3.5 stars. ( )

Gillian McAllister is one of those authors where you know you're guaranteed a great read when you pick up their book and The Evidence Against You, Gillian McAllister's fourth novel, is no exception. Being first published in 2017, I still think of Gillian McAllister as a new author but, with four cracking thrillers under her belt already, she certainly seems to have caught the writing bug, which is excellent news for us readers.

I really loved the character of Izzy; she is filled with so much emotion that all of her feelings spill out of every page. Her family was snatched away from her in an instant when her father was imprisoned for killing her mother. Izzy has taken over the running of her mother's restaurant, Alexandra's, mainly as a way to keep her mother's memory alive as Izzy's love is for ballet not food. So when Izzy's father, Gabe, is released from prison he knows exactly where to find her.

Izzy's feelings for her father are so mixed. Naturally, she is confused, as she was quite a daddy's girl when she was younger (weren't we all), but all of the evidence points to the fact that her father killed her mother, Alex. When Gabe gets the chance to speak to Izzy, you can feel her defences crumbling as he adds the crucial ingredient of doubt; but the other man in her life, her husband Nick, is a police analyst and he keeps reminding Izzy that her father was convicted so he must be guilty. Right?

I experienced a see saw of emotions whilst reading The Evidence Against You as the evidence and facts all point to Gabe's guilt but he continues to profess his innocence, as do all convicted criminals. So who do you believe? I loved the flashbacks to the time around Alex's death, with viewpoints from both Gabe and Izzy. It's really interesting to see both sides of a story and to see how easily you can jump to conclusions from hearing just part of a conversation.

I know without a doubt that Gillian McAllister will be at the top of the charts with everything that she writes but as much as I enjoyed The Evidence Against You, something didn't quite give it the full five star experience for me. I didn't really connect with the characters, although they are expertly fully formed, and the story interested, but didn't fully grip me. I guess it might depend on whether you believe Gabe's version of events or not, as to whether you'll get that jaw dropping moment at the end.

The Evidence Against You reminded me of one of those adventure books you may have read when you were younger, where you can choose your own path in the story. Whether you are on Gabe's side or not will determine your experience of The Evidence Against You; either way you're in for a mighty fine story written by one of the finest young authors around at the moment. Keep an eye on this author; Gillian McAllister is setting out for world domination, so make sure you read all of her books right now!

I chose to read an ARC and this is my honest and unbiased opinion. ( )

Eighteen years ago Izzy's Mum was murdered and her life changed for ever. Now her Mother's murderer is being set free on licence and he wants to catch up with Izzy - he's her father. Happily married and running the family restaurant on the Isle of Wight, Izzy isn't keen to meet but she still has unanswered questions from those days.
There's an interesting premise her, the father convicted of murder, the hazy memories and the long-buried truth. However I found the thin plot very stretched by the end and it didn't help that not a single character was likeable! ( )

This is my first Gillian McAllister book, although I seem to have them all patiently waiting for me to get to them. The Evidence Against You is an excellent read, a family drama as much as a psychological thriller.

Izzy English is now in her mid-thirties. When she was 17 her father was convicted of murdering her mother and apart from one brief visit to see him in prison, she hasn't seen him since. But now he's been released and he's back in her life. Izzy has never really doubted the conviction but her father wants her now to believe that he is innocent. Either way, either her father did kill her mother or he was innocent and she lost him for so many years anyway. She doesn't really have anything to lose by listening to him or does she?

Poor Izzy. She's almost been in a state of limbo, her hopes and dreams tossed aside and, although she moved on with her life, she was also kind of stuck in the past. I liked Izzy. She's very tenacious and quietly brave, almost stoical about her situation.

This is such an interesting storyline. It really made me consider family ties and whether you should trust someone just because they are your family. It's also so cleverly weaved together. It's quite a slow burner of a story, but don't take that to mean boring because it's definitely not that. It's just that it's a steady build up as the information is drip fed to the reader. It's just as it would be if Izzy were a real person and she was trying to find out what happened in the past. I loved how it all unfolded and I honestly never saw the ending coming in a million years.

The Evidence Against You is a story about family, about loss, about betrayal. It's quite a sad story really but I really enjoyed this complex and compelling tale. ( )

My first review of 2019, and I couldn’t have asked for a better book than this to start the new year off with!

I have read a fair few of Gillian McAllister’s books and throughly enjoyed every one but this one is her best one to date. The only reason it took me this long to finish was down to a pretty nasty flare up of my ME and I am still recovering so I will leave a much much better review once I am fully back on my feet so to speak!

For now all I will say is – This book is her best one yet! If you have read her previous novels then you will know that that is saying an awful lot!

I will come back and leave a proper review once I am back on my feet so to speak!

The Evidence Against You will be released on April 18, 2019 can is available to pre-order now

Many thanks to the author Gillian McAllister, publishers Penguin UK – Michael Joseph and NetGalley for my copy in exchange for an honest, independent review.

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