This is such an enjoyable read. It captures your imagination from the start and keeps you guessing right up to the final page. The plotting is superb and there are some intriguing characters with some great traits. None more so than the central character of Izzy who has never come to terms with the loss of her mother and in effect, her father. Unable to face up to events, she has purposefully chosen not to address what actually happened to her mother and has compartmentalised her life. It is fascinating how having created a stable life for herself, she jeopardises it as she is eventually compelled to try to unravel the past.

Told through Izzy's eyes but interspersed with her father's first person memories, the plot is well structured. Set on the Isle of Wight, the island setting emphasises how Izzy has stayed , confined, unable to move on. There is a claustrophobic feel to life there with everyone knowing about the murder and you always feel that there are people within the community who are hiding the truth. Although there is a mystery to be unravelled, this is also about family relationships and how events can alter a character and affect their life forever.

In short: Suspense and surprises in spades.

Thanks to the author for a copy of the book

Gillian has a very accessible style of writing - draws you right in from the start, landing you squarely in the heads of her characters, their moral dilemmas and family dramas. Very well paced, and a great story - highly recommend.

The Evidence Against You was a totally riveting read. It was a twisty, suspenseful and tense novel that was full of uncertainty and it had me second-guessing every character.

The parts that were written in the present were told from Izzy's point of view. The chapters that were set in the past were told from Izzy and Gabe's outlook (Gabe was Izzy's father). I loved this because the characters were so engaging and I found myself rooting for Izzy all the way. It was beautifully written by Gillian McAllister and genuinely unpredictable and I had no idea if Gabe was guilty or not until the ultimate resolution, making for a highly satisfying and fascinating read. This gripping mystery thriller had me desperate to know what really happened and eventually, all of the loose ends were tied up bringing everything nicely together. I am keen to read more from this talented author and I highly recommend this thoroughly enjoyable read.

I received a complimentary digital copy of this novel, at my own request, from Penguin UK - Michael Joseph via NetGalley. This review is my own unbiased opinion.

I admit I forgot to write a review after I had finished this book and had to go back to refresh my memory as to what it was @bout - never a good sign. Having done this, I am ambivalent about this book - it was entertaining while I was reading it, but a bit like a Chinese takeaway, it didn’t satisfy me in the long term. It would make a good holiday read as it’s not taxing and runs along quite smoothly.

Wowser this will have you rooted to the spot until it’s over!

Basically Izzy’s dad has just got out of jail after 17 years for the murder of her mother and sends Izzy a letter saying he wants to talk to her as he’s innocent. The evidence in court was stacked against him and so how can he be innocent?

Should she trust him or even talk to him? This is a great book that had me on the edge of my seat throughout, a real roller coaster ride and one not to be missed!

The book takes you through so many twists and turns and you find yourself gripped from page one. Very good characters and it keeps you hooked right from the first page.

Oh, I love a McAllister! Like her other novels - each completely different, but all thrillers with a legal question at their heart - it is compelling, tightly plotted and inhabited by a host of complex, imperfect yet endearing characters you can relate to. In this one, a father is released from prison and his daughter has to decide whether to see him - he is, after all, the convicted killer of her mother, even though he's always insisted on his innocence. The story deals with love, forgiveness, disappointment and doubt. And, of course, there's a mystery at its core. It's a fantastic read and the characters are utterly believable.

This is Gillian McAllister's best book so far. I didn't like the last one about the death of a baby, but this one was much more my cup of tea. The story is centred around the daughter of a murder victim who is also the daughter of the murderer, allegedly, The story cracks along at a brilliant and vivid pace. No detail is wasted and her descriptions and dialogue and sense of places make this unroll in your head like a film. It's also a book with heart and sadness and it certainly made m more aware of post-prison assistance, or lack of it. There was heartbreak, warmth, grief, pathos and a bittersweetness.

Simply brilliant.

This was an enthralling psychological thriller, mainly about Izzy and her father who has been released from prison after serving his sentence for the murder of Izzys' mother. His aim is to prove to Izzy that he was innocent but can she believe him. You need to read the book to find out.

I have been trying to write a review for this one forever! I read it, or rather I devoured, and then my mind went blank! Gillian McAllister broke me!!!!

Izzy is a brilliant character. What she knows as the truth about her past and what happened to her parents is in fact bits and pieces she received from different sources. She based her beliefs and view on the little information and her own understanding of the situation when she was a young girl. So how is she supposed to react when her father gets out of jail after serving his sentence for having killer Izzy’s mother? Worst, what can she do when he asks her to listen to him, to his version of the moments that changed their lives forever?

Reading The Evidence Against You is really cathartic on many levels. It reminds us to take a step back from what other think, say, and do, to build our own opinion. Then it deals with trust, second chances, and fate gone wrong. Like Izzy, I was torn. I was tortured by the idea of keeping the events in the past, we all know that digging up there always brings surprises. Yet I could feel the dissociation between the father she had known and the stranger who had killed her mother. Could there be another explanation? What if the police had jumped to conclusions? What if… there was another truth, a truer truth than the one spilled by neighbours, angry family members, the media? Tension must be Gillian McAllister’s second name!!!

From beginning to end, I felt I was walking on a cord above an abyss. I wanted to believe, but a small voice in my head kept repeating that some people tell you what they think you want to hear just to hurt you even more. What an intense and emotionally draining read! The title sounds so cold, so legal, yet the book is filled with warmth despite the loneliness, and a flicker of hope… I loved it

Gillian McAllister has already cemented herself as an author whose books I must read so it is fair to say I had very high expectations for The Evidence Against You. Once again the author almost poses her question from the first page of the book, in this case how would you feel if your father, a man who has been in prison for the last seventeen years for the murder of your mother, wants to convince you of his innocence. Yes I acknowledge it’s unlikely that that happens to many people but what Gillian McAllister is great at doing is that after she has posed her question she introduces you to characters that you can absolutely believe in.
Izzy’s mother Alex was murdered. Her body was found in woods some twenty years ago and her father was imprisoned for her murder. But that was then, now Izzy runs her mother’s restaurant even though she isn’t particularly fond of the industry or that interested in the food created there but she has the support of her cousin. Izzy is married to Nick, a police analyst who is her ‘rock.’ Nick would rather her father, Gabe, was left in the past and he’s undoubtedly worried when Gabe turns up seeking Izzy’s undivided attention, seeking to prove that he was innocent of any wrongdoing.
So we have a great premise, some well-drawn and convincing characters and into the mix the author places them all on the Isle of Wight. This being a small community which of course gives us endless secrets either kept close to chests by those islanders who either didn’t want to get involved or those who thought that they would benefit more from keeping quiet. Of course when Gabe makes his way back to the island the news is out – Gabe and Izzy can’t meet without being spotted by someone. A small town setting gives the reader a whole spectrum of levels of secrecy to deal with and it is one I am particularly fond of; living on an island myself I know how precarious secrecy can be depending who knows the secret!
The structure of the story is that of flitting backwards and forwards through town to the events before and immediately after Alex’s murder to those in the present day. The author has done a great job of making the character of Izzy consistent enough to recognise that it is the same person while providing some aspects to show both character growth and change due to the trauma that she has had to deal with since that day.
Once again I found this to be an incredibly addictive read. I did not want to put the book aside, I needed to know what conclusion Izzy would come to and how she would deal with whatever that might be. I was not disappointed and so I’m left hoping that this brilliant author has another incredible idea up her sleeve for me to consume soon.
I am extremely grateful to the publishers Penguin UK The Evidence Against You, and of course Gillian McAllister. This unbiased review is my thanks to them.
First Published UK: 18 April 2019
Publisher: Penguin
No. of Pages: 448
Genre: Psychological Thriller
Amazon UK
Amazon US
Previous Books by Gillian McAllister
Everything But The Truth
Anything You Do Say
No Further Questions

Eighteen years ago Izzy's Mum was murdered and her life changed for ever. Now her Mother's murderer is being set free on licence and he wants to catch up with Izzy - he's her father. Happily married and running the family restaurant on the Isle of Wight, Izzy isn't keen to meet but she still has unanswered questions from those days.
There's an interesting premise her, the father convicted of murder, the hazy memories and the long-buried truth. However I found the thin plot very stretched by the end and it didn't help that not a single character was likeable!

I received this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest, independent review.

Wow, another brilliant book from Gillian McAllister!

Izzy English is 17 when her father, Gabriel, is convicted for the murder of her mother. But 18 years later, he is released from prison and contacts Izzy. He wants to talk, to protest his innocence, to defend himself against each bit of evidence in the trial.

But should Izzy believe him? Or trust her instincts about the fact she may be being lured into a trap?

Wow, that was a brilliant read! As others have said, unlike some psychological thrillers, the book wasn’t fast paced but went at a steady, gentle pace. This allowed for the story to unravel gradually as Izzy worked out whether or not her father was guilty or innocent.

I thought the two timelines - Izzy in present day and 17 years ago on the night of the murder and the days that followed - worked well. It drew me in and allowed me to get to know the characters and situation more, trying to work it all out alongside Izzy.

There were lots of twists and I found every time I picked the book up, I couldn’t put it down again. Everything you want in a book!

Did he? or Didnt he? that is the main premise behind this fantastically well written and emotional thriller! along with the premise that if he didnt.... then who did!!!!

Another belter of a book by Gillian McAllister! In this one, Izzy's father Gabe was convicted of her mothers murder. Now he's been released from prison and he wants to talk, to defend himself-he's adamant he is innocent. Should she give him the benefit of the doubt? Or is he guilty as charged? I was gripped from the first few pages and went back and forth on whether Gabe was guilty or was a victim himself. I was undecided right up until the end of the book when the truth is revealed.

What to say about The Evidence Against You.... A fab, fab book that I devoured in one sitting I could not put it down.
Another great read by Gillian, I have yet to read one of her books that I haven’t enjoyed, looking forward to the next one.

I’ve been a fan of this author ever since her first brilliant book and have awaited every book since with huge anticipation. She has never let me down and The Evidence Against You is no exception to the rule. In fact I personally think that this is her best, most compelling book so far and I loved every page. Gillian McAllister writes the most involving and beautifully crafted novels that have characters we recognise and empathise with although they are not always likeable. These are ordinary people caught up in unexpected circumstances and the paths they take. Don’t expect lots of fast paced action. Her books are gradually developed with a slowly creeping tension that builds to a subtly horrific denouement. Her readers are always left with a “what would I have done?” sense of controversy long after they have turned the last page.

What I absolutely loved about The Evidence Against You was how we see how easy it is for two people to see and interpret things from totally different perspectives. We see the death of Izzy’s mother from different angles as Izzy realised that conversations she overheard as a teenager may have had very different connotations from her first understandings. As she attempts to renew her relationship with her recently released from jail father, she comes to some very difficult conclusions about the past and also her own future. Gillian McAllister doesn’t waste a single perfectly chosen word as she follows the twists and turns of what Izzy thought was the truth until the whole picture is revealed to both her and the reader with some breathtaking resolutions.

I adored this book-it took me so much longer to read than normal but I was afraid to miss out on a single word or emotion! It’s one to be slowly devoured for maximum enjoyment as I found that to be the perfect excuse to stay with Gillian McAllister’s characters for as long as I possibly could. She’s a natural storyteller who has a gift for understanding what makes people tick and how they react to those mountains that life likes to put in their way.

I can highly recommend The Evidence Against You as an outstanding and gripping novel from start to finish. Enjoy

This is the first book of Gillian McAllister's which I have read but it will not be the last! I thoroughly enjoyed this book.

So intriguing I kept changing my mind throughout the book. I really enjoyed the characterisation and the bittersweet ending took me by suprise and made me feel quite sad.

Thought provoking, I enjoyed this captivating thriller and would recommend it.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

Gripping and brilliant. I’m always blown away by the author’s characterisation and her writing about the relationships her characters have and this is no different. Absolutely superb and will be rereading.

How can I write about this book without telling you anything about the storyline or giving the plot away? How can I tell you about all the doubts I had, as a reader, to who killed Alex without giving the plot away? How can I tell you all the reasons you should pick this book up without giving the plot away?????

See the issues I am having here!!!

Don’t get me wrong The Evidence against You did take me a few chapters to get into, I think possibly when I picked it up I was not ready for something quite heavy. Yet, when I did pick it up and I got into it, I found the chapter so snappy it was easy to fall into the trap to keep on reading. Some chapters opened with a partial transcript on an interview of the court case and then it would be the memory that Izzy’s dad, Gabe, would tell Izzy about the days leading up to her mother’s murder and the days of her body being discovered. Izzy, in turn, gave us her point of view and this is where the stories started to conflict.

The rest of the book was the day to day of Izzy’s life and her interactions with everyone around her and her little dream of the Instagram family, whilst investigating what happened. Throw in other peoples perspective and you are completely turned around and around and AROUND with each piece of evidence, who can you trust?

If nothing else, Izzy is consistent by listening to her father, even if she can not decide if she believes him or not?! Sometimes, just sometimes, she needed to have a glass of water thrown in her face to wake her up to reality.

This is not a quick flash in the pan book, it is meaty and most definitely a slow burner but it needs to be. Each bit of information gleaned is done slowly, like peeling a layer of onion skin off one layer at a time. We learn something about the past and then we garner things from the present all building a bigger picture.

Like with most stories, as soon as you pick at one thread more and more begins to unravel. To say that here is an understatement! We are taken down so many red herrings, not just with the evidence but with the narrative, you can not trust anyone, and I BLOODY loved that! I question everyone’s motive, not going to lie, I even questioned Izzy. I had no reason too but thought I may as well hedge a bet on it.

The Evidence against you was rather poignant with the theme of family running through and how truly precious it can be. The ending to say least brought a lump to my throat, as I really didn’t want it to end that way but completely understood why it had to. To be honest it made complete sense to me.

This is my first outing with McAllister, but I do have a couple of other books by her so I will be definitely be coming back for more. I do hope I have said enough without saying anything to intrigue you to read the book and give it a go that it really does deserve.