Loved this book and was shocked at the turn taken at the end. Well written and very unusual storyline. Ordering another book from this author in a minute.

This book was very well written. Nice and easy to read and flowed well. Had me on the edge of my seat. Wondering which way it was going to go. Great mystery can’t beat it.

The Verdict# NetGalley
Olivia Isaac Henry ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This was a hard book for me to get into. The characters and plot just did not catch my attention and I thought about putting it aside. I did persevere, as I don’t like to give up on a book, and I did get far enough into the book to want to read on. The characters were hard to get a grasp on and were not very likable and, for me, that was almost another reason to give up on this book. In the long run, I did enjoy the book and sorta almost guessed the twist in the end. All in all, if you like a mystery with a little bit of a psychological element, then I think you will enjoy this book.

I received this book as an advanced read copy from NetGalley, the author and publisher for an honest review.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This is a skilfully written novel, weaving multiple timelines together to knit the story together. It took me a few chapters to get into it, but once I did, I was hooked. I loved the ending, nice to see it wasn’t rushed!

Julia is living alone after the break up her marriage. One day the news headline is that of a body being discovered on the Downs. Initial thiygts that they belong to a young missing girl givenwepay to reports of that being the body of a young New Zealand man who went missing more than 20 years ago.....who used to live in the same house as Julia. A brilliant read with several twists, especially at the end, and also when we realise who Julia was married to.

Julia is struggling to make ends meet. She’s split from her husband and her son Sam won’t speak to her following a fling with his rugby coach. What else could go wrong with her life. Only a little thing of murder. Suddenly she finds herself arrested for a murder that took place in 1994 along with two others.
The book cleverly switches between the past and the present. A wonderfully written book. I felt you were able to form a connection to Julia and speed through the book. Totally worth the five stars.
Thank you for the advance copy.

Wow! “The Verdict” had me on the edge of my seat and unable to put it down all the way to the last page. I highly recommend this book and can’t wait to read more by Olivia Isaac-Henry.

Thank you to NetGalley as well as Harper Impulse and Killer Reads for this advanced copy in exhange for an honest review!

A multi-timeline crime thriller with a solid concept behind it. I typically enjoy the back-and-forth of having flashbacks versus current time frames as it breaks the monotony of a narrative and keeps me interested. I felt these time jumps were handled well for the most part but nonetheless had their confusing moments which I felt could have been approached more simply at times.

The characters aren't particularly likeable but I felt this added more depth to the book in ways, as everyone has something to hide. The action was fairly lacking for me which makes up a majority of my rating as I prefer action-packed intensity or some form of suspense which I feel The Verdict could have had more of. Nonetheless I enjoyed the book and its atypical court environment for a good half of it, and would recommend it to anyone who likes crime / law / courtroom dramas.

Julia Winter is our protagonist in The Verdict and from the outset we discover that she is not in the best place – that is putting it mildly. She has had an affair with her son’s rugby coach (witnessed by said son) and both he and his father have finished with her and she is now reduced to living in a one bedroom flat whilst she subsidises the family home. When a dead body (buried for decades) is found on the North Downs things go from bad to worse. We discover that Julia used to live in a house close by and somehow she and her housemates are implicated. Enter the police.

The plot development scans several time-frames allowing a drip-feed of information and characters all leading to a dénouement in court. In all honesty, I don’t think I liked any of the characters even Julia herself. Although used to the strategy of multiple time-frames, I did struggle a bit with this one and had to return to chapter headings to see exactly when this action was taking place. No a huge problem but an indicator that I wasn’t totally involved.

That said, a good read, and well-worth reading but not exceptional – that is my opinion only, obviously

Thank you to the author, publishers and NetGalley for providing an ARC via my Kindle in return for an honest review.

An affair has cost Julia her marriage and her son. As the body of an old roommate is discovered in close proximity to where they used to live, her life spirals further out of control. Julia is then arrested for murder and she needs to prove her innocence, but are supposedly old friends conspiring against her?

An intriguing storyline which is told in the present day and 20 odd years in the past. A good book which will keep you gripped until the end.

This book took a little bit to get into, but once I did I really enjoyed it. I like the style of writing in this book - but every once in a while had to go back to check the year at the beginning of the chapter. Unfortunately, I never really connected or even liked any of the characters. I wanted to like the main character, Julia, but I never did. Thank you to NetGalley and Harper Impulse & Killer Reads for the eARC of this title.

Drawn in from the first pages multi layered tense might type of book,Recommend to lovers of well written thrillers.#netgalley#harperimpulse.

I was rather disappointed with this, after looking forward to the book, as it is one of my favourite genres, and I am a huge fan of time lapse books. Eventually, I found it to be too slow, and I lost interest with finding out the ending.

Julia Winter is a woman with big problems; her marriage has collapsed after she had an affair,  her son and husband have disowned her and life revolves around work and life in a one bedroom flat. Her best friends since they were all in school, Pearl and Andre, try to help but there are secrets even they don't know, secrets which are about to force their way to the forefront of everyone's lives.

A newly discovered dead body is big news, when it's lain undisturbed for decades it becomes huge and the spotlight is suddenly on people who might not have connected for a very long time. This is the situation for Julia and her ex-housemates as they find themselves back in the middle of a missing person cold case which is now considered as murder and threatens them all.

Shown from a multi-time framed view of Julia's life with the present day in the first person there are plenty of 'oh!' moments and it was an easy book to get lost in. There was a small section which I felt gave away a part of the ending and even after finishing the story I still couldn't decide how intentional it was or why it was done in that way.

There are quite a few characters in this novel but it was never confusing or unrealistic and the days of bedsits and unknown housemates definitely revived a few memories. As in real life we can't like everyone we meet and some people get a bit of an undeserved bad rep, these too were here adding to the realism.

I was able to read an advanced copy of this book thanks to NetGalley and the publishers in exchange for an unbiased review and would recommend it to anyone who enjoys a crime story from a slightly different perspective or a courtroom drama from a British point of view.

I really enjoyed The Verdict! This book really had me hooked from the very beginning. A page-turner! I found myself not wanting to do my everyday life until I found out what was going to happen. I found the jumping around the years a little hard because I would get used to information and then new information was being tossed at me that felt out of place for the information I just received. I felt the character development was really good but at times I found myself wanting a little more development between them.

Huge Thank You to NetGalley and Harper Impulse and Killer Reads for the eARC!!!

Olivia Isaac-Henry has created a fantastic page-turner in her novel, The Verdict. I was absolutely hooked from the first page. The story of Julia Winter, a young professional, and her experience during one hot summer in Guildford, Surrey, England kept me enthralled through the late night and into the early morning. I could not put it down.
This is a fast-paced journey through the past, leaving the reader wondering who is telling the truth, what are the motivations behind the lies, and who, ultimately is to blame in the events twenty-three years ago?
The plot behind this novel is refreshingly unique. With recent thrillers and mystery fiction, the goal of being the next "Gone Girl" is creating a wealth of psychological fiction that has been there, done that. However, Ms. Isaac-Henry approaches the genre with a breath of fresh air, less "Girl on the Train," more its own brilliant self.
I greatly enjoyed this book, and can't wait to read more from this author.
I was provided an ARC by the publisher and am posting my honest review of this author's work.

Thank you NetGalley and Harper Impulse & Killer Reads for the eARC.
Even though Julia makes many mistakes in her life, I did like her. When one's young and makes horrible decisions, fate can kick you in the teeth for years to come, unfortunately! Julia ends up, after a shattering breakup with her long time boyfriend, sharing a house in The Downs with a number of strangers, all of them fairly creepy. The landlady is eccentric, to say the least. The whole setup made me feel claustrophobic...I would have run back to London!
We go back and forth between the past and 2018, which at first was slightly difficult, but it worked. There is a deep tension throughout the book, which kept me hooked. The ending was exciting and a surprise. A thoroughly enjoyable book that I recommend highly.

This book bats back and forwards between 1994 and 2018 and a couple of other years on occasion. It does it every chapter and there are a lot of chapters. Would have been an easier read to have split it into parts as for me it completely broke the flow of the book.
It was pretty tedious to get into, but by about 70% the actions ramps up a little.
None of the characters are particularly likeable, maybe they are not meant to be. I didn't find Julia particularly believable either, certainly not career wise.
Although I have never sat in a court in England, something felt off to me and not true to life about the court scenes.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for my ARC copy in return for an honest review.

The Verdict is a explosive must read thriller for the year. I was hooked from the first chapter and could not put it down. Well written and well developed characters.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for providing me with an advance copy. Julia is a wife and mother who had been caught having an affair at work and had lost everything because of it. A body is found buried near a house she had lived in with her roommates. Did she commit murder or is someone trying to make it look that way? A big twist at the end! This book keeps you guessing around each turn. Amazing!