It's Not What You Think Themes
by Clare Mackintosh
Underneath its plot, Clare Mackintosh's novel wrestles with how little we know the people closest to us. It explores deception and double lives, racist extremism and domestic terrorism, grief and memory, broken trust, blended family, and institutions that fail or get infiltrated.
This page digs into those themes through concrete moments: Jamie lying to Nadeeka while inside New Dawn, Fraser's hidden life, the coerced arson, Nadeeka's grief rituals, family strain, suspicions around Scott and Lauren, fake officers, deleted evidence, missing vetting, and an ex-officer tied to New Dawn. It also follows recurring symbols: hidden devices, the police uniform and thin blue line badge, Jamie's ashes and the hill above the reservoir, and the multifaith nativity, the target of a planned bombing.
Major Themes in It's Not What You Think
Deception and double lives
The novel repeatedly reveals that people are not who those closest to them believe: Jamie infiltrates New Dawn while lying to Nadeeka, Fraser lives as Lauren's fiancé while secretly leading a New Dawn action, and the fake DI Burton is later linked to ex-police officer Mike Bishop. These deceptions drive both the murder plot and the emotional betrayals.
- Jamie tells Nadeeka he has to work late, hides his family photo at work, uses the false name Richard Smith to report an assault, and tells colleagues to call Nadeeka 'Nadia'.
- Lauren discovers Fraser is part of New Dawn, realizes leaks came from him, lies awake beside him planning to put him under surveillance, and reports him to the chief constable.
- Mike Bishop is identified as the owner of a contract phone present at every known New Dawn meeting; his photo matches the facial composite of fake DI Burton.
- Fraser hides a burner phone behind the bath panel and recalls covering up Jamie Golding's murder.
Extremism, racism, and domestic terrorism
New Dawn's white-supremacist ideology fuels the central crimes: Jamie's coerced arson, his murder, and the planned bombing of a multifaith nativity. Racist attitudes also appear in workplace, pub, and family conversations, showing how extremism is embedded in ordinary settings.
- The boss orders Jamie's initiation: burn down a 'Paki shop' near his house to become a brother in New Dawn.
- Carrie admits she filters out foreign-sounding names from job applications and shows Jamie a list of companies including Echelon Warehousing; Alan jokes about Jamie's middle name being Abdul and Chris boasts about urinating on a homeless man.
- Fraser plants twenty improvised explosive devices under chairs and on the stage because he believes the multifaith nativity betrays British culture, values, and traditions.
- Alan calls Nadeeka and her daughters 'Paki' and 'half-castes,' prompting Jamie to call him a racist piece of shit.
Grief, memory, and healing
Nadeeka's grief is shown through practical rituals, physical collapse, and attempts to hold on to Jamie's presence, while her daughters' distress appears in night terrors, bed-wetting, and disbelief. Over eighteen months, the novel moves toward a fragile hopefulness through ashes, shared memories, and an expanded support network.
- Nadeeka calls Jamie's phone to hear his voicemail and deletes 'cancel phone contract' from her to-do list.
- Maya sobs and says she doesn't believe Nadeeka when told Jamie died; she later has night terrors, and Nish wets the bed for the first time in ages.
- At the mortuary Nadeeka looks at Jamie's body and thinks he is 'No longer there.'
- Eighteen months later Nadeeka scatters Jamie's ashes at places they went together and planned to go; Frank and Penny bury a spoonful with their roses, and Nadeeka sits on the grass and feels hopeful.
Trust, betrayal, and suspicion
Trust is broken by intimate partners, colleagues, and institutions: Nadeeka's past with Scott makes her suspect Jamie of cheating, Lauren's faith in Fraser collapses, and the public investigation is undermined by an impersonated detective. Suspicion repeatedly fixes on the wrong person before evidence shifts.
- Nadeeka suspects Jamie of cheating after hearing a woman's voice and a train, runs a red light, and drives home to catch him out.
- Nadeeka finds the framed family photograph Jamie had hidden in his desk despite telling her he kept it at work, and DI Burton reveals a neighbor saw a woman visiting the house.
- DCI Caldwell tells Nadeeka there is no record of Jamie Golding or the murder and no Colin Burton working there.
- Lauren tells DI Stratman she no longer trusts her team after Mike Bishop, Alan Ellis, and Chris Morley all disappear when arrest teams move in.
Family, stepfamily, and redefined belonging
The novel contrasts biological and chosen family, showing the strain and resilience of a blended household after Jamie's death. By the end, Nadeeka's circle includes her daughters, ex-husband, ex-mother-in-law, and Jamie's parents as 'spare grandparents.'
- Maya and Nish make a 'Welcome home Jamie!' banner, and Maya later gives Jamie a drawing that he puts on the fridge.
- Kath takes Nadeeka and the girls in, comforts Nadeeka, and insists Scott move in for a few days.
- Eighteen months later Scott is more involved in Maya and Nish's life than ever before, and Nadeeka calls her setup an unconventional family that works.
- Nadeeka and Penny have become close, with Penny and Grandad as regular 'spare grandparents' in the Prasanna family.
Institutional failure, corruption, and hidden threats within authority
The police investigation is compromised by fake officers, deleted evidence, missing vetting, and an ex-officer working with New Dawn. The novel shows that some of the greatest dangers hide inside trusted institutions, including a serving officer's badge and Lauren's own fiancé.
- The man posing as DI Burton takes Jamie's and Nadeeka's phones, asks camera owners for cloud access, and deletes original footage from cameras.
- Kenric identifies the three-star thin blue line badge on the fake officer's stab vest as one issued only to their force's officers serving in 2019.
- Fraser uses his police warrant card to clear the civic center hall and plants twenty IEDs.
- Fraser tells Lauren that Matt Draper never completed vetting and was in a uniform role in 2019; Lauren confronts Matt in the car park.
Symbols and Motifs
Hidden devices in ordinary objects
Hidden surveillance and double lives: secrets are recorded and concealed inside everyday items, making domestic objects feel threatening and evidence-laden.
- Scott cuts open Jamie's balaclava with kitchen scissors and finds the hidden black bug.
- Nadeeka retrieves Nish's cardboard castle from school, rips it apart, and finds a ShadowTek X9 quick start guide from Dragon Eye Technology in Shenzhen.
- Jamie sews a covert microphone into his balaclava and attends the King's Arms meeting.
- Lauren finds a hidden black phone behind the bath panel and sees a message from Mike Bishop: 'All ready for Christmas?'
Police uniform and thin blue line badge
Authority, impersonation, and the infiltration of trusted institutions; the symbols meant to guarantee safety become evidence that killers and extremists can hide inside the force.
- PC Tom Chandler is identified through eBay listings as a seller of police uniform, including a hi-vis jacket with the force badge.
- Kenric identifies the three-star thin blue line badge on the fake officer's stab vest as one issued only to their force's officers serving in 2019.
- Mike Bishop, an ex-Met detective inspector, is identified as the owner of a contract phone present at every known New Dawn meeting, and his photo matches the facial composite of fake DI Burton.
- Matt Draper is found to have no vetting details on his HR file, though he was in a uniform role in 2019.
Jamie's ashes and the hill above the reservoir
Grief, memory, and healing through redefined family; the scattering and burying of ashes mark both loss and the slow return of hope.
- Nadeeka scatters Jamie's ashes at places they went together and planned to go, and Frank and Penny bury a spoonful with their roses.
- On the hill, Nadeeka scatters a pinch of Jamie's ashes, catches Penny's eye, and remembers swigging wine from the bottle and lying on a tartan rug with Jamie.
- The breeze drops and everything is still; the girls argue about cartwheels while Penny looks for snacks; Nadeeka sits on the grass and feels hopeful.
The multifaith nativity
Multicultural community and innocent childhood, and the target of extremist hatred; it becomes the place where New Dawn's violence most directly threatens children.
- Jamie objected to the girls' multifaith nativity and falsely emailed their teacher to say they would be away on a Lapland trip.
- Fraser believes the multifaith nativity betrays British culture, values, and traditions; he plants twenty improvised explosive devices under chairs and on the stage.
- Two hundred children are rehearsing at the civic center, IEDs are found under seats and on the stage, and Maya is discovered missing.
- Maya hides behind a secret panel at the back of the stage; Nadeeka remembers the hiding place and calls 'Olly olly oxen free,' prompting Maya to emerge.