Playing Nice by JP Delaney #NetGalley #PlayingNice @QuercusBooks

Playing Nice by JP Delaney

Published by Quercus Books

Publication Date 6th August 2020 (hardback), 28th July 2020 (ebook)

Genre: Legal Thriller

Book Description:

Pete Riley answers the door one morning to a parent's worst nightmare. On his doorstep is Miles Lambert, who breaks the devastating news that Pete's two-year-old, Theo, isn't Pete's real son - their babies got mixed up at birth.

The two families - Pete, his partner Maddie, and Miles and his wife Lucy - agree that, rather than swap the boys back, they'll try to find a more flexible way to share their children's lives. But a plan to sue the hospital triggers an investigation that unearths disturbing questions about just what happened the day the babies were switched.

And when Theo is thrown out of nursery for hitting other children, Maddie and Pete have to ask themselves: how far do they want this arrangement to go? What secrets lie hidden behind the Lamberts' smart front door? How much can they trust the real parents of their child - or even each other?

An addictive psychological thriller, perfect for fans of The Silent Patient and Shari Lapena's The Couple Next Door.

My Thoughts:

The thing I love about JP Delaney's books is that the plots are so different to everything else on the shelves at the time they're published.  Then there's the unique style of writing which just flows from the page and has you reading on and on far later into the night than you planned to.
In Playing Nice we are introduced to Maddie and Pete and their whirlwind son Theo who came bursting into the world far sooner than planned, plunging Maddie into a dark world of post partum psychosis. These events lead to Pete taking the role of stay at home dad while Maddie returned to work as the main breadwinner. It's on his return from taking Theo to his nursery placement that Pete and Maddie's world is turned upside down and well and truly shaken. Answering a knock at the door Pete is met by two men, one a private detective and the other his client Miles Lambert. They drop the bombshell that a DNA test has proven that Theo and another baby from the neonatal unit were switched not long after birth some 2 years earlier and it's time to try and rectify the situation somehow.  Discussions start off extremely amicably but it's not long before we start to feel the mood change between the two couples.
The author has clearly done a lot of background research into how a switch might be possible at the hospital and the legalities of correcting such a traumatic event. The emotions felt by the parents, the practicalities of taking a toddler's best interests to heart, the whole situation is dealt with confidently and sensitively by the author and I was swept along as events took more and more sinister turns along the way.
Every single character was created with depth from the arrogant, pushy Miles to the officious social services staff who made me want to slap them with their box-ticking exercises and insinuations.
I find this author so easy to read despite some very tricky subject matter. I thoroughly enjoyed The Girl Before but feel that this is on another level again. You will want to put the Do Not Disturb sign up and lose yourself among the pages - and probably lynch Miles Lambert while you're at it!!

About the Author:

JP Delaney is a pseudonym for a British writer of psychological suspense who has previously written best-selling fiction under other names. THE GIRL BEFORE was an instant New York Times and Sunday Times bestseller and was published in over 40 countries. The follow-up, BELIEVE ME, was also an international bestseller. THE PERFECT WIFE will be published summer 2019. For more information, go to www.jpdelaney.co.uk or follow @jpdelaneywriter on Facebook.