The Photographer by Mary Dixie Carter

After taking photographs in the home of wealthy parents, Delta becomes so obsessed with them that she inserts herself into their lives and goes to shocking lengths to become a part of their family.
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This is less of a typical domestic thriller and more of a psychological thriller mixed with a character study of a disturbed individual, and it has a similar feel to the work of Shirley Jackson or Patricia Highsmith. In fact, Delta is quite a bit like Tom Ripley of THE TALENTED MR. RIPLEY. Or Bruno and the way he became obsessed with Guy in STRANGERS ON A TRAIN. There is an emptiness inside of her, so she fills that vacuum with the identities of those who happen to become the object of her obsession, desperately trying to adopt the lives of those she views as special and privileged. Perhaps those who, unlike her, she believes, are worthy of love.

Delta is an unreliable narrator and a fascinating puzzle. As a reader, you’re not sure what to believe about her and just how much is distorted while looking through her ‘lens.’ And I found it impossible not to try and figure her out.

Her work as a photographer, mainly for parents and families, adds another interesting layer. Delta will manipulate photos for her clients so that their lives will appear picture perfect. This dovetails nicely with Delta’s need to bend the reality of her own life for the benefit of others.

I was riveted while reading this, apprehensively awaiting the actions Delta was going to take, cringing at the lies she told, yet somehow hoping she wouldn’t be found out. And with this family she became obsessed with, it became unclear just who was using and manipulating whom. 

This book isn’t aiming for pulse-pounding action. Instead, what it offers is simmering tension and a sort of Hitchcockian sense of unease that something, at some point, is going to go terribly wrong.

This is a debut, and I will eagerly pick up whatever this author writes next!

It comes out May 25!

Thank you St. Martin’s and Minotaur for the ARC!