I so much enjoyed The Blame Game. It was a real page turner. I couldn't put it down.

Naomi, the lead character, was a psychotherapist. When she was a child, her father murdered her mother. She had a sister, Jennifer, who she told she'd always be there for. But when they went into foster care they were separated. Jennifer ran away and got into drugs. They lived in New York, and when Naomi met her husband they moved to his hometown in England. After 26 years, Jennifer showed up on London and phoned Naomi in an attempt to reconnect. Naomi didn't trust her and put her off by telling her she needed time.

This story is about Naomi and her two main clients, Jacob/Michael and Anna/Vanessa. Jacob insisted that his wife was abusive and needed a way out of the house. Naomi always went the extra mile with her clients and, as a means of providing Jacob refuge, allowed him to move into hers and her husband's flat. Of course her husband, Leon, was opposed to it so she didn't tell him. As a means of hiding from his wife, Jacob changed jobs behind her back.

Anna was a wife scorned. She told Naomi that, since her son's untimely death, her husband had become a tyrant. Eventually he struck her, and she told her therapist that he had turned his anger on the children. Anna needed an escape. Naomi told her that she and her two sons could stay with her and Leon for a few days until she could get things sorted out. Again, Leon was against it. Anna never took her up on her offer. Instead, she told Naomi that she and her husband had had a talk and that they were going to work things out.

One night Jacob phoned Naomi and told her that his wife had found him and that she was going to get him. Wanting to help, Naomi told him to meet him at a hotel bar. While there, Jacob downed four drinks and propositioned her. Naomi was very uncomfortable and said she had to go. Jacob then accused her of leading him on. When Naomi balked, Jacob caught himself and asked her to have another drink and stay with him. She didn't. She suggested he take a room and let things cool off with his wife, or at least until they could come up with something else. After that, Naomi left.

Naomi tried to reach him the next day to no avail. Finally, his wife filed a missing persons report on him. He seemed to have disappeared. Naomi went to the flat looking for him but he wasn't there. She eventually learned his wife's name and, after doing a Google search, learned where they lived. She phoned her but the call was not well received. She went to their home but no one answered.

Within a day or two, two police officers showed up at Naomi's home to inquire about Jacob. It turned out that his real name was Michael Talbot. The police had all kinds of evidence that indicated that Naomi had something 5o do with his disappearance. They had emails, text messages, a video at the flat, a voicemail and blood evidence. Naomi had left the voicemail and had gone to the flat, but the rest she wasn't responsible for. Clearly someone was setting her up. She wondered if it could be Leon, or Vanessa or even her sister, Jennifer.

Naomi believed that the only way to absolve herself was to find Michael. Leon had put together a huge concert for the community. Vanessa had phoned Naomi from the concert but said basically nothing. Naomi decided to go to the concert in search of her, even though she didn't know what she looked like. When she arrived at the concert and headed toward the stables, she heard someone cry out. At first she couldn't place it, but she finally realized it was Michael. She followed his voice and found him handcuffed and tied to a chair. She picked up a hammer and was about to release him when she heard a shrill voice behind her begging her not to let him go. She turned around to see Anna. It turned out that Anna was Vanessa, Michael's wife. Naomi broke most of the hold Michael and Michael turned on her attacking her by putting a choke hold on her. Then Vanessa got his attention and he left Naomi and went for Vanessa. There was a tussle and Michael dropped dead.

Naomi got away and went to the police. She told them her story but in her telling it was Vanessa who was killed. No matter, in the end it was Vanessa who was in the interrogation room telling her version of the story. The police had come to realize that Vanessa had set Naomi up. The twist to the story was that Vanessa wasn't who she presented. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and I'll probably read it again.

Thank you St Martin’s Publishing and Net Galley for an ARC of this book. I have read other Sandie Jones books and am always pleased with every book. This was a cat and mouse story for sure with all kinds of twists and turns . I didn’t know who to believe. The main character is a therapist who cares way too much for her patients and gets very involved in helping them. Does she go too far ? She definitely does as you will see when you read this book. I really enjoyed it and highly recommend.

I finished this book days ago and I can't stop thinking about it! The Blame Game was full of twists and had a mouth dropping ending. I didn't want to put this book down. Every time I thought I had a character figured out, the next chapter threw a curve ball that made me question everything.

5 star read! I will recommend to all my thriller fans!

Phew this book was chaotic. Everybody's lying about something and it will leave you desperate for the truth. I didn't like a single character by the end.

I really enjoy Sandie Jones' writing so I was excited to get an advanced reader's copy of this one. I was hooked throughout the entire thing --- except the last 30 or so pages. The ending felt rushed and I wish she had spent a little more time tying all the pieces together. But overall, an great-page turner and a race to the finish!

The Blame Game has a therapist who is helpful...maybe too helpful. She seems to get awfully involved with clients. She and her husband are having some difficulties. He thinks she is too involved with a male client. I wasn't surprised about Jacobs truth. He spoke of kids being older. His wife's identity was not as easy to figure out.
The story of Naomi's dad in prison seemed dragged and not that important to her behavior. What bothered me was her lies. How did she think no one would catch on?
Thank you NetGalley! Another good suggestion!

Sandie Jones is literally on my list of authors that I just buy their books without looking at the synopsis. The twists were not predictable which I appreciate. I throughly enjoyed this book as I do all of hers! Thanks netgalley for the arc

Give me a psychological thriller where the main character is a psychologist and I’m hooked!
This was so suspenseful, I had a hard time putting it down!

Naomi is a psychologist specializing in domestic abuse cases who has trouble maintaining proper doctor-patient boundaries, and gets too involved in trying to help her patients in ways that go beyond therapy sessions. This places her in a predicament when one of her patients goes missing and she lies to her husband and the police. I enjoyed the suspense and the twists and turns, but I'm torn because I really disliked the main character's unprofessionalism. I understand she was motivated by good intentions but this is the second recent novel I've read (after Greer Hendricks' The Golden Couple) about a therapist engaging in boneheaded behavior and getting too involved with her patients. It annoyed me to no end.

This one had lots of deception and lying going on. Naomi seems to get herself into deep water by not telling the truth. She feels like if she does, it will cause problems with her husband. Little does she know, her lies ARE causing problems with her husband, the police, her job......EEEKKK! This book is told from Naomi's point of view and we learn about her past as she gets herself into hot water.

This is a short one, coming in at 256 pages. If you need a quick read, pick this up when it comes out in June!

Naomi knows sometimes she does too much. As a psychotherapist, she sets boundaries with her clients. More often than not, she also breaks them.

Coming from a troubled past, Naomi makes it her life goal to help those suffering from domestic violence. When she gets too involved with one of her client’s issues, she becomes entangled in a web of half-truths and deceit.

"…it feels as if I’m a mouse with a cat clawing at my tail, holding me still before releasing me again."

Wow, wow, wow. This is a good one. Jones’ books are all good, but this one takes the cake. The Blame Game has it all— a kind, relatable, main character who has nothing but good intentions but has flaws that make her anything but boring. The anxiety I felt for Naomi while reading this book was genuine! Anxiety when she tells her husband white lies, anxiety over telling the police half of a whole story, and all the while we are just as in the dark as the main character. Naomi’s anxiety becomes our anxiety, her worries become our worries, and her fear becomes our fear. Reading this alone in the dark was truly scary! Not only is this book thrilling, but it also tells a story of family and childhood trauma that can be dark and sad at times.
The ending was slightly rushed, but in a heart-racing, thrilling type of way. And those last two sentences– they were my favorite.

The Blame Game was a pleasure to read. Special thank you to NetGalley and Sandie Jones for an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

This book started off interesting to me…a psychologist specializing in domestic violence…and she went above and beyond for her clients. Then she started doing too much for them even against her husband’s advice.

When things started going sideways for her, instead of telling the truth, she kept telling more lies and trying to figure things out herself.

There was a twist I didn’t see coming but by that time I didn’t care so much.

Thanks to NetGalley for allowing me to read this book.

Naomi is the absolute WORST psychologist ever and basically irritated me the entire book. If I had to name my one biggest pet peeve in reading, it is when characters believe that lying is a smart idea. BUT I did like that I could not guess the ending of the book. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone looking for a fast paced mystery/thriller!

Naomi is a psychologist dealing with patients who are in domestic abuse situations. Naomi has a habit of extending help beyond what is usual and she has definitely overextended her kindness, especially when one of those patients she helps disappears and the police start to look at Naomi. I thought this was a very well done mystery that kept my attention throughout.

This book was an addicting read. I needed to have answers to all of the questions presented in this book. Unfortunately, I still had a few too many questions at the end.

It kept me engaged and interested throughout so it received 4 stars for that. Unfortunately, some parts were just obvious and uncomfortable for me to really enjoy.

Sandie Jones is one of my favorite authors so I knew I had to read her newest book. It was super good. I would go as far to ask one of her best yet! It was slow at times but I really liked the plot so I have to recommend not only this book but all of her books

The Blame Game by Sandie Jones was a book that pulled me right in! It was suspenseful and had a lot of twists and turns. The chapters were a little on the long side, but I didn’t mind because the book was SO good. At one point I thought I had the ending figured out-but I was pleased that the book took a different direction and proved me wrong. The plot and characters in the story were very well developed.

This was the second time I have read a book by this author, and The Blame Game was a perfect reminder to read more of her work! Side note- this book has one of the best covers I have seen in awhile.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Minotaur Books for the ARC.

I received an arc copy of this book from Net Galley in exchange for my honest opinion of it. I normally enjoy books by this author but this one didn't hit it for me. Naomi is a psychologist who works at home. Her husband, Leon, says she gets too involved with her patient's personal lives such as giving them a place to live even with then.

Naomi witnesses the murder of her mom as a little girl and vows to always help someone out of an abusive situation.

Without giving too much away, the first half was slow and the very end had too many twists at once and so many unanswered questions.

I loved loved loved this new book by Sandie Jones! The therapist and her very murky clients had me on my toes throughout the entire novel. Would absolutely recommend to all thriller lovers out there!

Sandie Jones is always a must read for me! The Blame Game focuses on Naomi, a psychologist who specializes in domestic abuse cases, and the fallout from her actions with her clients. Naomi is a great main character - messy and a little mysterious but I easily identified with her and why she kept putting herself in the positions that she did. The plot revolves around one, little, white lie that Naomi tells her husband and how it spins completely out of control, eventually implicating Naomi in a missing person's case.

My favorite type of thrillers are the ones where I can almost, but not quite, put all the pieces together on my own. The Blame Game is great at giving breadcrumbs so the reader knows certain things must be connected but you just can't quite figure out how they fit.

My only critiques:

I could have done without the storyline involving Naomi's past and her sister. It wasn't explored fully enough to add anything to the plot and ended up just being a distraction.

I also wish the book was longer! I really enjoyed the book as is but I think another 100 pages to explore all the twists and turns would have been great.

Overall, I definitely recommend this book. Especially to anyone looking for a quick page turner with plenty of twists.

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press/Minotaur Books and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Whoa this book was a wild ride! I really enjoyed the domestic violence component of this and how the boundaries between therapist and client are blurred so much. I really didn't know where it was going and did not see the end coming at all.

There were some loose ends that weren't not quite addressed. I wished there was a little more at the end other than just the one chapter epilogue.