Suspicious Minds

David Mark has flourished ever since he let go of his ties to a crime series, letting his imaginative run riot in numerous directions, all of them on the darker side of life. Here, it is his characterisation that is stellar, 34 year old Liz Zahavi lives in Durham with her partner, Jay, with a close relationship to her step daughter, 9 year old Anya. Jay is far from a ideal man, he erodes any sense of self esteem Liz might have, providing her with barely enough money to live on. Despite this, Liz believes she is lucky to have Jay, she knows she is a difficult person to live with, having been diagnosed with Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD). This means she is emotionally volatile, swinging from intense highs to lows, her behaviour often impulsive, with a tendency to overshare, paranoid, obsessive and unstable, plagued by disturbed patterns of thinking and perception, with a tendency for self sabotage. To say that she is a hard person to handle is an understatement, this is not a easy mental health issue to live with.

The story opens with Liz and Anya in desperate danger, and we go back 8 months to understand how they ended up in this terrifying situation. Liz is making her way to Corbridge for a first appointment with a therapist, only to find herself lost and in a car accident. She is helped by a good looking local farmer, Jude, introducing herself as Betsy, there is an immediate attraction between them. As Liz's relationship breaks down in spectacular and almost tragic circumstances, she goes to live with Jude in what at first appears to be a rural idyll. However, not all is as at seems, there are local rumours that Jude murdered his animal activist wife, Maeve, and hints of a much darker and dangerous side to him. Then there is the local lord of the manor, intent on driving Jude out of his home, by any means necessary, including brutal violence and horrifying intimidation tactics. Given Betsy's BPD, her propensity for self sabotage and growing suspicions of Jude, is their love a doomed affair?

Mark does a wonderful job in illustrating what BPD means for a person, the issues that make life hard, but what broke my heart was the desperate and devastating trauma and abuse Betsy has suffered as a child with her drug addict mother, the care and foster homes, the self harm, depression and suicide attempts in her past and how she is so often disbelieved. This is a dark, edgy and entertaining character driven melodrama that turns into an unexpectedly twisted and surprising thriller. Once again the author writes a totally absorbing, riveting, and an unsettling psychological crime read that I am certain many readers will love. Many thanks to Severn House for an ARC.

Firstly, I have to applaud the author's description of BPD which is the condition that the main character Liz suffers from. He has the struggles that come with this mental health issue down pat in accordance to what I understand about it from my work with sufferers of BPD or EUPD as it is often now known as too.
So Liz lives with partner Jay and his daughter Anya. On the face of things they are coping and ticking along OK. But Liz is never far from a crisis and she feels that Jay is getting to the end of his tether so she makes an appointment with a professional. Sadly she never makes the appointment as she gets a bit too worked up and her journey to the therapist's house is a bit of a disaster, culminating in her getting lost and crashing her car. She's in a bit of a spot until a knight in shining armour comes to her rescue in the form of Jude, a nearby farmer who picks her up, takes her to his to rest and get cleaned up, gets her car sorted, all before dropping her back to her sister's house. It's a short but very intense connection Liz has with Jude, one that she eventually is desperate to return to and it isn't long before Jay gives her reason to do just that. But Jude has a past which also threatens his present and, by association, Liz's too. As she falls deeper both under his spell and into his world, that world gets more and more dangerous. How far will he go to protect what is his and where does Liz fit into that equation?
Well... this hit the ground running and didn't let up until the very end. Jam packed with action and intrigue and menace and, well quite a bit of emotion too. Well, that's the nature of BPD. We start with Liz and Anya in peril and then go back a few months to fill in the time that led up to what happened. We learn that Jude is not all he seems, we meet the lord of the manor who was present when Liz had her rash and his wife who both play key roles in what is happening to Jude. And then there's Maeve, Jude's deceased wife whose death is not wholly explained and fingers are still pointing to various people... All the time Liz is just wanting love and safety and security. Whew... what a ride!
It's dark and creepy and very character driven. Pacing is slow in parts as the layers build up but follow the narrative well, speeding up as the action gets going. It's hard to read in parts as Liz's story is quite harrowing in places, but at the same time it drew me in so hard that I was powerless to step away. It really did suck me in, only spitting me out at the end, knackered but wholly satisfied.
I've read a few of this author's stand alone books and I know he has also written a series and I know I keep saying I will give that a whirl. I am still yet to do that but I will do my best to fit them in between this and his next new book. My thanks go to the Publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book.

Enjoyed the unique narration involving BPD, which makes you unsure what the truth is. It makes for a very tense and unsettling read.