Book Review: Until Proven Innocent by Nicola Williams

Set tp be released on 16th March, Until Proven Innocent by Nicola Williams follows Lee Mitchell, a young barrister from a working-class Caribbean background: in the cut-throat environment of the courtroom, everything is stacked against her.

On her doorstep in South London the 15-year-old son of the pastor at the local Black church is shot, and the local community is shattered. All evidence is pointing to infamously corrupt, racist police officer Sergeant Jack Lambert as the irredeemable suspect. His own boss – rebel-turned-copper Danny Wallace – is certain he is guilty.

Against her will, Lee is strong-armed into defending him. With cries of ‘Black Lives Matter!’ echoing in the streets, Lee is at the centre of the turmoil as lies, anger, and mistrust spiral out of control. With the line between her personal and professional life becoming increasingly blurred, Lee keeps asking herself the same question: How can she defend the indefensible?

Book Review: Strange Sally Diamond by Liz Nugent

Set to be published on 2nd March, Strange Sally Diamond by Liz Nugent follows Sally Diamond who cannot understand why what she did was so strange. She was only doing what her father told her to do, to put him out with the rubbish when he died.

Now Sally is the centre of attention, not only from the hungry media and worried police, but also a sinister voice from a past she has no memory of. As she begins to discover the horrors of her childhood, recluse Sally steps into the world for the first time, making new friends, finding independence, and learning that people don’t always mean what they say.

But when messages start arriving from a stranger who knows far more about her past than she knows herself, Sally’s life will be thrown into chaos once again . . .

Book Review: The Women Of Troy (Women of Troy #2) by Pat Barker

“The truth? Achilles’ story never ends: whenever men fight and die, you’ll find Achilles. And as for me – my story and his were inextricably linked.”

Set to be published on 26th August, The Women Of Troy by Pat Barker follows on from its predecessor with the fall of Troy. The Greeks have won, and are waiting to return home as victors. All they need is a good wind to lift their sails, but the gods have been offended, and in these empty, restless days, the hierarchies that held them together begin to fray, old feuds resurface and new suspicions fester. Largely unnoticed by her squabbling captors, Briseis remains in the Greek encampment. She has survived the Trojan War, but peacetime may turn out to be even more dangerous…