Covering two timelines, The Trial introduces us to Dani in 2014 while studying at St Edmunds college and her boyfriend Theo mysteriously disappeared. Going to extreme lengths to find him, she struggles to work out why nobody else is as concerned as she is. We then catch up with Dani when she goes back 10 years alter as a professor and she is very interested to find out about some medical trials going on in the medical dept.

Some great twists and it was nice to see Dani at two stages of her life and see the differences, and similarities in her as she tries to deal with her situation.

‘The Trial’ by Jo Spain is a clever, emotional and gripping thriller set at an elite university in Dublin. Told in dual timelines across 2014 and 2024, we learn about the disappearance of Dani’s boyfriend Theo in their second year and Dani’s mysterious return to campus as a professor ten years later.

This novel really makes the reader think about the ethics of medical trials and the blurred line between pushing for progress and feeding insatiable capitalism. The author writes well about a very sensitive topic - Alzheimer’s - and takes care to give a useful content warning. Dani herself is a well-developed and likeable character, her blazing determination shining through across both eras the book spans.

I thought that perhaps some of the secondary characters could have been explored more thoroughly - especially Dani’s colleague George - but the strong plot meant that this didn’t impede my enjoyment of the novel.

Overall, I’d give this four stars and would very much recommend picking up a copy when it releases on Thursday!

I received an advance Digital Review Copy of this book from the publisher Quercus via NetGalley. The opinions expressed in this review are my own.

Another great read from Jo Spain. I finished this one in two sittings over the weekend. Thanks to NetGalley and the Publisher for the advanced digital copy to review.

What another absolute cracker from Jo Spain.Very gripping storyline,easy to follow even though it was shifting back and forth.As always looking forward to the next one .

I am a huge fan of Jo Spain and I was delighted to get the opportunity to read her newest book The Trial. This was one of the most gripping and thrilling books I have read in a long time. I read it over the course of a day as I simply couldn’t put it down. I can’t wait to read more from the author in the future.

This is a great thriller.
The story covers two timelines - 2014 when Dani was studying at St Edmunds in Dublin and 2024 when Dani takes on a job there as a history professor.
We learn that something happened in 2014 that Dani has never really recovered from.
Now she is dealing with a new role and is concerned about her Mum as she has Alzheimer’s.
There is a drugs trial taking place and as it’s to do with finding a cure for Alzheimer’s, Dani needs to find out more.
It’s hard to say anymore without spoiling the rest of the story, so I’ll leave it there.
I really enjoyed this book and there’s some great twists and turns in the story.
Thanks to Quercus Books and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book.

Jo Spain’s latest stand alone is set in a prestigious college in Ireland where our main protagonist, Dani, is a past student but now she’s a professor teaching her old course.
Ten years ago when Dani was a student at St. Edmunds, her boyfriend, Theo, mysteriously disappeared and Dani never found out what happened to him.
This book takes an unexpected turn half way through and kept me guessing the whole way to the end. Full of mysterious characters and medical research with sinister consequences this standalone is sure to be a big hit. I’ll always recommend Jo Spain.

The Trial is an immersive dual-timeline mystery about an Irish college history professor who returns to the exclusive university she abandoned in second year after her boyfriend went missing. I don’t want to say too much for fear of spoilers, but the title gives away that part of the mystery involves a medical trial. I’ve worked as an investigator running clinical trials for nine years, so aspects of this didn’t ring true for me, but they aren’t things that would bother the average layperson. This is the fifth book I’ve read by this author, and while I haven’t loved all of them, when she’s good, she’s very good!

Dani MacLochlainn never got over the way her medical student boyfriend Theo got up one night and left her without saying goodbye ten years ago. She went to extreme lengths to try and find him, but has finally moved on, and is taking a junior professor post at her old university on the outskirts of Dublin. She learns that the well regarded medical research department is running a trial of a new wonder drug for Alzheimers disease, led by a charismatic clinician, which is of intense interest to her because her beloved mother is fading away from the same disease. The findings sound promising - so why did a nurse who raised concerns about side-effects die in suspicious circumstances, and who are the sinister drug company employees lurking on campus?

This is mostly told from Dani’s third person present POV in chapters that alternate between 2014 and the present. She’s a sympathetic character and we feel her mounting frustration as no one takes her concerns about Theo’s uncharacteristic absence seriously. In 2024, she’s older but still an impulsive risk-taker, and once her suspicions are raised, she’ll stop at nothing - including some highly dubious tactics - to get to the truth. The plot has a series of twists that are so well done that I didn’t see them coming, and enough cunning misdirection to keep me guessing.

Thanks to NetGalley and Quercus for the ARC. I’m posting this honest review voluntarily.
The Trial is published on April 25th.

What can I say? I flew through this book at lightning speed.

The Trial follows two timelines. 2014 to 2024. The location: St Edmunds College. Our main character Dani has returned to St Edmunds 10 years after she was a student to become a history lecturer. This dredges up a lot of past trauma especially with her boyfriend during her uni days, Theo going missing. Now in 2024 we find out more about what really happened to Theo during that time. Dani will stop at nothing to find out what happened to him. Whilst on campus she befriends Colm, a medical student who is working on a trial for Alzheimer's medication. But nothing is as it seems for the trial and the college.

I loved the storyline, the suspense and of course watching Dani grow while she tries to find some closure. I really enjoyed the medical side of this book along with the uni setting. I found myself with a few tears in my eyes at the end of this book.

Thank you Netgalley and Quercus Books for my gifted copy for my honest book review.

This was a well done thriller about an investigation into a trial for a controversial drug, touted as a "miracle" cure for Alzheimer's.

The setting is St Edmunds college in Dublin, Ireland, and it was so well described I could see the dorms, the courtyard, and offices in my head. It takes place in two time periods - 2014 when Dani was a student and her boyfriend Theo mysteriously went missing, and 2024 with Dani back at the college as a history professor.

Spain raises an excellent ethical question: If a college is paid to do research into a drug, how can the research be free of bias? How is it not a conflict of interest to accept money in exchange for research, and how likely is it that the results will be manipulated?

This book has relevance to real world issues and despite a little repetition and a long time taken to get to Dani's "secret" I found it riveting!

Thanks to NetGalley and Quercus Books for an advance reader's copy.

In the process of clinical trials approving a new drug are involved many people in different levels. Investigating insider's report Dani finds that some of them she met 10 years before, when she was looking for her disappeared boyfriend Theo.
The Trial in my opinion is one of the best this author's books. Slow paced mystery with now and then chapters attracts you and keeps you with it until you finished.

So excited to receive this book to review! So much going on as the story bounces between 2014 and today as two mysteries unfold, one personal and one with far reaching consequences. This story really grabbed me as a reader and pulled me in, so relatable and nothing silly or far fetched. Thank you to Netgalley for the advance reader copy.

2014, Dublin: at St. Edmunds, an elite college on the outskirts of the city, twenty-one-year-old medical student Theo gets up one morning, leaving behind his sleeping girlfriend, Dani, and his studies - never to be seen again. With too many unanswered questions, Dani simply can't accept Theo's disappearance and reports him missing, even though no one else seems concerned, including Theo's father. Ten year later, Dani returns to the college as a history professor. With her mother suffering from severe dementia, her past at St Edmunds and her past haunting her, she's trying for a new start. But not all is as it seems behind the cloistered college walls - meanwhile, Dani is hiding secrets of her own.

The story has a dual timeline - 2014, when protagonist, Dani, was struggling at St. Edmunds, and 2024, when Dani was a detective for the Garda Siochana, investigating the college she studied at. The college is testing a drug that could reverse the symptoms of Alzhieimer's.

Even though this book is a thriller, it's also heartbreaking. The premise does not give much away, so I was reading a totally unexpected storyline. It was the conversations that Dani had with her mother, who has dementia, that got to me the most. This is a compelling, well-written story, and I couldn't put this book down. We get some surprises along the way. The portrayal around dementia and how it impacts on the person who has it, and their family and friends, has been sensitively written.

Published 25th April

I would like to thank #NetGalley #QuercisBooks and the author #JoSpain for my ARC of #TheTrial in exchange for an honest review.

"The Trial" surprised with its dual-timeline (2014-2024) exploration of a past disappearance. Dani, a lecturer returning to St. Edmunds University, seeks answers about her missing boyfriend Theo. The believable story unfolds on a familiar campus setting, with well-developed characters. Cleverly woven twists and a connection to a pharmaceutical company kept me engaged. A touch repetitive at times, perhaps mirroring Dani's own struggle for truth.

This book drew me right in with its secrets and lies, a very tense read overall. I absolutely loved it!

Another great quality story from Jo Spain!
Thanks to NetGalley, the editor and the author for the opportunity to access this advanced copy.

The trial is a fast paced read that will keep you on the edge of your seat. I have loved every one of Jo Spain's books and this one was again superb!

The Trial is set across two time periods - 2014 and present - and it flicks between the two. We follow Dani, a student at St Edmunds College in Dublin whose boyfriend disappears out of the blue and no-one seems concerned. 10 years later, Dani returns to the college as a professor, hoping to make a fresh start after a difficult few years following her Mum's dementia diagnosis. However, Dani is struggling to forget what happened last time she was at the college and is plunged into a hunt to find out what really happened.

I really like Jo Spain's books, and this was no exception. It was a fast paced thriller that gripped me from the start and I couldn't get through it quick enough. Dani was such a well written character, I felt as though I knew her and was so invested in her journey.

The ending fell a little flat for me and I'm not really sure why, otherwise it would've easily been a 5* read.

My thanks to NetGalley and the Publishers for sending me this ARC in return for an honest review.

As soon as I started reading “The Trial”, I know it was going to be different to what I expected. I was pleasantly surprised by this. The book is set along dual timelines in 2014 and 2024, so it is right up to the present day. Dani has returned to St Edmunds, a prestigious university in Ireland as a lecturer, and to discover what happened to her boyfriend, Theo, all those years ago when he disappeared. This story was believable: I felt like I was walking the old halls of the university with Dani, and I felt like the characters were well crafted.
There are a lot of twists and herrings in this book as well, and each of them were cleverly connected as the story progressed. The connection to the pharmaceutical company and texting was a masterstroke because it was quite conceivable that this kind of research project would occur at a reputable university. It was also clever to tie a link to the research disease - Alzheimer’s – to Dani who was desperately holding out hope for a lifeline for her mother, whose life was coming to a close , impacted by the same disease. They very hope that this research could provide a cure or relief was the wanting from Dani that gave her hope emotionally, and a possible connection to finding out more about Theo’s disappearance.

There are moments where I found the writing went in circles, and I think this was a deliberate ploy to demonstrate Dani’s confusion, frustration and obsession for the truth. It was particularly clever in scenes with members of the medical research faculty where the likes of Declan Graham, Malachy, Colm and George all leading her down many paths.

I’ve read all of Jo Spain’s previous novels and loved them all so was looking forward to The Trial.
It’s set over two timelines of 2014 and 2024 at St Edmunds, an elite Dublin university. In 2014 Dani is studying History and in love with her French boyfriend Theo when he suddenly disappears. Ten years later Dani is back at the university as a lecturer, still trying to solve the mystery of Theo’s disappearance. Meanwhile medical trials on an Alzheimer’s drug are taking place at St Edmunds.
It’s hard to say too much without giving away the plot of The Trial, another well written and gripping thriller from the author. I liked the character of Dani and the St Edmunds setting is well done. It’s a multi layered plot that kept me guessing. The downside of the novel for me was much of the subject matter of medical trials and Big Pharma which I really struggled to maintain an interest in. For this reason I enjoyed this novel far less than the author’s previous books. Do read other reviews as there are many 5 star reviews and if this is a subject that interests you it’s a well written and gripping thriller. 3.5 stars.
Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this digital ARC.