Book #68 The Evidence Against You

The Evidence Against You by Gillian McAllister
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

My thanks to Michael Joseph Comms and NetGalley for this advance ARC of Gillian McAllister's The Evidence Against You.

I have previously read Anything You Do Say by Gillian McAllister, one of my best reads - ever. So, would The Evidence live up to expectations? That's an unequivocal YES! A lengthy slow-burner, some 450 mesmerising pages that unfurl layer upon layer and draw you in like a moth to a flame.

Izzy (Isabelle) English knows that her father is about to be released from prison on life parole. He has served seventeen years incarcerated, convicted of murdering his wife Alexandra - Izzy's mother, when Izzy was just seventeen. Izzy now runs what was her mother's restaurant - Alexandra's - on the Isle of Wight. Her husband Nick is a police analyst. "He might come looking for you" he says. The island natives know who Isabelle English is but still they patronise the restaurant where indeed her father turns up. "I did not kill your mother, Izzy". What seems important to Gabe is not so much the loss of liberty, but the loss of his wife and daughter. The evidence against him was compelling. Izzy had always thought him guilty but something shifts in her mind - the moment when she chooses to try and believe him.

Did he? Didn't he? Does Izzy's husband Nick show empathy with her or does he try and undermine her thought processes at every turn? As another layer unfurls your mind will be pulled every which way. Doubts linger...

There are several more characters here that play significant rôles in this intricate plot and that have an impact on the outcome. And the outcome? Totally unexpected that turns so much on its head...

The Evidence Against You is beautifully crafted, superbly written and one of my Top Five reads of 2018.

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Book #57 Anything You Do Say

Anything You Do Say by Gillian McAllister
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

With thanks to Net Galley and Penguin Random House UK for the opportunity to read this ARC. Opinions expressed are entirely my own. Anything You Do Say will be published in January 2018.

Laura and Joanna. Enjoying a Friday drink as they do most weeks. A crowded bar. A swarthy bloke with a smart-phone. Pushes in for a selfie. Takes an aggressive fancy to Joanna. Grabs her, pushes against her. A frisson of fear invades the atmosphere. “Leave us alone…” The girls escape and leave the bar. They go their different ways. Joanna takes Warwick Avenue, away from Little Venice and towards the canal. She is being followed and her life is about to change - forever. A moment of panic, on the bridge over the canal, she pushes him. A bad fall - hits his head, lands in a heap at the bottom of the steps.

Two ways to go, two choices. Fight or flight. Call the emergency services or leave him and run? Parallel lines, different outcomes. Two stories in one book. Damned if she doesn’t, damned if she does.

Comparisons to ‘Sliding Doors’ are inevitable. Two stories, two outcomes, one final destination. But Gillian Mcallister handles this with tremendous skill. To develop two outcomes with such credulity and power is masterful. The pace, whichever route you follow, is relentless. Reveal or conceal. Beautifully written with a forensic eye for detail.

I cannot say much else for fear of giving away too much. I can say that you won’t read a better book this year…

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