Believe me by JP Delaney

Quercus, 2018. ISBN: 9781787472419.
(Age: Adult, 18+) Highly recommended. An enthralling and turbulent psychological thriller, JP Delaney's re-written and re-published version of his 2001 novel The Decoy grasps the reader's attention and interest and never relents. Claire Wright, a British drama student living in New York without a green card, begins work with a firm of divorce lawyers, acting as an easy pick-up in hotel bars in order to entrap unfaithful husbands. Usually excellent at her job, it is surprising when her newest target, Patrick Fogler, remains faithful to his wife. While Claire dismisses this as merely a rare decent husband, suspicions arise when his wife is murdered later that very night. Requested by the police to make use of her acting skills to lure a confession out of Patrick, the prime suspect in his wife's murder, Claire gets to work. But from the beginning, Claire has doubts about the part she is to play, and about whether Patrick really could be a murderer. As she progresses with the investigation, and wonders whether there could be more to this that she was told, she learns that she never really knows who she can trust, and that this might just be the deadliest role of her life.
JP Delaney provides a vivid and realistic world, with authentic characters that make the reader question just how complex human nature is. The storyline is engaging and keeps the reader on their toes and constantly re-evaluating the motives of each character. With each new twist and turn, the reader is sucked into Delaney's world, and eager to uncover the mystery it revolves around. Note: themes of violence, sex, murder, psychological torture, domestic violence, necrophilia, BDSM and crime. Not suitable for younger readers.
Daniella Chiarolli