The Verdict by Olivia Isaac-Henry
Genre: Psychological thriller, Crime fiction
Read: November 2019
Purchase: Amazon
(publication date: 31st October 2019)
★★★ 3 stars
When I read the premise for THE VERDICT, it sounded so intriguing I couldn't wait to sink my teeth into it. But the characters and the slow burn story did nothing to engage me that I felt as if I was just flipping pages to reach the end. While there was a surprising twist, I'm not sure if it was enough to save the story as a whole.
A body is found on the North Downs and Julia Winter is living her somewhat average life oblivious to the discovery...until she receives a text with a link to a news report warning her. Who is it from? Who knows her secret? Suddenly, Julia is awash with the knowledge that somebody must know the secret she's kept buried for so long. When the body is soon identified as one of the housemates she had shared a house with over 20 years ago, Julia realises she is caught in a web of lies and deception from which she can find no escape.
Julia was 23 when she fled London to quiet Guildford after her long-time boyfriend passed her over for another woman. Devastated, distraught and looking for an escape, she ends up sharing a grand house with the owner, Genevieve, and four other tenants - Lucy, Gideon, Brandon and Alan. Tensions ran high in the household and not everyone got along. When their house-sharing comes to and end, they all go their separate ways. Or do they?
Twenty three years later and Julia and two of her former housemates are on trial for murder.
Now 48, Julia is living in a bedsit after an affair resulted in the collapse of her marriage. She is insecure and at times rather irritating. And now she finds her character is under scrutiny after cheating on her husband and being estranged with her son. But is she a killer? Will this paint a darker picture of her and cloud the jury's judgement? There is such overwhelming evidence against her, will they believe her story?
None of the characters are particularly likable but they were interesting. Genevieve claimed to be a classically trained actress but rumoured to have been a "hostess". Mourning the loss of her son she refuses to acknowledge his death and latches onto Brandon, making him a sort of pet. She's mysterious, inventing dramas for the sole purpose of attracting attention. Of all of them, she was the most entertaining. Brandon is thoroughly unlikable who uses people for his own gain, Alan is a nasty backstabber, jealous of everyone else while Gideon is one of those slimy people who fit in anywhere, anytime...blending in and making friends. But is that just an act? Is he just a wolf in sheep's clothing? And Julia? She's a woman with a loose relationship with the truth, cheating on her husband more concerned with her climbing the corporate ladder than caring for her husband and son, in my opinion. But has she just been swept along by a course of events through which she has had no control? Or is she more calculated?
Set across three timelines, THE VERDICT got a little confusing at times trying to place the sequence of events in order but once you do, it's fairly straight-forward to follow. Though it would have been better had the story been told in a simpler timeline rather than all over the place. It was refreshing to note that events from all three timelines made sense in the end, as there is nothing worse than a confusing conclusion that leaves you up in the air with loose ends.
I found THE VERDICT to be slow moving and difficult to be enthralled by anyone or anything. It completely lacked excitement that by the time it began to get interesting it was too little too late, in my opinion. By that time I didn't really care what happened to Julia - whether she was guilty or not. And for this reason, I hate slow-burns. I like books to keep you engaged from the first page...and unfortunately THE VERDICT failed to do that.
A reasonably good read, if you like slow burns. Just not for me.
I would like to thank #OlivaIsaacHenry, #NetGalley and #HarperImpulse, #KillerReads and #OneMoreChapter for an ARC of #TheVerdict in exchange for an honest review.
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