The police say she’s guilty.
She insists she’s innocent.
She’s your sister.
You loved her.
You trusted her.
But they say she killed your child.
Who do you believe?
*********
Gillian McAllister writes great stories. No Further Questions is her third novel and I loved it. Gillian McAllister doesn’t mess about. I was hooked immediately.
The story centres round a court case but it’s also about a family and how everyone is affected by a terrible tragedy. The first voice is Martha’s whose baby daughter died. She’s in Court and it’s the first day of the trial. The defence says cot death; the prosecution says murder. They can’t both be right but her sister Becky, who was minding baby Layla at the time, has been charged with murder.
The story is told through witness testimony and flashbacks and observations of the lawyers, the judge, family members and of course the two sisters, Martha and Becky. I don’t think I’ve ever felt so conflicted. I was pulled in all directions. I would go from, “there’s no way Becky murdered her niece” to “oh, I didn’t realise that, maybe she is hiding something” then something would be said that turned everything on its head again. As the story unfolded doubts crept in (on a regular basis) as to what really happened.
There are no good or bad characters. Nothing is quite black or white. They all have their flaws and their good qualities. I liked them and cared about what happened to them.
Although the story centres round a tragedy, I really enjoyed it. It’s quite an emotional roller-coaster but the writing is good, the characters are interesting and believable and I felt involved all the way through.
A book I found difficult to put down; I’d definitely recommend it.
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