In 1998, Penguin Books published Blythe's literary thriller The Cut, the controversial story of a young woman's alienation manifesting itself in crime and violence. The Cut was followed by Losing Faith, a dark mystery in which an unnamed narrator tries to discover the truth behind his mercurial girlfriend's death. Blythe's work brought him critical acclaim from such diverse sources as The Times, which described him as 'a sharp, observant, energetic writer with a nimble sense of language', New Woman magazine, which called him 'definitely an author to be watched', and Maxim magazine, which made The Cut one of its 'Books of the Month'.
