Believe Me Now
Detective Helen Stratton Book 1
S. M. Govett
Crooked Lane Books
June 10th, 2025
Believe Me Now by S. M. Govett is a gripping thriller with a very puzzling case. The dual narration between a victim and a detective help to make the story more suspenseful.
“I wanted to write how there are power imbalances that come into play and how power can be abused. There was a mutual one and one without consent. Detective Helen Stratton had a mutual one but did face additional challenges. Yet, her boss still had some power over her.”
The victim is Natalie Campbell, who ten years ago was sexually assaulted by her boss who was found not guilty. One day later, he died of a heart attack and ever since Natalie has been receiving threatening letters. She has blackouts, a symptom of PTSD. Now ten years later she has found ways to cope by setting up routines and relying on her supportive husband, Ryan. But that comes to an end when Ryan is accused of committing the same crime of sexual assault. To make matters worse, Ryan’s accuser is found dead in the woods.
“Natalie has an inner strength and is stronger than she thinks she is, which she discovers at the end. She has a form of PTSD. Hers has come about because she was sexually assaulted by her boss and then she is not believed in court. This has fractured her memory system giving her blackouts during stressful triggering situations and has her carry out tasks she will not remember. There are three strikes for her: she was assaulted by her boss, she was not believed, and had a stalker, her attacker’s wife. She feels powerless. She runs from trauma, insecure, anxious, and paranoid. In the book she thinks she is existing rather than living.”
Investigating the crime, DI Helen Stratton thinks Ryan is guilty. She, like Natalie, is suffering from a backstory of the disappearance of her sister Karen. She joined the police to help other lost and vulnerable girls and to do whatever it takes to catch the predators.
“Stratton is untrusting, sarcastic, can be seen as caring, and wants answers. She has a fire in her to get cases having to do with young women who have disappeared. For her, these women always represent her sister. I wanted Natalie and the Detective to seem like chalk and cheese characters. They both had traumatic events in their life. Natalie responded by cocooning her life where her home is her only safe place, and she does not want to step outside of it. Whereas Stratton has overcome her trauma by developing a tough as nails exterior with a softer underbelly that very few people see. I like the idea that “home” represents safety and a prison. These are two women whose life and personalities have changed because something happened in their past and they were not believed. Stratton and her mom were not believed by the police when they said Karen, the sister/daughter, had not runaway. Both Natalie and Stratton coped in completely different ways.”
This story is fast paced and riveting. Readers will be on the edge of their seats as they try to figure out who can be believed and who cannot. It appears most of the characters are suspects and are guilty including Natalie and her husband Ryan. The twists add to the suspense and will throw people a curveball.
