Review: The Law of Innocence

The Law of Innocence by Michael Connelly
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Defense attorney Mickey Haller is pulled over by police, who find the body of a client in the trunk of his Lincoln. Haller is charged with murder and can't make the exorbitant $5 million bail slapped on him by a vindictive judge.

Mickey elects to defend himself and must strategize and build his defense from his jail cell in the Twin Towers Correctional Center in downtown Los Angeles, all the while looking over his shoulder--as an officer of the court he is an instant target.

Mickey knows he's been framed. Now, with the help of his trusted team, he has to figure out who has plotted to destroy his life and why. Then he has to go before a judge and jury and prove his innocence.

Review: Rock Paper Scissors

Rock Paper Scissors by Alice Feeney
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Think you know the person you married? Think again…

Things have been wrong with Mr and Mrs Wright for a long time. When Adam and Amelia win a weekend away to Scotland, it might be just what their marriage needs. Self-confessed workaholic and screenwriter Adam Wright has lived with face blindness his whole life. He can’t recognize friends or family, or even his own wife.

Every anniversary the couple exchange traditional gifts – paper, cotton, pottery, tin – and each year Adam’s wife writes him a letter that she never lets him read. Until now. They both know this weekend will make or break their marriage, but they didn’t randomly win this trip. One of them is lying, and someone doesn’t want them to live happily ever after.

Ten years of marriage. Ten years of secrets. And an anniversary they will never forget.

Rock Paper Scissors is the latest exciting domestic thriller from the queen of the killer twist, New York Times bestselling author Alice Feeney.

Review: The Night She Disappeared

The Night She Disappeared by Lisa Jewell
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

2017: 19 year old Tallulah is going out on a date, leaving her baby with her mother, Kim.

Kim watches her daughter leave and, as late evening turns into night, which turns into early morning, she waits for her return. And waits.

The next morning, Kim phones Tallulah's friends who tell her that Tallulah was last seen heading to a party at a house in the nearby woods called Dark Place.

She never returns.

2019: Sophie is walking in the woods near the boarding school where her boyfriend has just started work as a head-teacher when she sees a note fixed to a tree.

'DIG HERE' . . .

This was an excellent story. My only complaint has been with the style of writing; jumping back and for in dates and it was felt that the story was dragged out more than was necessary.

Review: The Innocent Man: Murder and Injustice in a Small Town

The Innocent Man: Murder and Injustice in a Small Town by John Grisham
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

In the major league draft of 1971, the first player chosen from the State of Oklahoma was Ron Williamson. When he signed with the Oakland A's, he said goodbye to his hometown of Ada and left to pursue his dreams of big league glory.

Six years later he was back, his dreams broken by a bad arm and bad habits—drinking, drugs, and women. He began to show signs of mental illness. Unable to keep a job, he moved in with his mother and slept twenty hours a day on her sofa.

In 1982, a 21-year-old cocktail waitress in Ada named Debra Sue Carter was raped and murdered, and for five years the police could not solve the crime. For reasons that were never clear, they suspected Ron Williamson and his friend Dennis Fritz. The two were finally arrested in 1987 and charged with capital murder.

With no physical evidence, the prosecution's case was built on junk science and the testimony of jailhouse snitches and convicts. Dennis Fritz was found guilty and given a life sentence. Ron Williamson was sent to death row.

If you believe that in America you are innocent until proven guilty, this book will shock you. If you believe in the death penalty, this book will disturb you. If you believe the criminal justice system is fair, this book will infuriate you.

A very detailed account of the life of Ron Williamson. You will be very angry with how people are treated and how far the law enforcement will go in order to have an arrest.

Review: Leaving Ireland

Leaving Ireland by Ann Moore
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Forced to flee Ireland, Gracelin O’Malley boards a coffin ship bound for America, taking her young daughter with her on the arduous transatlantic voyage. In New York, Gracelin struggles to adapt to a strange new world and to the harsh realities of immigrant life in a city teeming with crime, corruption, and anti-Irish prejudice. As she tries to make a life for herself and her daughter, she reunites with her brother, Sean . . . and a man she thought she’d never see again. When her friendship with a runaway slave sweeps her into the volatile abolitionist movement, Gracelin gains entrée to the drawing rooms of the wealthy and powerful. Still, the injustice all around her threatens the future of those she loves, and once again, she must do the unthinkable.

Excellent read.

Review: The Family Next Door

The Family Next Door by Sally Hepworth
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The small suburb of Pleasant Court lives up to its name. It's the kind of place where everyone knows their neighbours, and children play in the street.

Isabelle Heatherington doesn't fit into this picture of family paradise. Husbandless and childless, she soon catches the attention of three Pleasant Court mothers.

But Ange, Fran and Essie have their own secrets to hide. Like the reason behind Ange's compulsion to control every aspect of her life. Or why Fran won't let her sweet, gentle husband near her new baby. Or why, three years ago, Essie took her daughter to the park - and returned home without her.

As their obsession with their new neighbour grows, the secrets of these three women begin to spread - and they'll soon find out that when you look at something too closely, you see things you never wanted to see.

Excellent Read.

Review: The Good Sister

The Good Sister by Sally Hepworth
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Fraternal twins Rose and Fern were exceptionally close. Rose had always cared for Fern because of her sensory difficulties and when their mother overdosed and was placed in a home because of brain injury, Rose was more caring of Fern. Rose had always been ridiculed by their mother, while Fern always saw their mother as perfect. But of course, Rose was right. When the girls were twelve years old, something dreadful happened which no one ever talked about. It was buried deeply in the girls’ memories where it would stay.

When Fern discovered Rose was desperate for a baby, and was having difficulty falling pregnant, Fern decided to be a surrogate for her sister. She knew she would never be a good mother, and Rose would be perfect. Fern saw no problems – other than finding a man who would help her get pregnant! Fern’s daytime hours were consumed with her job as a librarian – she loved it and had been there for as long as she could remember. But slowly, Fern became uneasy about certain things Rose was doing. What was happening with her beloved sister? Had her whole life been a lie?

An excellent read.