This was a brilliant read. As soon as I started reading this book I just knew I was going to love it. Highly recommended

I really liked this author and this book did not disappoint, it was an appropriately paced, page turner that will have me hooked throughout the story.

This was a roller coaster, twist and turn ride that kept me glued and thrilled until the end. Recommended.

A beautifully written psychological thriller with a thought provoking subject matter. Is a mother really capable of trying to kill her own child?

In certain stretches a bit unbelievable, but overall, a heartwarming thriller (not two words you usually see together!). But it *was* a heartwarming story about a mother dedicated to giving her child the best life possible, and also a thriller about racing against time to save another child from harm. There were a couple of character threads left hanging at the end that I would have liked to have seen resolved, but besides that, I was satisfied with the emotional tenor of the ending. 3.5 stars.

I really enjoyed reading this book. At first I believed Ellie was a very selfish mother and not very interested in her child but as the book continues it becomes clear that Ellie loves her son very much, even though she's made some bad choices. I have to admit I did guess who was trying to harm the child and this did ruin the book for me slightly because I like to be shocked at the end but all in all it was a good solid read.

This was a very compelling crime thriller. Totally unputdownable.

Sarah Kellerman, a criminal defence lawyer, is to defend, Ellie, accused of abuse and attempted murder of her young baby. All the evidence points to her guilt, but Sarah has trouble joining the dots in the case and is determined to find out what really happened, despite having to juggle the needs of raising her mentally disabled five-year-old son and the demands of a job that she desperately needs to provide for her and her son.

Despite my enjoyment of this book…and I really did enjoy it…I felt that the present tense narrative didn’t work. I also felt the first-person POV didn’t work: there were a couple of complex characters who needed their own POV, I thought.

But, this was an extremely competently written novel, and Sarah was brilliantly portrayed, with passion and conviction by the author. I didn’t find it hard to guess the role of two of the major players quite early on, but wow, it was a gripping roller coaster of ups, downs, twists and turns before we got to the end.

A thoroughly satisfying, well-written thriller. I’m very definitely going to read more by this author.

Great storyline with good strong characters. Very well written. I would recommend this book to anyone.

Sarah works in law while trying to bring up her severely disabled son Ben. She is given a case of a mother accused of attempting to murder her baby. Sarah delves into everyone who has had something to do with baby Finn, to try and find out who was responsible. Was it his mum or someone else. A really good psychological thriller that had me reading as often as I could. Although there was a lot of legal stuff in it it didn't become boring. I can't wait to read another story by this author.

Fantastic novel. The first book by Ruth that I’ve read but I’ll be looking for her others. Great build up of suspense throughout and a satisfying conclusion.

This was a fabulous read that totally kept me guessing from the second I started right up until the final pages.
The story centres around single mother and criminal defence lawyer Sarah Kellerman.
Trying to juggle her work life with the care of her disabled five-year-old son.
A case that's seems very close to home for Sarah lands on her lap.
Ellie a young mother is accused of poisoning her infant son a fact she vehemently denies and Sarah upon taking the case starts to push the boundaries of professionalism as she becomes drawn into and more emotionally involved than is perhaps wise.
So this was brilliantly narrated with so many twists and turns it certainly kept me on my toes throughout.
With rich believable characters, this is one of those bite your nails to the quick books, where you are left in the dark guessing until the very end.
I did kinda suss the ending here but never mind that; it didn't actually take away from my overall enjoyment at all.
"In The Blood" was completely amped a non-stop race to the finish with the eye on the main prize and an intriguing mystery woven into its very centre.
To say I was shocked by the inner mechanics of some individuals brains is a bloody understatement.
Bloody brilliant sleuthing.
I also especially loved the underlying thread of Sarah's story on top of the main focus.
Getting a window into her everyday struggles and insecurities was quite the journey of discovery actually giving us a story within a story; nice touch.
This was such an entertaining read that I can totally recommend.
So I was provided with an ARC of "In The Blood" By Netgalley of which I have reviewed voluntary.
All opinions expressed are entirely my own.

British solicitor Sarah Kelleher struggles to balance professional demands and the responsibilites of single parenthood to Ben, a preschooler with significant developmental disabilities. When Sarah is assigned to represent Ellie, a young mother accused of attempting to murder her own baby, Sarah feels immediate sympathy for Ellie's challenges. Convinced of her client's innocence, Sarah sets out to investigate the circumstances in which Ellie's son was harmed. But does Sarah's search for answers blind her to a danger much closer to home?

Ruth Mancini's third novel is an engaging thriller with a likeable main character. Some questionable aspects of the plot are justified by Sarah's unique challenges. An enjoyable summer read.

An enthralling plot and courtroom drama

Sarah Kellerman has a high-powered job as a defence lawyer but is also a single parent with a 5 year old son with special needs who when she is not working needs constant care and attention. At the at start of this book she is struggling to hold everything together, she is having issues with her work colleagues who are complaining that she is not taking her fair share of the work load due to her child care demands. Ben cannot walk or talk and hardly sleeps so Sarah is constantly tired.

She is offered a new client, a young single mother, Ellie Stephens, who is being accused of trying to kill her young son Finn. He has already been taken into care once due to bruising on his body. Ellie finally retrieves access to him only for him to be rushed into hospital with sodium poisoning and then she is accused of removing his tube whilst he is in her hospital bed. All the odds are stacked against Ellie especially when Sarah finds out that the father of her baby is the son of wealthy, well-connected parents the Barrington-Browns.

However from the moment Sarah meets Ellie she believes in her innocence and responds to her as a fellow single parent struggling to provide a good life for her son. As she begins to dig deeper into Ellie’s life she discovers that although the odds appear to be stacked against her there are anomalies in the evidence against her.

Sarah encounters a man in the supermarket who helps her out when Ben is having a particularly loud tantrum and slowly starts on a new relationship. Alex is brilliant with Ben and she begins to find happiness with him. However then her son starts having seizures and is rushed to hospital by Alex. Is everything as it should be with this new man in her life, is he too good to be true?

The plot of this book is so good that I really did not guess what was going to happen. The author is a criminal lawyer so all the court scenes were very authentic and believable. It would be unfair to reveal anything else about the storyline but I would recommend it to anyone who has enough time to read it because once you start you will not be able to stop until you know the ending.

I hope the author is planning another book based around Sarah Kellerman and if she is I want to be one of the first people to read it!

Dexter

Breakaway Reviewers received a copy of the book to review

This is my first read from this author and I really enjoyed this book . Full of suspense and twists the story of a young mother accused of trying to kill her baby son and the lovely lawyer Sarah defending her and determined to get to the truth ! A great read highlighting stigmas that still life on in our world . I look forward to reading more from this author 4.5 stars

I'm sorry, usually these types of books capture my attention, but unfortunately, this one did not. I couldn't get into the story because it didn't hold enough suspense for me to get past Chapter 2. It is, however, well written, but the way the story flowed, didn't do anything for me.

A well written court room drama interwoven with lawyer Sarah's personal family story. Well worth a read

IN THE BLOOD Written by Ruth Mancini
May 1, 2018; 400 pages (Head of Zeus)
Genre: mystery, suspense, law, fiction

​​​​​​​​​​​​​​(I received an ARC from the PUBLISHER via NETGALLEY​)​

RATING: 3 STARS

I liked this book, but there seemed to be something missing. It might have been the suspense. At times I was more interested in Sarah's life than the mystery. Mancini reveals little clues so that you can guess who is behind the little boy's poisoning. I liked how it comes together, but found some parts of the ending a bit too much. I did find Jay Barrington-Brown's character a bit confusing. I assumed he was younger, like in his twenties, and only later found out he was a lot older. This changed some of my thoughts of the case. You can tell that Mancini did a lot of research in Ben's condition and what is must be like for a parent to deal with this on a every day basis.

The synopsis of this book really did intrigue me and I just knew that this was one book I had to read as a matter of urgency. I have never read anything written by Ruth Mancini before and so I opened the front cover with some excitement. I was not to be disappointed and I really, really enjoyed reading it but more about that in a bit.
Sarah Kellermen is one of those characters that on the surface seems to have everything- she has a job, she has a career, she is successful and she has a child. However underneath Sarah is barely holding it together. She is having issues at work with people complaining that she isn't taking an equal share of the workload, she is constantly on the phone to her son's nursery and that she turns up when she feels like it. Sarah's son is disabled although the nature of his disability is not immediately apparent. Sarah does develop a certain amount of paranoia and thinks that people have it in for her. Sarah is given a case that she gets her teeth into. A baby has been poisoned and has had a medical tube taken out and both hospital staff and police think that the baby's mother is the culprit as she was the only one anywhere seen going into the room. As soon as Sarah gets the case, her mind begins to whirr and she immediately seems to believe in her client's innocence. I think that Sarah becomes obsessed with the case because the mother and baby are in a similar situation to herself and they are both parents of an ill baby and they often feel that they are struggling or swimming against the tide. Sarah is determined to get to the truth. Sarah's son falls ill and Sarah realises that she has been drawn into a dangerous game. Just what is the truth? Who tampered with the baby's medical equipment? Will Sarah manage to solve the case and save her job? Will Sarah's son recover? Well for the answers to those questions and more you are just going to have to read the book for yourselves to find out as I am not going to tell you.
As soon as I picked up the book, I was hooked. The storyline appealed to me on so many levels and especially regarding the safeguarding aspect. I used to work in safeguarding and I regularly came across cases where children were injured and the parents were suspected. All the way through the book, I found myself looking for clues, reassessing the evidence and thinking up other possible explanations. I ended up in knots at times. I loved all the legal aspects of the book too. The author is a criminal lawyer and she has drawn on her many years of experience, which makes the book even more authentic. I became seriously addicted to this book and I just had to keep reading on and on and on because I needed to know what had really happened. This is one of those books that certainly kept me guessing. On more than one occasion I smugly thought that I had fathomed out what had really happened only to be sent down another path entirely. Reading 'In The Blood' was one heck of a rollercoaster ride with many twists and turns and moments where you just want to stick your hands over your eyes because you genuinely fear what is going to happen or what is on the next page.
In conclusion, I really did enjoy reading 'In The Blood' and I can't wait to read what comes next from this fab author. Whilst I wait for her next book I will content myself with reading her previous books. I would recommend this book to others. The score on the Ginger Book Geek board is a well deserved 4* out of 5*.

What a lovely book, with a bit of thriller and love mixed in too.

It was a well written story where the were characters explained and it had a good pace with good plot twists and I didn't want the book to end. I was hooked immediately during the first chapter and I found that I just had to keep reading to see what was coming next.

A brilliant legal thriller by Ruth Mancini where we are introduced to the overworked, empathetic lawyer Sarah, who is given the case of the young mother Ellie accused of harming her child. I loved the way the author has developed Sarah's character, working in a male dominated firm, looking after her child, and trying to build up a case for Ellie's defense. I had all respect for such working mothers, as it is difficult to manage everything, and Sarah does it well.
The fast paced thriller is well written with tension filled scenes and though slightly predictable, still is a fun read. I hope to read more of Sarah and Ruth Mancini.