Please be advised that POSSESSION is a slow-boil of a book. Author Katie Lowe saves its numerous surprises, twists and turns for the last third of the story, while along the way almost improbably putting a new spin on the tried, true and somewhat overused “unreliable narrator” plot element. The result is a novel that you won’t be able to get out of your head.

Hannah Catton, the narrator, has a memorable though unenviable backstory. A decade or so ago, her husband Graham was stabbed to death in their home. A man was charged with the murder and convicted. Hannah has moved on with her daughter, Evie, started a new job with the assistance of a friend, and acquired Dan, a new love interest, who is almost too good and understanding to be true.

"It’s a dark tale that will cause sensitive readers to question their trust in their loved ones, but the meticulous plotting makes the emotional upheaval worthwhile."

Everything is fine until an enormously popular British true-crime podcast focuses on the circumstances of Graham’s murder. Using a combination of inverted pyramid research and confirmation bias, it leads its audience down a cattle chute toward the conclusion that Hannah should have been charged with the crime. Each episode of the podcast, which revisits the investigation and the relationship between Hannah and Graham, causes her life to spin further out of control.

The new, unofficial investigation leaves no stone unturned, interviewing Hannah’s and Graham’s friends, relatives and co-workers, and the police investigators who apparently made a rush to judgment. Meanwhile, Hannah’s internal dialogue does her no favors. She became aware of Graham’s unfaithfulness during her pregnancy, which continued after Evie was born. Hannah herself has memory issues. One by one, the people in her life seem to doubt her as well. The man originally convicted of the murder is released from prison on the strength of the new evidence revealed by the podcast. Both Hannah and Dan lose their jobs.

Worst of all, Hannah doesn’t seem entirely sure of her own innocence and is plagued by self-doubt, even as she becomes a pariah within her own community. It appears as if she can’t sink any lower, but that isn’t true, especially when it’s discovered that Hannah’s grandmother was accused of killing her husband. Just when things are at their absolute worst, Hannah receives assistance from an unexpected corner. But it may be far too little and far too late.

As much trouble as I had with the novel initially, I was compelled to read it a second time just to appreciate what Lowe did with the story. It’s a dark tale that will cause sensitive readers to question their trust in their loved ones, but the meticulous plotting makes the emotional upheaval worthwhile. POSSESSION is not a book to have fun with, but it will leave you spellbound.