The blame game /

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

In the vein of the Reese's Book Club x Hello Sunshine Book Club pick The Other Woman , Sandie Jones's heart-pounding new novel The Blame Game will keep readers on the edge of their seats.

Games can be dangerous. But blame can be deadly.

As a psychologist specializing in domestic abuse, Naomi has found it hard to avoid becoming overly invested in her clients' lives. But after helping Jacob make the decision to leave his wife, Naomi worries that she's taken things too far. Then Jacob goes missing, and her files on him vanish. . . .

But as the police start asking questions about Jacob, Naomi's own dark past emerges. And as the truth comes to light, it seems that it's not just her clients who are in danger.

Reviews provided by Syndetics

Library Journal Review

Jones follows up The Guilt Trip with another pulse-pounding thriller. Psychologist Naomi Chandler specializes in domestic abuse cases in an English seaside resort town. She dedicates herself to helping her clients beyond the bounds of her profession--much to her husband Leon's dismay. When a client, Jacob, claims his wife wants to kill him, she offers him refuge at the Chandlers' bungalow--neglecting to tell Leon. Does her interest in Jacob go beyond the professional? Leon thinks so, and apparently so does someone else. After Jacob's file disappears from her office--and an awkward meetup with him at a bar--Naomi realizes Jacob might not be the only one in danger. Odd things are happening, signs from her dark childhood are popping up, bizarre videos appear on her laptop, and a long-lost sister resurfaces to make peace. Then Jacob disappears, and the police begin asking Naomi questions, showing her evidence of messages she never sent and calls she never made. VERDICT As the he said/she said roller-coaster plunges to a shocking finale, readers may wish for a bit more backstory on ancillary characters and their motivations. However, aficionados of Jones's work will find this tantalizing psychological fare worth their time.--Peggy Kurkowski

Publishers Weekly Review

In this enjoyable if flawed psychological thriller from British author Jones (The Guilt Trip), psychologist Naomi Chandler knowingly violates her clinical training and professional ethics by inviting a patient, Jacob, to stay in an apartment she owns to escape his abusive wife. Naomi decides not to tell her husband, knowing he'll object because her over-involvement with patients has jeopardized her life on at least one previous occasion. Naomi involves herself even more deeply by agreeing to meet a drunken Jacob in a hotel bar. Soon afterward, Jacob disappears, and Naomi is the last person to have seen him. When the police begin to suspect Naomi, she becomes trapped in a cat-and-mouse game with a cunning manipulator who may have emerged from her murky past or may be Jacob himself. The twisty plot offers plenty of surprises, but some readers may lose patience with a main character who persists in making the worst possible choice in every dangerous situation, such as confronting the killer on her own instead of summoning the nearby police. Jones is unlikely to win new fans with this one. Agent: Tanera Simons, Darley Anderson (U.K.). (Aug.)

Booklist Review

Naomi Chandler had a mostly happy childhood in New York until one horrific event changed her life and that of her sister, Jennifer, forever. But Naomi picked herself up, married an Englishman, moved to Britain, and now has a thriving practice as a psychologist specializing in domestic-abuse counselling. Her husband, Leon, believes that Naomi sometimes crosses the line between neutral professionalism and trying to "save" her patients, and that's what happens when one of those patients, Jacob, decides to leave his abusive wife, and Naomi--unbeknownst to Leon--offers to let Jacob rent the apartment she and Leon own. Without realizing it, Naomi has exposed herself to the possible destruction of the successful life she's carefully built. Someone is out to get her, but who and why? In a series of shocking twists and turns, Naomi's vulnerability is exposed, and just when the reader thinks they might have the plot figured out, Jones throws in yet another surprise, ratcheting up the tension until the explosive conclusion. A fine choice for fans of psychological thrillers.

Author notes provided by Syndetics

SANDIE JONES has worked as a freelance journalist for more than twenty years and has written for publications including the Sunday Times , Woman's Weekly , and Hello magazine. She lives in London with her husband and three children. The Other Woman was her debut novel and a Reese Witherspoon x Hello Sunshine Book Club pick.