This is the 2nd in a series that I haven't ever heard of or read so I am going to give it a 3 star and move on.

I didnt realise that this was book 2 (even though the title says it) but it did work as a standalone and I thoroughly enjoyed the book it kept me engrossed throughout.

I was given a free copy by netgalley and the publishers but the review is entirely my own.

Started well, but then just became the same as all the other books around, sorry this was so lacklustre that I couldn't finish it hence the 2 stars.

Although this book started off well, I found the plot became lack-lustre and I lost interest. I enjoyed my previous read by this author but thought this latest story just did not have the same impact.

The central plot focuses on Ebby’s mother’s murder. Thirty years on, the case remains cold and it hasn’t helped that Ebby, just a young boy at the time, cannot remember the details of the night. Despite holding his mother’s body straight after the attack, Ebby’s memories have refused to resurface over the years. However, he experiences sudden and unexpected blackouts that take him back to this tragic night and I enjoyed the disruption this offered to the main narrative.

I think this was lacking throughout the story. I was yearning for more flashbacks to detail Ebby’s life as a boy, understand the relationship he had with his mother, and to truly witness what his brother was like (who, in present day, is a complete nightmare). Yet, Ebby’s blackouts seem to suddenly stop and the writer continues to focus on the investigation again into this cold case. As such, I don’t think I properly connected with Ebby’s circumstances and thought this book would have really benefitted from a dual timeline, alongside Ebby’s fragmented memories, to add more depth to this main story line. Instead, it felt quite glossed over.

The sub-plot featuring Olivia and Brian did not spark my imagination. I thought the writer spent too much time on this element of the story. Whilst Olivia is central to helping clear Ebby’s name (not helped when he deliriously confesses to killing his mother), I thought there was a lot of unnecessary waffle that prolonged the narrative. Although Brian’s relationship with Leanne was interesting, again I got the sense that this could have been expanded on and added more flavour to the novel.

Overall, I thought this was quite a disappointing follow-up to the previous book. I had high hopes of another legal thriller but was left feeling quite dissatisfied. I liked the concept of trying to remember the past but I don’t think it had the depth and excitement that I was looking for.

With thanks to HQ Digital and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Great plot to get yourself lost in. This book has everything. A real fast paced thriller. Will get your heart racing on more than one occasion. Very well written. Highly recommend this book

I really enjoyed this book, so much so that as soon as I finished it I bought the first book. I hadn't realised that this was the second book but I will say that it can easily be read as a standalone.

I love a good murder mystery especially when there is an amnesia element involved.

Fast paced quick read that kept me entertained. Would be a brilliant holiday read.

Would definitely recommend and will be looking for more books by this author in the future

This is book 2 in the series. Just like the first one, it is an easy-to-read who-dun-it book. I was able to finish it in about 24 hours. It isn't a heavy book but just like the first one, it is a good Sunday afternoon cozy murder mystery. Olivia is still a very likable woman. Her family friends are also likable. I wish there was some closure with Claire, Denny, Denny's ex-husband, and/or Olivia's ex but maybe that will happen in book 3.

Full review to come on Goodreads and Amazon. Thank you to the publisher, author, and NetGalley for a review copy.

I’m sorry to say this book was a major disappointment in comparison to the first novel featuring Olivia Sinclair.

Slow, predictable and a bit of a duplicate of the first book.

There were a couple of things I found annoying. The biggest was the names. Ebby and Elodie, Felicity and Fiona… all a bit too similar when these characters are all family and central to the plot. And then there’s ‘Ebby’. Apparently it’s short for Edward, but this is only evident much later into the book and weirdly the last iteration of his name is Edward. I just found this plain weird if not a bit distracting as I would presume Ebby is a childhood nickname they’ve given him rather than his birth name.

After waiting a whole book for Olivia and Brian to get it together. Guess what? We go through it all again! Even though they both want to be together and have openly confessed their feelings for each other, we’re back at square one folks. And what’s more we have a rather oddly chosen character as Brian’s love interest.

Another part I found really tweaked my frustration with the book was that a family divorce lawyer was able to just become a criminal lawyer. Law is a very big subject! I doubt a divorce lawyer would have all the legal knowledge to be able to stand trial at a murder investigation. I appreciate Olivia was ‘doing a favour’ but even so she wouldn’t have been anywhere near the best representation in court.

As mentioned before, the book is quite slow and although there’s a few ‘extra’ subplots I honestly felt that this book was a weaker storyline than The Betrayal.

The writing, however is really engaging and easy to pick up/put down. I like Terry Ann’s style and whilst I didn’t enjoy the book as much as I’d hoped I’d certainly read others.

Ebby was 13 years old when he witnesses the murder of his mother ..and then promptly passes out. He woke up the next morning with no memory of how he got there.. and was told that his mother had been stabbed to death the previous night.

Thirty years later still has Ebby gripped in the grasp of not knowing what really happened that night. His memory has come back in bits and pieces, but when he tries to remember, he usually passes out. He's been under doctors care for years, but he has decided no more .... he needs to remember .. because his biggest fear is that he killed his mother.

Olivia Sinclaire, a family friend and an attorney, Ebby pleads with her to please investigate even though there haven't been any new clues in years. Brian, an ex-cop and now a private investigator, joins with Olivia to find the truth .. if they can.

The first thing they learn is that Ebby's mother was not liked at all. Because there was no sign on a break-in, they concur that a family member was the most likely suspect. But each of the entire family had reasons for wanting her dead.

This is a compelling thriller filled with mystery, deception, part legal thriller, suspense, with a little romance thrown in. It's well-written, riveting. It's a real page turner with twists and turns along the way and plenty of characters to follow without getting lost. Although second in the series, this is easily read as a stand - alone, although I highly recommend reading in order. This is a terrific series!

Many thanks to the author / HQDigitalUK / Netgalley for the digital copy of this crime fiction/mystery. Read and reviewed voluntarily, opinions expressed here are unbiased and entirely my own.

I enjoyed this book more than the first in the series. It’s multiple sub-plots hooked me from the start and peeked my interest. All in all, a good murder mystery.

Thanks to NetGalley, the author, and publisher for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my review.

Olivia Sinclair is back, but instead of practicing family law she is working on a criminal cold case. When Ebby was a teenager he witnessed the murder of his mother and passed out causing him to have amnesia. 30 years later he begins having flashbacks of that murder. He admits to be the killer of his mother.

Can Olivia prove his innocence, even if he did confess to the murder? This is the second of the series and both have been great. Plenty of twists and turns that had me guessing who the real killer was.

From my blog: Always With a Book:

This is the second book in Terry Lynn Thomas’s Olivia Sinclair series. I really like this series and I hope this is not the last we have seen of Olivia!

This is another fast-paced, gripping psychological thriller. I loved all the twists and turns – it really kept me guessing throughout the book. This is definitely a case where not everything is as it seems and I just love books like that. We meet a wide variety of characters, some that you immediately take a liking to and some that immediately rub you the wrong way. As the story moves forward, the use of flashbacks really helps to fill in the backstory and I found this to be such an effective technique.

There are multiple plot lines happening in this book. There is the main mystery involving Ebby and the cold case of who really killed his mother. But then there is the side story involving Olivia, Brian and Brian’s new love interest. I loved that Brian and Olivia were working together on Ebby’s case, but I think I was just a little more interested in what was going on with this other gal.

As I mentioned, this is the second book in this series, and while it can definitely be read as a stand-alone, I highly recommend picking up the first book if you get a chance. It’s just as fast-paced and enjoyable as this one, and there are references to that first book.

About the Book

When Ebby was 13 years old, he witnessed the brutal murder of his mother, Cynthia. For 30 years, Ebby has had amnesia about that night but bits and pieces have started to be revealed from his traumatized memory.

When Ebby breaks down and confesses to murdering his mother after a flashback, Eddy’s Aunt Elodie asks family friend and attorney, Olivia Sinclair, to represent Ebby.

Ebby wants to know the truth and Olivia along with investigator, Brian Vickery try to find answers in this cold case.

My Thoughts

First of all, the characters in this book have the best names..Ebby, Elodie, Felicity, Fiona- just to name a few.

Secondly, I loved Olivia Sinclair’s first book, The Betrayal, and enjoyed having Olivia back in my book universe. You don’t have to have read the first book to enjoy this one, but I think you’ll like the character development of Olivia if you read both books.

The plot itself was fantastic with a range of lovely and good characters to absolute terrible antagonists. There were some great twists and turns and the ending really grabbed me.

There is also a nice subplot as Olivia’s “ investigator friend”, Brian, (he was in the first book as well), has a new female friendship that leaves Olivia suspicious/jealous?!!

This thriller and premise grabbed me from the very start! I was intrigued by Ebby and his mysterious flashbacks. This is my first time reading a book quite like this and I really enjoyed it. The multiple POVs and subplots added to the story along with the great pacing. Interesting and well developed!

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the complimentary copy. All opinions are my own.

3 for neutral, didn’t know it was a series and want to read in order! Will update once i am able to read the prior books and then this one!

Thank you to @suzyapprovedbooktours for my copy of The Witness. This is the next Olivia Sinclair novel and it was so exciting to get to pick up this series again. This page turning two part mystery had me hooked. I love the way that Terry Lynn Thomas tells the story of this legal eagle lawyer.

Some 30 years ago, as a teen, Ebby witnessed the murder of his mother and awoke the next morning without his memory. Now he is having confusing flashes in memory. Can Olivia help him find his Mother’s killer?

This novel is full of suspense and I can’t wait to see what happens to Olivia next.

I was given a copy of this book by NetGalley for my honest review. The Witness is the 2nd book in a series by author Terry Lynn Thomas and I was not disappointed.

It is full of twists and turns, kept me guessing until the very end.

I'm anxiously waiting for the next book in the series!

I rated this 5 stars.

Full of family secrets and twists and turns you won’t see coming! While the story’s main focus is solving an old family murder, the secondary side stories and the suspense that comes with them is what I felt drawn to the most. The author did a great job intertwining the lives of all the characters and the ending had that surprise factor that I crave. This is definitely a great read for fans of psychological/legal thrillers. It’s the 2nd book in the Olivia Sinclair series, but can easily be read as a standalone!

Thank you for my advanced copy in exchange for an honest review

Ebby is a successful restaurant owner. He has begun having terrible flashbacks. They are so terrifying that he completely blacks out. The flashbacks include the murder of his mother, which happened 30 years ago. Ebby thinks he did it. He enlists a family friend, Olivia, to help solve his mother’s murder and to pull him back to the present.

Terry Lynn Thomas has woven a unique tale. With all these twists and turns, she kept me guessing until the end. And her characters are spot on. I love Olivia. She is smart and takes no prisoners. Plus, my heart goes out to Ebby. He was just a child when this occurred. So, you can just imagine his pain and trauma.

Need a good legal mystery which keeps you guessing…THIS IS IT! Grab your copy today!

I received this novel from the publisher for a honest review.