Joseph O'Loughlin Archives -

Close Your Eyes – Michael Robotham

By ekkarn August 24, 2025 February 20, 2026 Branches Books

Unraveling Michael Robotham’s Close Your Eyes Mystery

(Joseph O’Loughlin #8)

Close Your Eyes Begins….

When a former student bungles a murder investigation, clinical psychologist Joseph O’Loughlin steps in to face a ruthless killer.

A mother and her teenage daughter are found murdered in a remote farmhouse, one defiled by multiple stab wounds and the other posed like Sleeping Beauty waiting for her Prince. Joe O’Loughlin is drawn into the investigation when a former student, trading on Joe’s reputation by calling himself the “Mindhunter,” jeopardizes the police inquiry by leaking details to the media and stirring up public anger.

With no shortage of suspects and tempers beginning to fray, Joe discovers a link between these murders and a series of brutal attacks where the men and women are choked unconscious and the letter “A” is carved into their foreheads. Read More

Joe Faces Family Problems

Along with the above there is a secondary storyline the book. Joe is asked by his estranged wife to move back into their cottage with his family which includes his wife and their two daughters. Joe is thrilled at the prospect of reuniting with his wife and daughters only problem is that his wife has cancer. And once again Joe is faced with the problem of balancing his work and his family!!

Bottom Line:

Close Your Eyes is another excellent book from Michael Robotham. This series is one of my favorites and like many of them it keeps getting better which is very hard to do because Robotham set the bar really high with his early books!!

I will even forgive him for joining the ranks of William Kent Krueger and Karin Slaughter

Ratings: Goodreads **** (4.15) *RGrandad **** 1/2 (4.5)

Links

Michael Robotham Website
Amazon
Facebook
Twitter
Goodreads;

About Michael Robotham

Michael Robotham is an Australian crime fiction writer who has twice won the CWA Gold Dagger award for best novel and twice been shortlisted for the Edgar Award for best novel. His eldest child is Alexandra Hope Robotham, professionally known as Alex Hope, an Australian producer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist. Wikipedia

Born: 1960 (age 64 years), Casino, Australia

Notable awards: The CWA Gold Dagger, 2015, 2020

Notable works: Life or Death

Say You’re Sorry by Michael Robotham – Buckle Up!

By ekkarn December 14, 2012 February 20, 2026 Books-Fiction, Branches Books

The first Michael Robotham book I read was Suspect. I was introduced to one of the best characters in the mystery-thriller genre Joe O’Loughlin, who not only battles wits against the bad guys but also battles Parkinson’s disease. Since that first books I’ve followed all of Joe’s adventures and Book 37 of 2012 Say You’re Sorry is the fifth book in the series that just keeps getting better.

Recently Michael was named as one of the Top 100 most Influential People in Sydney. and Michael wrote, “I’ve been named among the 100 most influential people in Sydney. I’m not even the most influential person in my house. My daughters think it’s hilarious.”

The Story

n this installment while in Oxford to give a conference speech, Joe is enlisted by the police to aid in a double murder a man and woman have been brutally murdered in their farm-house. Soon the body of a missing girl Tash McBain is found frozen in a lake not far from the farmhouse. Tash is one of two missing teenagers known as The Bingham Girls. Tash and Piper Hadley went missing three years earlier. The farmhouse where the murders occurred was her former home!! Soon joe and his friend former police detective Victor Ruiz join the hunt for Piper before it’s too late!!

Along the way the story of their disappearance is told through Joe’s investigation and the writing of Piper.

Final Thoughts

Once again Robotham’s characters are great. Joe moves through the story battling his personal problems and his family problems which includes a separation from his wife, that was the result of a former casThe book is a fast paced fun book to read, I enjoy Robotham’s writing as much as any of the authors that I read!

Stephen King included Say You’re Sorry among his :2012 Best Books of the Year: Stephen King Lists His Favorite Reads of 2012

So check out his work, you won’t be sorry!

Bleed for Me (Joseph O’Loughlin #4)- Michael Robotham

By ekkarn September 4, 2012 January 19, 2026 Books-Fiction

Bleed for Me -Joseph O'Loughlin Michael Robtham

One of my favorite characters in the Mystery-Thriller genre is psychologist Joe O’Loughlin, who springs from the ~~pen~~ ~~computer~~ mind of Australian author Michael Robotham. Book 24 of 2012 Bleed for Me is the fourth book in this series featuring Joe. On the cover of the book, Linwood Barclay sums up how I feel about Robotham’s work:

Michael Robotham doesn’t just make me scared for his characters; he makes my heart ache for them.

And in Bleed for Me my heartaches for all of them from Joe, his estranged wife Julienne, daughters Charlie and Emma and especially the focus of this book Sienna Hagerty

The Story

Sienna Hagerty, a troubled friend of his daughter Charlie. As the book opens, Sienna appears at the O’Loughlin’s doorstep, where she often spends time. Only on this night, she is covered with blood, terrorized and incoherent.

Later, police find Sienna’s father, a celebrated former police officer, murdered in Sienna’s bedroom and quickly, Sienna becomes the prime suspect!

Through the rest of the twists and turns of the book, Joe must untangle the lies, find truth and save Sienna, in more ways than one! All while trying to keep his world from falling apart!

Thoughts About the Joseph O’Loughlin Series

What makes Joe O’Loghlin unique is that he does all he does while fighting Parkinson’s disease, and as someone who has seen the crippling effects of Parkinson’s (both my mother and my father’s brother have struggled with the effects of the disease) I feel for him.

Robotham does a great job with the creation of Joe’s character, much the way Karin SLaughter does with Will Trent, who battles dyslexia, and creates a character you really care about, well beyond the pages of a book!

While I think that the book could be read without reading the prior books. I would recommend that if you want to get the full effect of this book, you really need to have read the other books!! Robotham has just created so much that has happened to get the characters to get where they are in Bleed for Me that you just have to know them, to get that extra jolt from the book.

So check it out – as for me I just can’t wait for the next installment, Say You’re Sorry, due to be released on October 2, to see where Joe and his family’s life will go from here!