A young woman is found dead at a local beauty spot, an apparent suicide. You're a newly qualified lawyer, and an extraordinarily wealthy client needs a favour. This could be your big break, so you jump at the chance - all you have to do is talk to a family and get them to sign some papers. How difficult could it be? After all, the truth is simple, right?

The Simple Truth is a pacey and atmospheric thriller with conspiracy theory vibes. Despite quite a few cliches - rookie lawyer, climate change warrior, Russian oligarchs, East End wideboys and more - the story is gripping enough to keep you too interested to look away until the last page.

The story is told from several points of view, which works well within this multilayered plot; in short, sharp well focused chapters, we learn about our plucky working class lawyer crusader and the supporting cast of heroes and villains; the trouble is it's hard to know who is on which side and is it even that clear cut?

The story plays out in a similar vein to a John Grisham novel but without the well-honed finesse. I think The Simple Truth would transfer well to a television drama; in fact, it may even be better on screen.

Murder or suicide? That is the not-so-simple question.

Thank you to #NetGalley and #TransworldDigital for my copy of #TheSimpleTruth by #JamesBuckler
If you need to sleep don’t start reading this book in the evening because you won’t put it down.
I didn’t get any sleep last night 🤩🤩.
It is sooooooo good, I had to stay away awake and finish it.
A newly qualified lawyer is given one job to get a signature and that is the start of his nightmare.
There are so many different threads and they all come together in a brilliant ending.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This book was okay. I found the number of characters a bit overwhelming, but the story was reasonable. Not a bad read.

The truth isn't simple.
You're a new lawyer, ready to make your mark - so when a very wealthy, powerful client needs a case closed, you know this is your break. Their daughter is dead, found on the outskirts of London in what is undeniably a suicide. It should be an easy job, but something this high profile could be the start of the rest of your life.

Unless it's the end. As you start to unravel the truth, the dark secrets the young girl took to her grave start to come alive again, and you realise life isn't so simple - you need to figure out the truth, and get away before you end up buried too.

An electric and enthralling thriller, with an exciting pace and dark atmosphere. The entire story is written in a unique style, almost alienating at times to keep the reader lost, confused but too interested to look away.

This story is blurry - it makes you think about the truth, and how the truth can look very different depending on who you are and where you're standing.

Mystery, intrigue, secrets - a thrilling read with believable characters and a story that could well be true. Fast paced and jolly exciting.

The opening chapters of this book start with a bang, and really had me hooked.
It was just a shame the rest of the book didn't have the same momentum, and the rest just fizzled out for me.
The whole plot just felt so repetitive. If I had to read the line 'I don't think she killed herself' anymore I think I would have had to throw my kindle across the room.
I feel the plot was just padded out, and went round and round in circles - and not in an interesting 'red herring' type of way, just in a dull boring kind of way.

I always struggle with books that have a lot of characters, and this book had a ton, and unfortunately a lot of the characters felt very similar so it was very hard to keep track of at times.

Despite the promise of the opening chapters, I found this book to be lots of waffle!

𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗿 𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴: ★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆ (3/5)

𝗥𝗘𝗔𝗗 𝗜𝗙 𝗬𝗢𝗨 𝗟𝗜𝗞𝗘:
👓 Legal thrillers
📖 THE PERFECT LIE - Jo Spain
💡 Thought provoking issues
📝 Multiple subplots
🏰 LONDON based books

𝗧𝗛𝗢𝗨𝗚𝗛𝗧𝗦:
Super fast-paced, gripping and twisted, this is a legal thriller where the truth is anything but simple. We follow multiple perspectives but mainly newly qualified lawyer Lewis, who was a brave and determined MC. The chapters were short and snappy, there were several intriguing subplots running parallel to one another and hints dropped left, right and centre. Overall this was a super quick read, and an engaging and fun thriller!

𝙏𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙠 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙩𝙤 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙥𝙪𝙗𝙡𝙞𝙨𝙝𝙚𝙧, 𝙖𝙪𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙧 + 𝙉𝙚𝙩𝙜𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙚𝙮 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙖𝙣 𝙚𝘼𝙍𝘾, 𝙞𝙣 𝙧𝙚𝙩𝙪𝙧𝙣 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙖𝙣 𝙝𝙤𝙣𝙚𝙨𝙩 𝙧𝙚𝙫𝙞𝙚𝙬. 𝘼𝙡𝙡 𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝𝙩𝙨 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙤𝙥𝙞𝙣𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙨 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙢𝙮 𝙤𝙬𝙣. 𝙏𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙧𝙚𝙫𝙞𝙚𝙬 𝙝𝙖𝙨 𝙗𝙚𝙚𝙣 𝙥𝙪𝙗𝙡𝙞𝙨𝙝𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙤 𝙂𝙤𝙤𝙙𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙙𝙨 𝙖𝙣𝙙 @𝙧𝙚𝙙𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙙𝙗𝙤𝙤𝙠𝙜𝙞𝙧𝙡 (𝙄𝙂).

The Simple Truth is a legal thriller that wriggles in your grasp, dropping hints about exactly how all the pieces relate but not revealing all its secrets until it needs to.
When a young woman’s body is found in her car it appears to be a straightforward case of suicide. Lawyer Lewis Miller is tasked with getting her grieving mother to sign an NDA by the head of his firm, acting on behalf of Maria’s ex-boss Robert Carlson. This in itself seems odd, but as Lewis asks more questions it’s evident that nothing is as simple as it first appeared.
Lewis is challenged throughout to dig deeper. He uncovers a deception that runs deep…and one which allows older scores to be settled.
Thanks to NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read and review this.

I got The Simple Truth by James Buckler from NetGalley for a fair and honest review.


The Simple Truth by James Buckler, is a conspiracy thriller set in London where a young Lawyer is given the simple task of getting a Non Disclosure agreement signed, this leads him down a trail of big business and crime syndicates in London and Russia.


If you think you have read The Simple Truth before the answer is probably not, however you may have read a number of other books very similar, were the lawyer stumbles across something that uncovers a massive conspiracy that changes everything and puts their life in danger.

I am not saying this is a bad thing there are many plot lines that appear in a number of books what it does mean there is a large amount of books to compare this to.

What this book did well was the number of clues that added to the story but had no dealing with the main conspiracy, but added a number of enjoyable storylines to the novel.

While the main character Lewis a you idealistic lawyer was an engaging individual it did feel like that he did not have the skills needed to find out the truth and everything seemed to just fall in his lap or he was pulled out of danger.

All this means is while The Simple Truth by James Buckler is a readable novel of its type there are better ones, but believe me there is also a lot worse

A very wealthy client needs a favour. You're newly qualified as a lawyer and this could be your big break, so you jump at the chance. All you have to do is talk to family, ask them to sign some papers. How difficult could it be? Their daughter was found dead at a beauty spot on the outskirts of London in what you're told was a tragic suicide. But the truth is never that simple. And this case could cost you your life.

This is a fast paced, gripping and twisted read. Is this a case of murder or suicide.? The plotline has been well thought out. The characters were intriguing, and they all had a part to part to play. I was quickly pulled into this story. I loved the authors writing style., There are a few sub stories going on at the same time, but they eventually tie up nicely together. There are quite a few characters to get to grips with. I hope this will turn into a series featuring #LewisMiller

I would like to thank #NetGalley #RandomHouseUK #TransworldPublishers and that author #JamesBuckler for my ARC of #TheSimpleTruth in exchange for an honest review.

An incredibly gripping and fast paced legal thriller full of twists. It's not something I normally read but I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Raced through this deft and fast-faced legal thriller. Throws the reader in at the deep end and doesn't let up. Highly recommended.

This was a fast paced very well thought out thriller that grabbed my attention from the start. It starts when the body of a young women is found in a car close to a local beauty spot called Coldharbour Marshes it seems this is a tragic suicide but all is not as seems ! At the same time the main character Lewis Miller a newly qualified lawyer is tasked with getting a client to sign a non disclosure agreement all seems to be fairly straightforward and this a big break for Lewis but here again not all is as it seems and as these two events begin to collide we have one heck of a plot with plenty of action that doesn’t let up till the conclusion.
This was a book I really enjoyed the writing was excellent and the plot line different and refreshing, I liked the main character of Lewis a lot he seemed very real.
So a solid, highly recommended 4 star thriller and I really look forward to reading more from James Buckler in the future.
My thanks to NetGalley and Random House UK, Transworld Publishers, Bantam Press for giving me the chance to read the ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

Fast paced twisty turny legal thriller

Clear the decks for this one as you cannot put it down

Fantastic read

The Simple Truth is a phenomenal thriller from start to finish. Filled to the brim with twists and a captivating plot, this one is sure to keep readers hooked. The characters are well-developed. The story is incredibly fast-paced. This is one not to be missed! Highly recommended! Be sure to check out The Simple Truth asap.

I had just finished a really good book before this one and was worried that I’d be left in a book hangover, unable to focus on anything new. But that fear lasted about ten seconds as this sweeps you away tartly. You know pretty early on that this will be the type of book that leaves you with the hangover.

I don’t really do crime books. I do thrillers and murder mysteries, and books that do involve a certain amount of crime and police, but straight police crime? Never really been on my radar. But this was a good one to start with.

This really hits the ground running. You’re thrown in at the deep end, right in the action. It’s a brilliant start. It contains many short chapters, which I like generally, but it also helps add to the frenzied pace. The fast pace of it makes it a quick read, you easily get absorbed into it. It’s all encompassing. I thought I’d only been reading for a few minutes and then I noticed I was half way through. It’s a mile a minute and you really have to have your wits about you.

I’m not entirely sure how much of it would genuinely happen, how much is realistic to real police conduct and crime, but I’m not totally convinced it matters. It’s a fictional action, crime novel so does it really need to be 100% real? I don’t think so.

There’s several stories, several narratives, several characters, but for me, Lewis is the main character. It’s his involvement which ties all the other people and stories together. He’s a great character, young and unimposing but brave and determined.

Whilst it’s not completely focussed on the climate change angle, it’s not rammed down your throat. But it produces some really important moral questions.

It is full of twists and turns, secrets, red herrings, lies, shocks and surprises, from the first to the last page. It doesn’t let up at all, right through to the end.

This is James Buckler’s second book. His debut “Last Stop Tokyo” was published in 2017 and I’m definitely going to seek it out. Based on this book, I would be very happy to take on further crime novels.

4.5 stars!
I really enjoyed 'The Simple Truth'. It's a fast-paced legal thriller with plenty of twists and turns, and also a few red herrings thrown in for good measure. Well written with great characters, fingers crossed there will be more books featuring Lewis Miller. I highly recommend you give it a read.
Thanks to netgalley, the author and publisher.

The truth is not simple at all in this twisty legal thriller. This book is a pacy read and you’ll want to keep turning the pages until the very end.

I don’t read a lot of Legal Thriller type books, so this was out of my comfort zone. Which is what I was looking.
For that, it definitely fulfilled its purpose. I found the author provided good, descriptive details at the very beginning, setting the scene for what was to come.
Well written characters, a good plot line and all round good book.
As someone who doesn’t usually read this genre, I found it engaging and interesting. Easy to follow too and it kept my attention throughout. Would recommend.
Thank you for my arc.

A young woman is found dead, an apparent suicide. A young lawyer is sent to obtain signatures on a non disclosure agreement, from a grieving mother.
This begins very much like a John Grisham novel and the author maintains the pace and throws in a number of red herrings as the story romps along to a satisfying conclusion.
A well written legal thriller.

Thanks to NetGalley and Random House UK, Transworld Publishers for the opportunity to preview.