Trust Me is a tense, character-driven thriller that begins with a simple act of generosity from one stranger to another and spirals into something significantly more sinister and deadly. Ellen Devlin is on the train travelling back to Marylebone station in London on the way home to South Greenford after an appointment at an infertility clinic. She had just received the devastating news that she will never have children. This has been a massive point of contention between her and her husband, Richard, for many years and now he has left her for another woman and she has just found out via a scan posted on social media that they are now pregnant with their first child together. Both natural conception and emotionally draining IVF have failed for Ellen and she has had several miscarriages; time is rapidly running out as she is within touching distance of her fortieth birthday. So when she spots twenty-something Kathryn Clifton coming down the aisle as the train races through the Buckinghamshire countryside, she silently prays she and her beautiful pink-clad baby sit anywhere but next to her. Of course, despite there being a huge selection of seating she chooses to sit down at the table opposite Ellen. Three-month-old Mia is a sweet bundle of joy sitting there grinning a gummy smile. Kathryn's mobile phone begins to ring and she ignores it but a few seconds later it lights up again. Her phone beeps with a message, and as she reaches for it the sleeve of her jacket rides up, revealing purple-black skin above her wrist, a line of ugly bruises spreading up towards her elbow. She quickly covers them up. Seeming distracted and anxious, Ellen obliges when Kathryn asks if she can hold Mia for a moment until she sorts out the calls and messages she's been receiving.
She heads to the vestibule between the two carriages for some privacy just as the train begins to decelerate as the penultimate stop comes into view. Seer Green and Jordans was a tiny station and as people rushed to both board and alight, Ellen was searching for Kathryn who had not yet reappeared. She's about to get up to walk to the vestibule when she spots a blonde woman in a rust coloured jacket rushing past the window; it's her but where is she going. She mouths the word 'sorry' before vanishing. In absolute disbelief, Ellen has no idea what to do and she decides to open the rucksack Kathryn left behind. On top of a bundle of baby clothes she finds is a single sheet of A4 paper, folded once. It’s a receipt or delivery note of some kind, a list of baby things, formula milk, bottles, nappies, clothes. I pull it out and frown. The word ‘Ellen’ is written in looping capitals on the bottom half. I turn the paper over. The back is blank except for a handful of words scrawled hastily in the centre, in messy black biro. It warns her to keep Mia safe and not to trust anyone. She is torn between handing Mia to authorities and obeying the note but not long after she gets off the train, they are both abducted. Can Ellen get to the bottom of why Mia was abandoned by Kathryn that day and who is apparently wanting to do her harm? This is a compulsive and enthralling game of cat and mouse that features a really unusual and original premise and a completely unpredictable and twisty narrative. I couldn't see the direction in which the story was heading at all as the incident on the train felt so random, however, there's so much going on beneath the surface and waiting for those layers to be slowly peeled back to reveal the truth had me riveted. It's an intensely gripping, cleverly woven and nail-biting read revealing a truly unspeakable crime.