Loved this book !

I have read lots of Tasmina Perry so expected something similar but writing as JL Butler this was different altogether and I thoroughly enjoyed the story and the characters. The plot was really good and kept me guessing who the culprit was right up to the reveal.
I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys an interesting but quirky female leading character and a decent storyline.
I am looking forward to the next Butler book coming out.

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Hard work

As a Tasmina Perry fan, I wanted to love this. And perhaps if Id read it Id have felt different. I found the narration a bit hard going, I kept finding myself drifting off and having to rewind. Bit dull and ploddy.

The story itself was decent, kept me guessing until the end although I still prefer Tasmina’s normal style. I didn’t find myself particularly liking any of the characters, which was good for the who was it where is she aspect of the plot but didn’t find myself rooting for anyone really. If another one is written as JL Butler I think I’ll try reading it myself and seeing if I find that different.

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Excellent couldn’t put it down

It was pretty transparent to me early on who was responsible (I don’t want to say too much) however I really enjoyed the pace of the book and nuances set out by the author

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Enjoyable

Good thriller, worth listening to . Excellent descriptions of London. Kept you guessing to the end .

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what a great thriller!

enjoyed from the very beginning! narrated magistrally, it hooked me and I could not put it down

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A good story

Interesting story even though I spent most of my time totally exasperated by the action of the main character. I am pleased I listened to the end it was worth it

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1 person found this helpful

So nearly a 5-star thriller-a right riveting read!

I loved this book and it was so nearly a 5 star read for me - so much so I broke my "no mental illness in a protagonist" rule - as so often used as a lazy weasel to explain away the mysteries and really disrespectful to those who suffer from mental health disorders as so often inaccurately detailed.

However I was in deep when the mental health issue was brought up so I stuck with it. I think it would have been just as good without that additional theme running through and in ways it did detract from the story and really contributed nothing in my opinion.

The other thing I could have done without was the theme of Northern girl goes South and though the narrator did a great job, the accent did grate a lot for me as a non native of the UK and at times I found it overpowered the story so would have found it more pleasurable listening with a more neutral accent.

This is a great tribute to the book that I struggled through these two off putting issues and thoroughly enjoyed the book.

I did not care much for the protagonist and I did find myself gritting my teeth at some of her thoughts, actions, skewed logic and priorities and sometimes the language was a bit graphic for me - but it was a rip roaring story and I really did love it.

I did love all the wonderfully descriptive vignettes of London and the legal world it conjured up and I did rather like the bad boy romantic interest and all the twists and turns, though would have preferred a more capable protagonist and it was hard to believe that such a wishy washy silly billy could have become a top barrister ... but hey ho, it was all very gripping, intriguing and fun. Plus I loved the mention of Lemon Wine and Rose Lattes - both of which I had to google - both so on trend and both I would love to try!

I find myself wondering more and more these days, do editors exist as my other little gripe with this book was the number of times people "puffed out their cheeks" and "gaped". Francine, the protagonist must have puffed out her cheeks about 5 times and gaped about three times but she was not the only one as one of the male characters caught the habit and also started puffing his cheeks out .... um a good editor should have spotted this and requested paraphrasing or just a simple lack of repetition as it took away from an otherwise excellent book.

I am a big fan of Tasmina Perry's last couple of books and I can highly recommend this book written under her new pen name of J L Butler despite my own personal preferences and I so look forward to the next book in the series " ALONE" which I have on preorder!

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4 people found this helpful

Not for me

High hopes for this book quickly dashed by the quite unbelievable and utterly dislikeable main character. A barrister would really behave that way? Far-fetched storyline.

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4 people found this helpful