I really liked the sound of this book: a battle of wits between the victim's sister and the murderer. How very clever to write a book about a murder in order to trap the murderer, which Linda plans to do without ever leaving her home. A home that has become her self-inflicted prison and her whole world.

Linda Conrads is a reclusive author. She has chosen to live her life behind closed doors, never stepping over the threshold into the outside world for the last 11 years. A world that no longer contains her sister, Anna, who was brutally murdered 12 years ago. It was Linda who found her sister's body and also glimpsed the killer as he fled the scene. Now, 12 years later, Linda sees his face on TV reporting on a news story, so she hatches a plan to get Victor Lenzen to confess to Anna's murder. Linda writes a book about her sister's murder containing facts only the murderer will know and invites Lenzen to interview her about the new novel. Will Lenzen take the bait or is Linda's memory of events not as clear as she thought?

I absolutely rocketed through The Trap and thought it was really unusual to have a book within a book, as we are treated to chapters from Linda's new book. I didn't really warm to Linda, though. She seemed a bit one-dimensional as I never really felt as if I knew what she was feeling - perhaps something was lost in translation from German to English. The story itself, however, is tense and gripping as events unfold and a shadow is cast over Linda's memories - has she remembered events as they really happened, or is she remembering only what she wants to remember? Linda may be stuck inside her house but the reader was stuck inside Linda's head, sifting through the confusion to get to the truth.

I think The Trap is well worth reading as long as you remember that it has been translated from German, so the characters may not be as well developed as they might be in their mother tongue. If you're looking for a fast-paced, tense, mindbender then you'll love this, but will you be able to separate fact from fiction in The Trap?

I chose to read an ARC and this is my honest and unbiased opinion. ( )