Wow this is a great page turner that will keep you hooked to the very end.

I have previously read GIllian McAllister’s other books and absolutely loved them so was hoping this would be as brilliant, I was not disappointed !!

The book is written in the style of a court case so we, as the reader, get to incovwe the details of the alleged crime as the court case progresses. Becky is on trial for the murder of her sisters’ 8 week old baby, Layla, who she is looking after. Martha, Layla’s Mum, just wants to find out what really happened to her daughter but will she get the answers she wants.

I loved the way the book is written, where we discover snippets of information as witnesses are called by the Prosecution and then the defence. A lot of research must have been undertaken into this very distressing and delicate subject. Although hard to read in places it is a fantastic book and I look forward to reading more of Gillian’s books in the future.

All in all this is a fantastic book written in a great style that will keep you hooked to the very end. A very emotive subject but a must read book.

Thank you to Penguin UK - Michael Joseph and NetGalley for a digital copy of this book.

Oh my ! I have to confess I found it hard to read this book. The expert evidence in court re baby Layla really got to me. If you can bear it read it. There are plenty of flaws if you look for them (I won’t give spoilers) but I think that at least some of the enjoyment gathered from the book is you metaphorically screaming would you just ask XXXX !

Completely enthralling, brilliantly written. This was a fantastic book. My first book by Gillian McAllister, and am now looking forward to the next!

Oh My.
I waited weeks to write my review. The book and the questions are still vivid in my mind, just as the tense and striking narrative that keeps you torn and jailed, surrounded by a wall of guilt and a storm of feelings.

You trust your sister. Why shouldn’t you? Unless she cut your hair while you were sleeping when you were 8. In that case, don’t ever trust her.

What happens when a family is destroyed by a tragedy and a trial? This is what happens in No Further Questions. From one side to the other, you follow the trail of emotion, tension, and of course, questions to find out what the hell happened for all of those lives to explode at the same time.

Gosh, Gillian McAllister knows how to play with her readers and their heartbeat! My head hurt from so much pain and I just wanted to stand up and say: ‘there is something wrong!!!!!’ because there us! I was torn, my pumping muscle torn apart, one page convinced to be on one side, the other wondering if there was more than what was said – or unsaid. As I turned the (virtual) pages of the novel, I ran out of breath, and this is the sign of a skillfully and particularly intense read!!! It had all I wanted, families, court drama, characters you want to love, hate, understand, all of these given to you by one of the most outstanding and perfect writing styles!

I found this pretty easy to get into. Despite being over 400 pages I managed to read this in one sitting.
At first I suspected the wrong person but as we learn more about the night it happened I soon figured out who did it, but the reason wasn't what I had thought.
Although I did enjoy this I found it lacking suspense like other books I've read.

This is Gillian McAllister’s third novel, and the third I’ve read and enjoyed, and I’m pretty confident that I’ll read everything she publishes. She’s so consistently good at character and plot, and her prose is so smooth, that her books are always a complete joy.

There’s nothing quite like starting with a hook like this one. A courtroom: one sister accused of murdering the other sister’s baby. Martha is torn apart. Her baby daughter, Layla, died at eight weeks old. She wasn’t there. Her sister Becky was looking after Layla and is accused of smothering her. Becky denies it. McAllister really gets under the skin of these characters, and subtly demonstrates Martha’s impossible position.

One of the book’s great strengths is the range of voices. Each witness tells their part of the story, which brings those scenes to life brilliantly. In particular, I admired the scene in the hospital, during which Layla is pronounced dead. And later in the book, there’s a wonderful scene where Martha and her husband Scott find a way to connect with one another after months of near silence. McAllister handles these emotionally charged scenes with such loving care. I can’t wait to see what she writes next.

What a sad and harrowing tale which you know from the outset will have no winners. There were some subtle shifts and nuances which will probably ring bells with many parents. I found it quite an uncormfortable read, although it was a well crafted novel

This is the 3rd book by Gillian McAllister and I think it’s fair to say each book gets better. It’s due to the authors expertise and knowledge of the legal system that her books are so plausible and riveting.

Our main narrator is Martha, who tells us her heartbreaking story of the death of her 8 week old daughter Layla, whilst in the care of her sister Becky. Becky is now facing a court-case charged with the murder of her niece which has obviously splintered the families involved.

What happened on “the night of?”, was Layla’s death an accident or was she smothered? Each key witness now retells their version of events and I personally found that each chapter introducing the witnesses gave the story more credibility and depth.

The only slight niggle for me as a mother is whether I would be able to be as forgiving or supportive to my sister if my baby died whilst under their supervision, but towards the end of the book, I accepted Martha’s feelings which I think is the sign of a great writer when they can make the reader change their mind and see another point of view which they wouldn’t normally have.

What I absolutely love about Gillian’s books is the originality and the way she weaves all the characters together so seamlessly. Would I recommend this book? Hell Yeah!

What a brilliant court room drama following the trial of Becky accused of killing baby layla. The worst of it is becky is Layla aunt and this story has one sister on the opposite side to the other. One family being torn apart by a tragic murder/accident? You hear from the witnesses for the prosecution and the defense and follow the trial. Brilliant a really good read 😁

I really enjoyed this book. I like courtroom dramas and this was complemented by interesting family dynamics. It's always hard reading about the loss of a child, but this was sensitive and realistic as well a thought provoking.

No Further Questions by @gillianmauthor was my 20th book of 2018.
I’ve read the two previous books by Gillian and enjoyed them both. I think the books are getting better as she finds her way as an author.
No Further Questions is based around a court case following the death of Layla, an 8 week old baby. This case splits two previously close sisters, Martha the Mum of Layla who had left her daughter in the care of her sister Becky.
Becky awakes from a wine induced sleep to find Layla silent and unresponsive. A week later she is charged with Layla’s murder.

The book follows the court case with Becky in the dock. You read all of the production and defence witnesses sides of the story. This is interspersed with the main voice of Martha understanding how she is coping. You also here snippets from Becky as to what happened on the night of... A really well told story for a really delicate plot. You get to know the sisters really well and feel there feelings. I think I liked them both, I certainly hoped Becky was innocent and hadn’t murdered her niece. There is some form of twist and I had spotted the possibility of this very early on.
Gillian’s books get better by the book, I can’t wait to read her next one “the Evidence Against You”. Thank you to @netgalley and @penguinukbooks for the copy of the book in exchange for this review. I give this book a 4.5/5.

A heartbreaking story about how things can go wrong but who is to blame? Can you believe what everything suggests or do you think you know better? Captivating, enthralling and hard to put down.

The premise of the book was intriguing, but the prose is such that it doesn't engage the reader to care enough to keep on going. I tried going back to the book numerous times,, hoping something would happen to make me want to find out what happened and why, but the harder I tried, the more I lost the will to want to know any more. A quite pedestrian novel that I didn't get closer to even a quarter of the way through before giving up, which is rare for me.

Martha is involved in charity work in Kos and having just recently having a baby (layla) she cannot take her with her, her husband is also away for work but Martha has the perfect nanny who she can leave her with. Becky is Martha's sister and as put her own career on hold for a year so she is the obvious person to be a paid nanny for Layla (isn't she?) but when Layla dies the night she is being look after the sisters and the whole family are torn apart.
Most of this book is based in the courtroom and we gradually find out the sequence of events through witnesses and the sisters own narrative. This was a little hard to read in parts as the death of a baby is always hard to read about but it is so well written you can't help but keep turning the pages. I loved this book and thank you to NetGalley for a copy of the book.

Thank you to Netgalley, Gillian McAllister and Penguin Random House for my arc of No Further Questions.

Martha had it all, lovely husband, a newborn baby and a successful charity helping refugees in Kos. And she could have it all because her sister was happy to nanny for baby Layla so that Martha could go straight back to work. But as Martha takes it a step too far and goes to Kos for two nights, leaving baby Layla with her sister Becky, tragedy strikes. The defence say it's cot death. The prosecution says it's murder. All Martha knows is that in one fell swoop she's lost both her child and her sister.

The story begins in court so the reader already knows what has gone on. It then takes us back in time to the events running up to that night. We hear the POV of the mother; Martha, the sister Becky and Becky's ex husband Marc, as well as several of the witnesses asked to stand up in court. It's a book which makes you question how you'd feel and what you'd do in those circumstances. How could you accept that your sister had harmed your baby, but how could you accept that you'd got to lose your sister too?

I did work it out about halfway through, or had my suspicions which turned out to be right, but that has never bothered me about a thriller. Yes it's nice to be shocked at the end but it's also exciting to work it out for yourself and find out you're right. It was very well done.

Thanks Netgalley and the Publisher. I really like this author. It is a superior courtroom drama that puts the spotlight on two sisters and their families. Martha and Becky are the sisters with very different lifestyles who love and trust each other. Top stars

This is a heartbreaking read. This story has obviously been very well researched and it tackles a difficult topic. I guessed what had happened early on but that did not take anything away from the emotional rollercoaster I was on reading this book. I thought that the ending was so sad. It could never have been a happy ending but I felt sad and sorry for the entire family. This story will stay with me for a long time.

Thank you to Netgalley for my copy.

Wow, what a story of a family trauma; I did catch on to who was the culprit quite early on and found the book a bit long winded, was actually glad when I got to the end!

Well Gillian Mcallister has done it again. Another brilliant story from an unusual perspective. The story is fresh, vibrant and at times a little uncomfortable to read, but utterly brilliant. The characters are all very well written and layered. .. in the explanation that she walked with her father and explored each character I totally understood why they were so real. At times I cried, and it is a very sad story but told with heart and a genuineness that makes it totally enthralling. .. and I did not see that end coming...

Martha and Becky go from being sisters to being a witness and a defendant

Martha and Becky are sisters but also best friends. They understand each other better than friends do and when Becky is at wits’ end with her job, Martha hires her to be a nanny for her baby. Layla is eight weeks old and not an easy baby. She suffers from reflux and cries a lot, especially after feeds. Sometimes it feels she cries the whole time she is awake! Martha is the CEO of a refugee charity in Kos, Greece and when she must go to Greece to sign some legal documents, she leaves Layla with Becky, knowing that she will be safe. She will be gone two days, but her husband, Scott, who is at a conference will be back for the second day, so it is only for one night that Becky will have to have her. When Becky wakes in the morning, Layla is motionless in her cot, and so the court case begins. The defence is cot death, the prosecution murder.

The book explores the relationship between the two sisters going from discovering a childhood teddy and sharing a series of jokey messages to become something beyond itself, expanding from just them and being invaded by bigger concepts like justice, evidence and guilt. It shows that if you are accused of a crime everything you have ever done or said is analysed and dissected in court and actions and words that are meant innocently may suddenly take on another meaning. The author also explores the guilt that mothers live with when they must work and leave their children in someone else’s care, something that every mother will identify with. But biggest of all is the question ‘Can two families survive the rift that this situation created?’ An excellent, well written read that I identified with on many levels having just recently become a grandmother to a difficult baby.

Saphira

Breakaway Reviewers received a copy of the book to review.