Reviews

The Evidence Against You by Gillian McAllister

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hels08's review

5.0

Thank you netgalley for this ARC in exchange for my honest review. Wow! Gillian has done it again. Fantastic book. Was gripped, needed to find out what happened. Very twisty. Izzys father has been in prison for 18 yrs for murdering her mother. The day has come when her father is released, tracks her down and wants to prove his innocence to her. Loved how the story jumped from present to past, each time you find another piece of information.

syren1532's review

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5.0

Izzy English lives on the Isle of Wight with her police analyst husband Nick. When Izzy was 17 years old her mother went missing and was found murdered two days later. Her death hit Izzy hard but even harder was the fact that her father, Gabe, was arrested, charged and convicted of her murder. Now, after serving eighteen years in prison, Gabe has been released on license and is back on the island and desperate to see Izzy. He claims he is innocent of all charges. Izzy doesn’t know what to believe - after her mother’s death she lived with her maternal grandparents who never spoke to her about the case and she was not aware of the evidence presented in court which led to Gabe’s conviction. Having met Gabe without her husband’s knowledge Izzy starts her own investigation into her mother’s death and events leading up to it. Along the way she discovers that her parents weren’t all she believed them to be. She struggles to believe whether Gabe is telling her the truth about what happened and her continued determination to find the truth puts her marriage under a huge strain.

Really great read. Nearly every chapter had me changing my mind about whether Gabe was innocent or not and, the same as Izzy, trying to find alternative suspects. Loved it.

Thanks to Netgalley, Penguin UK - Michael Joseph and Gillian McAllister for the ARC of this book in return for an honest review.

natalier3's review

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4.0

Not as good as her others

Was expecting a courtroom drama so was a little disappointed but still a good book. Lots of characters to get to grips with too, which were a little confusing. But overall I enjoyed it

serendipitysbooks's review

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dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

The Evidence Against You begins with Izzy’s Dad, Gabe, being released from prison following a life sentence for the murder of Alex, his wife and Izzy’s Mum. He still proclaims his innocence and, little by little, Izzy comes to believe him. Or is at least open to the possibility that he is not guilty. So the two of them put their heads together, combine their memories and begin investigating.

This novel kept me on edge wondering if Izzy was right to trust Gabe. It had me unsettled and questioning the reliability of memory. Who or what to believe when what he says contradicts her memories or what he has said in the past?

This is perhaps to be expected in a psychological drama/mystery. What stood out to me most from this story is also what surprised me. And that is the nuanced exploration of the issues surrounding the reintegration into society of those who have served a long period of incarceration. Regardless of Gabe’s guilt or innocence his struggles to find a job and to feel like he could cope in the outside world were heartbreaking.

This book kept me interested and left me thinking without necessarily wowing me. Nevertheless a worthwhile read.

Content Warnings