Bad Blood

I've been dying to read a juicy courtroom thriller after finishing Apple's Presumed Innocent - and this delivered on all fronts! Can't wait to read what the author writes next.

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

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.

I think this book is going to do very well when it's released and personally feel the blurb doesn't do it any justice. I think it's got all the necessary points to be made into an adaptation (it really has it all) Sarah Hornsley is extremely talented and I look forward to reading what's next from her.

With many thanks to Netgalley for this free arc and I am leaving this unbiased review voluntarily. I like the occasional legal thriller so hence why I requested this book, however this was so much more than that. Moving at a blistering pace the author spins a web of intrigue, suspense and lies that at times completely throws the reader. This book will keep you guessing to the very end. This is an outstanding debut from Sarah Hornsley- very well written, with a lovely flow to the book and characters that will surprise you and finishing with a great twist. Brilliant.

I absolutely loved this well crafted thriller, with its mix of small town and family dynamics. It is very much for fans of Sarah Vaughan but also has a flavour of Broadchurch.

A well written thriller
The plot was brilliant
Lots of twists and turns
GOSH - did not expect t the ending

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC!

WOW! One of the best thrillers I’ve read in a LONG time!

Short, snappy chapters kept me engaged.

I really felt that the flashbacks from different POVs kept the momentum going - I was eager to keep reading to see how it fitted into the puzzle.

One thing I would change is the blurb - I think it’s slightly misleading given how the story pans out.

I thought this was heading for a nice, straightforward and easy 4 star rating...until the final forty minutes or so pulled me in and snatched that final star!

It reads as if it will be courtroom drama based, however quickly transpires to be the unravelling of family secrets, murder and lies, and the spiral of destruction caused. I like a book I can read through from start to finish without having to go back and forth looking for answers I may have missed, and this book does that perfectly.

The POV of the 'before' parts as told by multi characters gave extra depth and the character development was great. I enjoyed this one..I thought the ends were tied and answers wee given as we were reaching the end of the book and then a whole new loop was formed throwing everything up in the air!

And can we just mention the cover...it is absolutely stunning and one to admire on the bookshelves! Definitely one to recommend

Great fast passed thriller with twists and turns. Really liked the writing. Looking forward to the next book by the author.

Thank you Hodder & Stoughton and Netgalley for one of the best books I have read so far this year.
As others have said I expected this to be a Court room drama but it wasn't.
Family secrets cannot always stay hidden and there were lots of twists and turns with this book and I really didn't want it to end. I have literally just finished it.
Great twist at the end which although I knew something was coming didn't quite see it being what it was!!!
I will happily give this 5 ⭐
Please, please, please can I have Sarah's next book.

Justine Stone, a criminal barrister, is assigned her first murder case only to discover the defendant is her ex-boyfriend. She should recuse herself, but she decides to return to the place she grew up to do a little investigating instead.

A fast-paced book with a cast of well-rounded, interesting characters. The premise and the opening chapters really do grab the reader from the start.

I expected this book to head towards a courtroom dénouement, but that is not the direction the author chose to lead her readers. It’s as much about finding out the truth about Justine’s past as finding out how her ex-boyfriend has ended up accused of a double murder.

Character-driven, pacy, compelling and twisty, this family drama kicks off with a perfect premise and rachets up the tension all the way to the climactic end.

An exciting dark thriller with a wonderfully portrayed character in Justine who is all kinds of unhinged.

A narrative that twists it way carefully to a climactic reveal that is surprising yet also satisfying.

And with themes of domestic abuse, blackmail, murder amd the overpowering need to protect those we love deftly explored. This was a great read.

This book got off to a great start and just kept getting better. It starts with the protagonist, a female criminal prosecutor doing what she does best before landing her first murder case. Then she finds out that the accused is her ex-boyfriend - her first love no less!

Of course, she does some digging before she says she cannot take the case, and there’s revelation after revelation, and twist after twist. Even once you think you’ve figured out the story, there’s another shock in store. You know early on that the protagonist herself comes from a family where something is ‘off’, and the details of this are dripped gradually throughout the book. The tension ratchets up as the book goes on. The body count too.

I was there with the protagonist, urging her to get to the bottom of it all and wanting her to find the peace she sorely needs. By the end of the book you can feel the weight of what’s conveyed in the book’s title.

Sometimes as a book reviewer a book comes along that really excites you , and for me these have included girl on the train,our house and now bad blood..
This is going to be absolutely huge.
Completely addictive and intoxicating this will have the reader hooked from page 1.
As a psychology student with an interest in forensic behaviour this is really interesting and as a reader it was just everything I needed .
Fascinating and complex characters that are relatable and flawed !
Families,secrets and lies all spill over into the present day and what happens when the two worlds crash ?
Unpredictable and well executed i really enjoyed this debut .
I look forward to reading more and thank you to hodder for my early. Access to review .

The book was so intense, gripping and unputdownable which portrayed lies, deception and hidden secrets by all the main characters with multiple twists. Just when I sort of figured the plot, there was a change in direction of the plot

The plot is brilliant with lots of twists with an unexpected ending. I love the story being told by each character referring to the past and present. Highly recommended

Thank you to Netgalley and Hodder & Stoughton

This is my first book by this author, so I didn't know what to expect at all. All I knew was I was drawn by the blurb and title.

A psychological crime thriller set in the U.K which introduces us to Justine. A woman with everything, she is a barrister with a doting husband and a beautiful home too. She is flying high in life...until the day she is given her first high profile criminal case.

Told from the present day and the past, this was a book which kept me guessing as the story unfolded. As well as flipping from past to present the story is told by various perspectives. I got to wrapped up in Justine's story I stayed up well past my bedtime to finish it.

What seems like a case that could make Justine's career turns into her worst nightmare. The way the author has woven the multiple people's threads together created a tense and twisty plot. I thoroughly.enjoyed the twists in the tale. They made me sit up and take notice, that's for sure.

A debut author who had me glued to the Kindle from start to finish, with characters like Justine, that I could invest in. My heart broke in certain points for Justine and her brother Max.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for my gifted widget to write my honest review.

I loved Bad Blood by Sarah Hornsley. When I first heard about it I was desperate to get my hands on a copy, so it went straight to the top of my TBR pile when I did. There is an intriguing premise to Sarah’s debut, which is what immediately hooked me when I read the blurb. We meet Justine Stone, a barrister, who has been given her first murder case. But she is shocked to realise that the defendant is her ex-boyfriend, Jake, her first love who she hasn’t seen for eighteen years. Despite once being close to Jake, Justine is desperate to take the case, believing Jake couldn’t hurt anyone, even though this might have disastrous consequences for her career.

I really enjoyed following Justine’s journey throughout the book. You can feel the emotion she’s going through as she is grappling with events that happened in her past, and I wanted to understand what had happened.

I loved the opening of this book, and I thought there was a brilliant first line which intrigued me right from the start. Sarah Hornsley starts the novel with a court scene. We see what sort of a person Justine is, and how determined she is to win cases and advance her career. Justine is also desperate to be given her first murder case, which is why she wants to take on the one her ex is involved in, despite the risks this may pose to her career if her connection to Jake is discovered. Sarah Hornsley does a brilliant job of exploring Justine’s feelings as she grapples with the news, and as Justine revisits how she felt about her relationship with Jake at the time, despite now being happily married. I really wanted to see how Justine’s connection to Jake was going to affect her work and if anyone would discover it.

The tension really ticks up a notch as Sarah Hornsley delves into Justine’s past, going back to the time when she was with Jake eighteen years ago in their home town in Essex. There are some devastating reveals along the way about an event that took place around this time. The truth is heart-breaking and shocking when it comes to life and it changes everything for Justine. It is clear to see just how much discovering what really went on back then affects her.

Bad Blood is a terrific debut, I really enjoyed it and I can’t wait to read what Sarah Hornsley writes next.

Kept me guessing the whole way through! Full of twists and a really gripping story! Highly recommend! Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for my ARC

⭑ ⭑ ⭑ ⭑ ⭑

~

Okay I really enjoyed this book! I was hooked all the way through, and would definitely recommend this book to any mystery, thriller, crime readers out there. As a debut this is very impressive and will definitely be buying for my shelf when released 🤩

~

Thank you to NetGalley and Sarah Hornsley for the ARC 🫶🏼
Publication date 27th March 2025.

Bad Blood - Sarah Hornsley
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5

“I’ve always found the scariest feeling in the world to be happiness. If you’re happy, it just shows how much you have to lose.”

Bad Blood follows Justine who, free from her home town, has everything going for her - she has a wonderful husband, a beautiful home and she is about to take on her first big murder case as a barrister. That is all until she recognises the supposed murderer as her childhood sweetheart. Did Justine never know him at all? Does she even know herself?

Wow. What an impressive debut novel! Bad Blood is told through a few perspectives, across a dual timeline. There aren’t too many characters, so this isn’t confusing, and I was so hooked by everyone’s intensity that I found it easy to follow the characters as well as the plot. Speaking of which, the plot was like a spider web! Intricately and meticulously crafted, planned and spun to create a web of deception, secrets and twists that was ultimately beautiful in its finished product.

The book promised a triple twist - and it delivered! I was throughly gripped throughout and I loved the cleverness of the rewrite at the ending. This book has some difficult themes but it is written exceptionally well to portray them in a tense but appropriate way.

I will definitely be buying this one for the beautiful cover, and recommending it for the rest. I loved this one - and that is truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth😉👀

Thank you to NetGalley, Sarah Hornsley and Hodder & Stoughton for sending this advanced copy of Bad Blood in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
📍This book is out March 2025.

A very well-plotted, twisty debut novel. I was immersed in the plot and was blindsided by the many twists. Eminently readable.

Firstly I'd like to thank Netgalley and Publishers for letting me read an advanced copy of this book.

And what a read that was, it was an emotional rollercoaster start to finish, I devoured this in a day just wanting to get to the bottom of it. And felt angry by the end of it, not wanting to put any spoilers out there. But if you're looking for a fast-paced crime, this is the one, the multiple POV's, and just small snippets of the past incorporating the definitive ending. It's really not what you think when you first start. I, for one, will be buying a copy when it releases March 2025 and think this will be a hit! Looking forward to any other books Sarah brings out.

Oh my goodness. This book had me on the edge of my seat from start to finish. There were so many twists, so many little lies and omissions that you didn’t know who you could trust or what really happened. Every time I came to a twist I would go “called it!” And then a page later I would realize that I was incorrect.

The multiple POVs really twisted the story for me. Going back to the past as other characters spun a tale that you didn’t know whether or not you could believe what you were being told.

Overall, this story will be one I recommend for years to come. Thank you to NetGalley for allowing me to read it as an ARC. I can’t wait to see what other people end up thinking about it.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ .5