ledet is tasked with unlocking the truth... THEN WHO DID?

Orianna grew up in Eden Falls, ruled by the insular Wyclerc dynasty and its ruthless patriarch , Amos. As their sessions progress, Annie reaches into Orianna's past to a shattering realisation... Scandal. Sex. Power. Race. And murder. Between guilt and innocence lies a fallen Eden.. 

Mystery readers may be pretty familiar with Vaseem Khan, the most recent Chair of the famed Crime Writers Association, thanks to his two fabulous series set in India - the Baby Ganesh mysteries, and the Malabar House historical mysteries set in post-Raj years. But the British-Indian author provides something very different with The Girl in Cell A, the first of two curveballs the sports-loving storyteller is throwing in 2025 (keep an eye out for his ‘James Bond universe’ thriller later this year).

Alternating between doctor and patient perspectives of prison psychologist Annie Ledet and celebrity killer Orianna Negi, The Girl in Cell A is a masterful mix of psychological thriller and rural noir. While Orianna has always maintained her innocence, despite being unable to recall events, it was no surprise she was convicted of killing Gideon Wyclerc, scion of the family that founded Eden Falls. She was found lying near the body, her fingerprints were on the shotgun, gunshot residue on

her, and plenty of motive given events of that day, and her entire life. A black teen with dissociative amnesia, a controversial diagnosis fuelling Orianna’s true crime celebrity, and plenty of online conspiracy theories. Can Annie Ledet uncover the truth; should Orianna ever be released?

Khan soaks readers in a town full of secrets and scandals and a crumbling dynasty with its own mythology. The Girl in Cell A is an impressive novel about the stories we believe and the lies we tell others and ourselves, that lingers long after its final page.

[This review was first published in the Summer 2025 issue of Deadly Pleasures magazine in the USA]

Craig Sisterson is a lawyer turned writer, editor, podcast host, awards judge, and event chair. He's the founder of the Ngaio Marsh Awards, co-founder of Rotorua Noir, author of Macavity and HRF Keating Award-shortlisted non-fiction work SOUTHERN CROSS CRIME, editor of the DARK DEEDS DOWN UNDER anthology series, and writes about books for magazines and newspapers in several countries.