Lost on the scales of justice
THE TRIALS OF LILA DALTON by L.J. Shepherd (Pushkin Vertigo £16.99, 352 pp)
NOW and again a new writer with a real feel for language and a genuine grasp of what makes a good psychological plot comes along. Enter L.J. Shepherd.
Shepherd’s chief protagonist is Lila Dalton, a barrister suffering amnesia. She finds herself, for reasons she doesn’t know, standing in a courtroom with a man accused of mass murder and bombing the Home Office.
In case things aren’t weird enough, the courtroom is on an island reserved for trying particularly serious cases.
And on top of that, Lila herself is being watched and dealing with threats against her daughter. In summary the plot sounds a bit crazy. And it is a heady, ambitious mix of courtroom drama and dystopian mystery. But, thanks to Shepherd’s formidable prose skills, she pulls off a winner.
WHAT WE DID IN THE STORM by Tina Baker (Viper £16.99, 400 pp)
TINA Baker is still probably best known for her appearances as a TV critic on BBC and GMTV and for winning ITV’s Celebrity Fit Club. All that might be about to change with this, her second, and very enticing, thriller.
The backdrop is Tresco, the second biggest island of the Isles of Scilly, where wealthy incomers and the locals seem to rub along until the aftermath of a violent storm.
Everything changes when two women are attacked and one goes missing. Suddenly there are rumours and intrigue about marriages and relationships which threaten to blow up the island’s chocolate-box image. Baker’s deceptively simple style belies the power she brings to storytelling and how she gets under the skin of so many characters. The story is told by multiple voices; sometimes there are too many, but it’s the only flaw in an otherwise well told tale with a satisfying conclusion.
Perfect for readers who love to be transported to new places to get their thrills.
NIGHTWATCHING by Tracy Sierra (Viking £14.99, 368 pp)
AN UNNAMED mother has just put her children to bed when she hears a noise on the stairs and sees a man creeping up them. There is a blizzard outside and she has to make a split-second decision about the best way to survive and protect her children.
She decides to hide with them in a secret room in another part of the house and wait it out. Of course, this means keeping the children quiet so as not to alert him.
What unfolds is a powerful account of the woman’s present trauma, but her past ordeals are also told in equally powerful flashbacks.
However, our excursions into her past don’t necessarily fill us with confidence about her reliability. Then a few more twists and turns in the plot make us doubt ourselves.
The extreme tension at the start of the book builds, sags a little in the middle but builds again and triumphs in a gripping and convincing finale.
Not for the faint-hearted.