This book promised so much yet failed to deliver. First, the book was far from a courtroom drama, yet the cover suggests otherwise. It would have been nice to market the book as detective fiction rather than courtroom drama.
Also, the plot structure felt very awkward. The story was all over the place. Parts that should have come earlier/later and parts that should be omitted altogether etc. Maybe a future rewrite of the novel might eliminate that.

Family secrets and courtroom drama.
Justice Stone is a Lawyer who is given a case of a double murder who turns out to be her ex boyfriend who had changed his name, so Justice has to turn over the case to another lawyer, but she is determined to find out what happened and returns to her childhood home and her estranged mother who she hadn`t seen since her father died and her ex had disappeared.
The plot is brilliant with lots of twists and a very unexpected ending.
Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for the ARC and I give my honest review.

Not the book I was expecting from the blurb but that'd not a bad thing.

I found this book quite a gripping read with the lead character Justine being quite open yet mysterious at the same time... (I was as keen to know about events in her past as I was to find out more about the murders she was investigating).

Well written and suspenseful I highly recommend!

Contrary to what the blurb might make you think, this is actually not a courtroom thriller, which for me was a plus!

What it *is* about, is family secrets, toxic behaviour, and how the past tends to intrude its way into the present - as Justine Stone is about to find out.

A barrister who left her hometown years ago in order to escape certain issues, including the complexity of her family ties, she returns to prosecute her ex-boyfriend on a double murder charge. But before she can do that, she needs to make peace with the past.

And that is going to be easier said than done...

The plotline here is not entirely unpredictable, but this is an engaging story with plenty of suspense and a few good twists. The attraction element though didn't work that well for me. It gets 3.5 stars.

This is not the book I was expecting. Having read the synopsis I was expecting this to be a courtroom thriller however very little of the story takes place in court.

Instead, this is a suspenseful mystery with a twisty plot which I thoroughly enjoyed

For me, a very average thriller. I liked the concept and the opening chapters were gripping, but about 30% in it really began to lose its way. The relationship between the protagonist and the ex felt stale (I couldn’t fathom why it was meant to be such an earth-shattering unforgettable first love), the husband was basically forgotten about, the brother disposable, and I got very tired of the protagonist repeating herself over and over again. A couple of good twists, but if you’re an avid thriller reader you will have seen them coming a mile away. A decent page-turning read, but not the best considering the hype.