I absolutely loved this book ,a gripping twist laden debut that is nothing short of a masterclass in suspense. I liked the fact that the story was told through two POV Natalie and Stratton. If you are into thrillers that keep you guessing this one is a must read. The ending was unexpected and brilliant. I can't wait to read more from this Author .Thank you to NetGalley for my ARC.

Believe follows Natalie Campbell, who is suffering from PTSD after being sexually assaulted, which her attacker was acquitted. Ten years later, her husband Ryan faces an identical accusation. When the accuser is found murdered near their home, Natalie’s world and her sanity begins to unravel. The narrative POV alternates with DI Helen Stratton, a detective haunted by her sister’s disappearance when she was a teenager. The books keeps the pacing tight and unrelenting, weaving dual storylines into a charged police procedural with deeper emotional resonance and exploration of how past traumatic events shape us as individuals.

The writing is sharp and emotionally developed - we as the readers really feel the internal and physical struggle that Natalie experiences following the accusation levied against her husband. I also liked the fact that DI Stratton is humanised rather than portrayed as the non-believing police officer through her mother’s illness and sister’s disappearance.

For readers who are well-versed in thrillers I doubt the twist will be unpredictable but that doesn’t detract from the fact that this is a throughly enjoyable and unputdownable book that will really have you asking who do I believe did it?

Wow, I absolutely devoured this book. It's well written, gripping and jam packed full of twists. I hope we will be meeting DI Stratton again soon.

Believe, as it's called in the UK (Believe Me Now the title elsewhere), was the right book at the right time for me. I wanted something punchy and engaging. A novel that would pique my curiosity and keep me guessing. Believe was the ideal book for me.

Natalie went through a horrible patch when she was raped by her boss and he was found not guilty. Traumatised not only by that event, she received threatening notes with cut-out letters from magazines, and started blacking out from the stress of it all. Fast forward years and a house move later, with her supportive husband by her side, and all seems well...Until the notes are delivered again. Then Natalie's husband is accused of rape by a coworker. Her world quickly spirals out of control. Enter DI Helen Stratton, who has trauma in her past, too, here to investigate.

I have to be honest, Helen Stratton was my favourite character in this novel. What a great gal! Smart, brutally honest, capable, she is the full ticket. We can all rest easy knowing Helen will get to the bottom of things. She is what makes this a 5-star read, for me. Lots of twists and turns in Believe make the story a quick-paced one. I loved all the shocks and unexpected happenings. My favourite books are those where I cannot guess the baddie. Here, I did figure it out but it didn't dent my enthusiasm. If you are looking for a great beach read to while away airport travel or basking in the sun, Believe is a great place to start.

Brilliant debut thriller really hope this is the start of a new series.
This had me hooked from the beginning there are some really good plot twists I didn’t see coming, I definitely recommend reading this book you will not be disappointed.
Thank you NetGalley for the ARC of Believe by S M Groves in return for my honest review.

As a debut novel, I started reading this with an open mind and very quickly discovered it’s a really intriguing storyline. The main character is complex and as a reader, you’re never quite sure if she’s guilty or innocent of the crime! I didn’t see the twist coming and thoroughly enjoyed the reading journey leading up to the big reveal! I definitely recommend this one and look forward to this author’s next book.

I loved this book which was a beautifully plotted and well written psychological thriller that teased and challenged the reader all the way through.

I’m not going to provide any spoilers bar saying that by the denouement of the book there were five viable candidates as the murderer!

The characters were interesting, credible and well developed and the short snappy chapters told from different viewpoints grabbed your attention.

All in all a classy book that deserves success.

This is an excellent book with chapters automating between Natalie, a rape victim who was not believed and Stratton, a police detective who joined the force to try to find out what happened to her sister many decades earlier. When Natalie‘s husband is accused of rape, she doesn’t know whether to believe him or the victim. With her absences, which can last for several hours she is an unreliable witness and narrator. Meanwhile, Stratton is trying to be taken seriously after having had a fling with her boss and has the pressures of guiding a fast-track officer in his new role.
Once the two storylines meet up, the story becomes very fast paced with shock after shock after shock.
I really enjoyed this book and would highly recommend it.

Amazing plot. All the way through I really did not have any suspicions about the outcome. It kept me reading at pace. Really a thought provoking read for many reasons. Who to believe! A compulsive thriller. A must read.

I found this pretty slow to start, but I enjoyed the way it was written with the dual POV and short chapters.
I was expecting more of a thriller, but it's actually quite police procedural-y with half the chapters being from the POV of DI Helen Stratton. I loved her chapters and would happily pick up more books with her as a character in the future 👀. The twisty thriller elements of the story came from the POV of Natalie, and they were woven together seamlessly.
I was never quite sure who to trust or who to believe - laughing to myself writing that as that's literally the title. This was a very addictive read with a couple of WHAT!? moments that I wasn't expecting.
I thought I'd had this one cracked, but no! I definitely swore out loud when it was revealed
I loved the writing and the way the story came together. This is a really well written debut that I'd absolutely recommend.
4⭐️

Really enjoyed this, short snappy chapters which totally had me hooked and the twists had me gasping out loud! Would definitely read more by this author, totally recommend

Believe sets an excellent premise. A woman, Natalie was assaulted by her boss but a trial found him not guilty and she is branded a liar. Fast forward ten years and her husband, who has stood by her, is accused of the same crime. Her dilemma is clear and emotions run high. Should she believe her husband or this woman? Of course, as with every thriller, the young woman who made the accusation is found dead and the everything is at stake. Lots of tension as well as red herrings and a fantastic twist. A great debut!

ou know those books that sit on your TBR pile for far too long, and when you finally pick them up, you wonder what on earth took you so long? That was Believe by S.M. Govett for me.

This psychological thriller is a masterclass in tension and emotional complexity. It follows Natalie, a woman still haunted by the trauma of accusing her boss of sexual assault ten years ago—only to be disbelieved by the courts and branded a liar. Now, just as she’s trying to rebuild her life, her husband Ryan is accused of the same crime. And when the accuser is found dead in the woods near their home, Natalie is forced to confront the terrifying possibility that history might be repeating itself—or worse, that she never really knew the man she married 1.

Govett’s writing is sharp and immersive, and the plot twists are genuinely gasp-worthy. The story explores the fragility of trust, the long shadows cast by trauma, and the terrifying uncertainty of not knowing who—or what—to believe. It’s a slow burn in the best way, simmering with dread and emotional weight.

So why did I leave it unread for so long? Honestly, I have no idea. Maybe I thought it would be too heavy, or maybe I just wasn’t in the right headspace. But once I started, I couldn’t put it down. If you enjoy thrillers like The Girl on the Train or The Silent Patient, this one deserves a spot on your list.

Lesson learned: trust your instincts—and don’t let great books gather dust.

This is a great debut novel. With short chapters ending in cliffhangers, this book is the perfect one to binge. I was drawn to the story immediately and was gripped till the end, when I was hit by a mind blowing twist I really didn't see coming... which made me very happy because I thought I had it all figured out quite early in the book.
The characters were not very likeable, especially Stratton. However, I found her development very interesting and I wouldn't mind meeting her again in the future.

Thank you NetGalley and Micheal Joseph for a digital ARC of the book in exchange for an honest review.

A pacy thriller that I thought I had worked out early on but I was wrong.
DI Stratton is assigned a murder case which leads her to Natalie who is dealing with issues from her past and some unpleasant mail that is being sent to her. These two main characters are polar opposites in their demeanour and pace as we get to see what they think of each other.

Stratton is assigned a new partner which makes things awkward for her at the start.

Govett has written an excellent thriller with plenty of material for a second or third follow-up.

I thoroughly enjoyed Believe and would like to read more from this excellent author.

As a debut novel this wasn't too bad but I did get bored quite early on and did jump to the end just to see what happened, DI Stratton could become a good character in future stories but I think the author needs to round out the characters more so it makes us care a bit more about them so as we want to find out their story and carry on to the conclusion.

I have given up on this book, having read 1/3rd of it, as I found it boring and stuffed with totally unnecessary expletives; 128 words starting with the 6th letter of the alphabet. I do wonder when authors will realise that such words are, almost without exception, unnecessary and when overused dumb down the style and content of all their hard work?

A wife who 10 years earlier was raped at work but the rapist was found not guilt, a husband who has tried to be supportive but is tired of being rejected and an accusation by his coworker that rocks their marriage. Who is telling the truth? Who is lying? Who does a reader believe. I understand that this is SM Govett’s debut novel but it reads like it’s been written by a seasoned professional with many books under their belt. I really enjoyed Believe as it had me on my toes, trying to second guess who to believe. I admit I changed my mind multiple times and still was blindsided by the denouement. I really hope this is the start of a series involving DI Stratton and her team.

A very well written book with so many twist and turns it leaves you dizzy. Some ten years ago Natalie was sexually assaulted by her boss, who ultimately got away with the crime when it came to court. As a result she suffered from PTSD which had her having periods of blacking out and coming to elsewhere. These had stopped until she started receiving anonymous letters about the incident which brought it all back. Throughout it all her husband Ryan had been her rock however when he was accused of the same thing that happened to Natalie, and then for that woman to be found murdered, she didn't know who or what to believe.
The other main character, DI Stratton, had her own issues. She joined the police to try and find her sister who had gone missing at the age of sixteen and she felt the police did not investigate the case well enough. Stratton was on a mission to help women of predators.
Written with dual perspectives of the two women you are left guessing and second guessing who is guilty until one final major twist.
A great thriller.

S.M. Govett's novel Believe just wasn't for me. It's a pretty fast read and is a combination of domestic psychological drama and police procedural. Written in two first-person points of view—the wife, Natalie and the Police Investigator, DI Helen Stratton offers an interesting dual p[erspective to this case of murder. Natalie is suffering from a form of PTSD following a traumatic event some years ago, so she works from home and has established regular segments of her life to follow.
That all collapses when the past comes back to taunt her, and she finds herself relapsing into bouts of lost time - when we wakes up having no idea what she's done or where she has been - and these blackouts can take her into the street or hiding in he wardrobe.
Her husband Ryan, is warm and supportive, but their relationship is strained and he wants her to get theraputic help. When a young woman, a co-worker of Ryan's, is found murdered in nearby woods, Ryan is a suspect and Natalie has to decide whether or not she believes his claims of innocence.
I found this novel a little too obvious, requiring a suspension of disbelief that the detail didn't really warrant. The characters weren't quite rounded enough and for me, the solution was contrived and implausible. So, although I think this book shows promise, I won't be blogging about it, because that's very unfair on a debut author.