My enormous thanks to Jenny Platt at Penguin for inviting me to be part of the launch celebrations for No Further Questions by Gillian McAllistair and for sending me a copy of the book in return for an honest review.

No Further Questions was published in by Penguin in e-book on 2nd July and is available for purchase through the links here.

No Further Questions

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?

Original, devilishly clever and impossible to forget, this is a thriller with a difference. You won’t be able to tear yourself away from the trial that will determine both sisters’ fates.

My Review of No Further Questions

With her sister Becky on trial for killing Martha’s daughter Layla, Martha doesn’t know what to believe.

Oh my goodness. What a thrilling read. I was captivated from the very first word and put my life on hold because I could not tear myself away from No Further Questions. It is an absolute corker of a book. I read it over a weekend and found myself awake in the night between the two days trying to decide what had happened to Layla and how I felt about the evidence presented. Gillian McAllister is such a clever, and indeed, devious writer because she makes the reader almost become Martha in the court room, contemplating the witness statements and the evidence base. I felt tense the whole time I was reading and I’m sure I suspected every character of having caused Layla’s death at some point.

Gillian McAllister is also incredibly skilful in making the reader realise they could easily find themselves in a similar situation and in making them question who really is to blame in such circumstances so that not only is No Further Questions a fantastic and exhilarating read, it is also a morally challenging one that makes the reader think and assess their own approaches in life. Had I been one of Becky’s neighbours would I have behaved as they did, or differently? I honestly don’t know and am left feeling quite disturbed as a result. No Further Questions is not a book I’ll forget in a hurry!

The plot and structure are just perfect. As Becky’s trial forms the backbone of the story, we get the details through a range of narrators including Martha so that it isn’t clear who is reliable. This adds to the tension and atmosphere in a manner that I found so effective. I want to say all kinds of other things about the plot but I can’t for fear of ruining this magnificent story for other readers. Let me just say it is fabulous as is the overall quality of the writing.

I thought No Further Questions was utterly brilliant and I simply cannot recommend it highly enough.

About Gillian McAllister

Gillian McAllister has been writing for as long as she can remember. She graduated with an English degree and lives in Birmingham, where she now works as a lawyer. Her debut novel Everything But The Truth was a Sunday Times Top Ten bestseller. You can find out more about Gillian on her website and by following her on Twitter @GillianMAuthor.

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