A Fatal Frame of Mind is the fourth of 5 books written by William Rabkin based on the television series Psych. The book was published in 2010.
The Santa Barbara Art Museum’s unveiling of their latest acquisition – “The Defense of Guenevere”, the long-lost final masterpiece by Dante Gabriel Rossetti – is marred when the museum’s curator Filkins is found behind the red curtain covering the painting, an antique sword through his heart. Professor Kitteridge, an expert on the painting, seems to be the chief suspect, and he doesn’t help his case by taking Lassiter hostage and escaping from the police station. Unfortunately, what seems to be a routine case for Psych turns into something much more sinister; a centuries-old cabal seems to be watching everything from behind the scenes, and they are desperate to hide their secrets. Moreover, after Shawn and Gus throw their lot in with trying to prove Kitteridge’s innocence, they find themselves on the run when the painting is stolen, and evidence points to them being the guilty party…
This book includes examples of the following tropes:
- Ancient Conspiracy: According to Kitteridge, there’s an ancient cabal bent on world domination out to blame him for the murder, to steal “The Defense of Guenevere”, and to find Excalibur. As it turns out, while there IS a conspiracy against him, it’s got nothing to do with any of this, and is just the machinations of an antiques smuggler who learned about his theory and decided to try to find Excalibur for himself. It turned into something of a Self-Fulfilling Prophecy, as the smuggler’s actions convinced him that someone really was working against him.
- Blackmail: Shawn convinces the judge at their arraignment to let him explain everything in the form of a trial by threatening to expose that he’s having an affair with the prosecutor.
- Clear My Name: Kitteridge is trying to do it after the knife used to slit the victim’s throat is found in his pocket.
- Conspiracy Theorist: Shawn claims that there are three types of these: generally-harmless losers who need to blame their problems on an outside force, potentially dangerous nutcases who can barely function in society, and people like Kitteridge, who are particularly dangerous to themselves and others because their ideas are surprisingly persuasive, as everything technically lines up. As time goes on, it becomes clear that Kitteridge is slowly falling to Paranoid schizophrenia and seriously needs treatment.
- Excalibur: A subject of the painting, and according to Kitteridge, a real sword that Rossetti found and hid clues to in the painting’s composition, and hid in the time capsule beneath Cleopatra’s Needle in London. Eventually, it sadly turns out Kitteridge is delusional about this.
- Fictional Painting: While Rossetti was a real English painter, “The Defense of Guenevere” is entirely fictional. It turns out to even be fictional In-Universe, a forgery created shortly before the story takes place.
- Genius Bruiser: Kitteridge is described as being built like a grizzly bear and is strong enough to get Lassiter in a chokehold, but has a ridiculous wealth of knowledge.
- The Igor: Malko, Flaxman Low’s assistant, a mysterious, hideously scarred, hunchbacked man who eventually turns on him for money. However, he is also one of the few people able to follow Kitteridge’s train of thought, can fly a plane, is unionized, and apparently took a psychology class in college.
- Insurance Fraud: The killer’s real motive. Flaxman Low, who turns out to be a Master Forger, created a painting to mirror the one Kitteridge insisted existed. The idea would be to give the museum the painting from an anonymous donor, use Kitteridge’s obsession to convince him the painting was legitimate and thus have his credibility behind it, then “steal” and destroy it shortly after it was exhibited to the public before it could be looked at too closely, and soak the insurance company for millions to keep the museum open to the public. The money would also let Low vanish before the police closed in on his other forgeries. Director Ralston killed Filkins out of desperation when he learned about it, then stole the painting and presumably destroyed it himself.
- It's All My Fault: Lassiter is utterly horrified that he allowed a potential suspect to take him hostage and escape. He tries to torpedo his own career over it out of shame, but Vick refuses to let him, and he has a hard time accepting that he’s cracking up a bit over it.
- Motor Mouth: Professor Kitteridge, who will talk for ages about any possible subject that comes up… and talk… and talk. About every single aspect of the subject, in exhaustive detail. In the police interrogation room, he goes on for five straight hours about the history of the painting, in excruciating detail, slowly driving Lassiter up the wall and putting Shawn to sleep.
- No, Mr. Bond, I Expect You to Dine: Shawn thinks Flaxman Low is doing this during their dinner, but after running around for about 36 hours with little sleep or food, his accusations are slowed while he stuffs his face for a bit.
- Poor Communication Kills: Kitteridge is surprised when Gus tells him that he tried to hire Shawn and Gus… except what Gus took to be an ominous summons to meet him in person was actually a mass-printed fundraising letter.
- Rewarded as a Traitor Deserves: For turning Shawn, Gus, and Kitteridge over to the rival smugglers, Malko is shot to death by said smugglers when he demands "what he deserves".
- Secret Underground Passage: Shawn, Gus, and Kitteridge leave Flaxman Low’s house in one of these after the police track them down. It leads to a hidden building housing a private jet.
- Sharp-Dressed Man: Shawn and Gus spend the entire book still wearing the rental tuxedos they originally wore to the museum’s unveiling ceremony. Outside the ceremony, this means they stick out quite a bit in a crowd, and one man at a café mistakes them for waitstaff. Turns into Something We Forgot near the end when they end up technically stealing and ruining the tuxes over the course of the book, and are sentenced to pick up garbage near the highway for 4 days.
- Shown Their Work: The backstory of the Arthurian-obsessed Rossetti, and his wife and his best friend having a Love Triangle that mirrored the Arthurian one with Arthur, Guenevere, and Lancelot is historical fact.
- Useless Security Camera: Apparently, the curator insisted the museum’s cameras all be pointed to face the wall that night, shortly before he was killed.
- Wrong Genre Savvy: Shawn thinks Flaxman Low is the murderer for a while, Leaning on the Fourth Wall and citing how he’s the only new character they’ve actually met who’s even slightly likely to be guilty. Unfortunately, this is “Psych”, which takes pride in being somewhat subversive, and Low uses the same logic to accuse Shawn. Later, they meet another villain who they’ve never seen at all before, who initially seems to be the killer, but it turns out this isn’t the case. In the end, the murderer turns out to be the museum’s executive director, Hugh Ralston, who they saw from a distance very early on and promptly forgot about, but several other characters spoke to personally. Low is involved, but isn’t the killer.
- You Don't Want to Catch This: When Shawn and Gus arrive at the museum at the beginning, and most of the people there have been told to wait outside, Shawn gets past the wall of people by feigning being horribly ill and getting them to back away.
