Trust Me by Sheryl Browne
Genre: Domestic thriller, Domestic drama, Psychological thriller
Read: 16th November 2020
Published: 20th November 2020
★★★★ 4 stars
DESCRIPTION:
Emily and Jake are the perfect couple. Or so everyone says. But Emily just read a letter that has shattered her perfect world. Now she only has one thing on her mind… which one of her friends is sleeping with her husband?
Emily watches Jake as he makes small talk with their children, still the perfect man she married years ago. But when the phone rings and he answers before quickly putting it down again, she sees the look on her husband’s face – guilt. She knows the signs – after all, she’s been lying to him for years.
Working with Jake at the local doctor’s surgery, Emily starts to listen at closed doors and read things she shouldn’t, hoping to find the truth about her husband. Soon she learns that hers isn’t the only family telling lies to each other. Is there anyone Emily can trust? And who is behind the letter to Jake?
When a second letter, revealing a wife’s hidden pregnancy, is sent to the woman’s husband, it has disastrous consequences. And as more angry letters revealing people’s biggest secrets begin to appear, fingers point at Emily. After all, she’s the one with access to everyone’s private history, and she’s the one with a score to settle. Emily says she didn’t do it. But this isn’t the first time Emily has lied. What happens next will have you questioning everything…
You might have already decided that Emily is guilty, but as each twist is revealed, you’ll begin to doubt everyone in this quiet little town. This is a psychological thriller that will keep you up all night!
If you enjoyed The Girl on the Train, My Lovely Wife and Behind Closed Doors, you will love this thrilling psychological thriller from bestselling author Sheryl Browne. Trust Me will have you hooked from the start.
MY REVIEW:
I am excited to be taking part in the #BooksOnTour #BlogTour for Sheryl Browne's compelling thriller TRUST ME.
Trust is the predominant theme in Sheryl Browne's newest thriller TRUST ME, exploring every facet in every nook and every cranny where just one itty bitty piece of information in the wrong hands becomes the catalyst of catastrophic consequences. But at the centre of this tempest is the local doctor's surgery...where every private detail of every resident is kept under digital lock and key.
But what if someone had the key to all that data? To all those private details? To every secret that each person wishes to remain so?
Every one has something to hide as each relationship is brought into question. Everyone has a past. Everyone has baggage that they do not wish to share...particularly made public. With that thought in mind, the very idea that this could happen makes TRUST ME a truly scary concept indeed.
Emily and Jake appear to have the perfect life and perfect marriage with two children - 18 year old Ben and 16 year old Millie. The village in which they live had been Jake's home growing up and, though he vowed never to return after the tragic death of his mother, they find themselves moving back as Jake takes on a partnership with his estranged father at the local doctor's surgery. But still waters run deep as Dr Jake Merriden questions whether he has made the right move, with the blame for his mother's death still firmly rooted at his father's feet. Not to mention his father's roving eye still lingers over the younger female patients...some things never change.
At home, life is not always easy with two teenagers. Ben is moody and quick to anger whilst Millie is now at that impressionable age that Emily once was and remembers all too well. Her constant reminders that she doesn't want Millie to make the same mistakes she did fall on deaf ears. But little does Millie know just how scared her mother is of those mistakes - they are life changing and the scars they leave continue to haunt her today.
As practice manager at the surgery where Jake works, Emily is responsible for the data protection of all their clients...constantly reminding young receptionist Nicky to blank her screen and log out before leaving her desk. Patient files must be kept private at all times. After all, they trust them with that information. Trust.
Then one day at work, Emily reads an email that shatters her perfect world. And now she has one thing on her mind...which one of her friends is sleeping with her husband?
Emily constantly watches Jake, looking for little nuances to prove that the apple doesn't fall far from its tree. He talks and laughs with their children seemingly still her perfect husband. But then the phone rings and he walks into another room to answer before quickly putting it down again. She sees the guilt written on his face. She knows the signs...after all, she has been lying to him for years. So what is he hiding from her? Who was really on the phone? And where does he go all those late nights home where he claims he had a mountain of paperwork? Or a late call-out to a patient? Is Jake really so much like his father after all?
At work, Emily finds herself listening at closed doors hoping to discover the truth about her husband. But what she hears rocks her world as she learns that hers isn't the only family keeping secrets. Is there anyone left she can trust?
Then letters begin to find themselves posted through people's letterboxes, revealing private information that could only have come from the surgery. A wife on the pill when she supposedly wanted a child, a sympathy card with a cruel message, a threat to reveal a criminal past and suicide attempt to employers...all with disastrous consequences. As the letters revealing people's biggest secrets continue to appear, fingers point to Emily...as the one who has unlimited access to everyone's private history. But Emily knows she's innocent. Isn't she?
This isn't the the first time Emily has lied...and she has been behaving very erratically of late with her unfounded (bar the email) accusations of Jake's affair, her lack of sleep, her constant nightmares and her screamfests with Jake. When Jake also accuses her of leaking that information, Emily realises that she can no longer trust her husband. Nor can she trust her best friend who announces her pregnancy after Emily discovers their shared past that seems have been reignited.
Trust. It's all about trust. Trust no one.
As Emily's life seems to be imploding, there is a final twist that will bring everything to a head as the truth is finally revealed.
A cleverly told tale, I devoured TRUST ME in a day. I easily predicted who was behind the letters and the link between two characters but it didn't deter my enjoyment. There was a twist that I had down to one and was the result of another I didn't see coming, so hats off to Sheryl Browne for blindsiding me with that one!
It was easy to believe that Emily was losing the plot as her accusations were way out of nowhere and completely unfounded. What? Because of an email she'd read? Because of the things she heard behind closed doors? You know what they say about eavesdroppers...chances are you will never hear anything good. So naturally Emily took these instances as proof of Jake's infidelity and no matter how much he tried convincing her it was untrue, the more she believed him to be lying. After all, she'd lied to him...what's to stop him lying to her also?
But when it becomes clear why Emily is dishing out accusations and behaving erratically, one has to wonder exactly who can you really trust?
The story unfolds through mainly Emily and Jake's narratives, with a couple of others adding their parts of the story. I especially loved Edward and Joyce who featured so predominantly and yet only played a small part.
While it would take something deliciously twisted to outshine her previous thriller "The New Girlfriend" (which I totally loved), TRUST ME is still a frustratingly enjoyable read that you won't want to put down until you uncover every last little secret. I loved the village setting and gossipy nature of locals. It felt a little like an Agatha Christie novel crossed with an episode of Midsomer Murders - both of which featured "poison pen" letters. I can recall the Midsomer episode in which a doctor's surgery became the prime focus of patients' secrets being revealed with the practice manager being behind them in the end.
Another great read by Sheryl Browne, an author who I don't hesitate to go in blind without reading the premise. Trust me when I say fans of domestic thrillers are bound to devour TRUST ME.
I would like to thank #SherylBrowne, #NetGalley, #Bookouture for an ARC of #TrustMe in exchange for an honest review.
MEET THE AUTHOR:
Sheryl Browne writes psychological thriller and edgy contemporary fiction. A member of the Crime Writers’ Association, Romantic Novelists’ Association and awarded a Red Ribbon by The Wishing Shelf Book Awards, Sheryl has several books published and two short stories in Birmingham City University anthologies, where she completed her MA in Creative Writing.
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Thank you so much for reading Trust Me and a fab review, Stina! So appreciated. Sorry I couldn't get here sooner. I can' make Google work properly. Typical me! (Sheryl xx).
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