Your Word Or Mine: A shockingly twisty, gripping psychological thriller Paperback – 1 Sept. 2022

seems like it will be a good read

I wasn't sure about buying this as sometimes stories relaying graphic assaults can be too much, but this book achieved just the right amount of darkness! The characters were well written and easy to sympathise with. The story was well paced and I found myself totally immersed in the plot. An absolute page turner.

First book by this author. Really enjoyed it, a real page turner and well written. Just wanted to keep reading to see the outcome, very gripping and looking forward to reading more from Lia Middleton.

Lia Middleton’s second book didn’t disappoint, after I had loved her debut thriller When They Find Her so much. Your Word or Mine is, if anything, even more of a page-turner, with twist after twist that I didn’t see coming.I loved the courtroom scenes, particularly, they felt properly authentic, coming from a writer who is also a barrister.Five stars from me, and will be looking out for the next one with anticipation.

Rating: 3.0/5Early reviews of "Your Word or Mine" have been almost exclusively positive - and it isn't difficult to see why. It tells the story of Annabelle King, a teenager who was brutally assaulted. Although she took her attacker to court, a key piece of evidence was deemed inadmissible and the accused was acquitted. Eighteen years later, Annabelle has become Ava Knight, a successful barrister and finds her path once again crossing that of the man who walked free all those years ago. Even though she knows she should walk away from this new case, Ava cannot resist the temptation to become entangled in it.Author, Lia Middleton, has followed the adage of "writing what you know" by setting this thriller in the world of criminal law, with which she is intimately familiar. The story is certainly engaging as well as entertaining and you would expect that the author's insider knowledge would ensure an overriding sense of realism ... but that is really where this novel comes up short.Without going into detail and risking spoilers, "Your Word or Mine" requires a significant amount of suspension of disbelief in order to accept that Ava, an educated and professional woman, would behave in the manner, and pursue the course of action, that she does. Even allowing for dramatic licence, there are too many occasions when credulity is stretched too far and is hard to swallow.Stylistically, I was not totally convinced either. The narrative is told from two viewpoints: Primarily that of Ava, but also that of Lily, the teenager involved in the current legal proceedings. The author opts to use the first person for both accounts, which is fair enough - but it does mean that there is a need to give each character a distinct and credible voice ... and I don't think Lia Middleton succeeds in that. I have no issue with the voice attributed to Ava, but there was no clear distinction between her voice and the one attributed to Lily - and in Lily's case it really didn't strike me as authentic.Overall, although "Your Word or Mine" is an enjoyable read, it doesn't have the required level of believability that the best in class from this genre display.

A little slow at the start but once it picked up I could not put it down. Well worth a read.

A five star read and more! Take a bow Ms Middleton. The tension throughout this book was unbelievable building and building until the end - the final court scene was incredible and oh my the twist at the end……A riveting read, exceptionally well written, believable characters, strong story line what more can I say other then READ THIS BOOK!!!!

Even better than her first (which was also v. good!)I read parts of this book from behind my fingers (!) with my heart in my mouth in less than a day. I can't recommend this book highly enough, it's part courtroom drama, part psychological, part thriller and truly brilliant.

This was very slow to start and our protagonist didn't endear herself to me with her lies and deception, despite her being a victim. The things she did were so unbelievable or so unrealistic that I pondered throwing the book in several times. In fairness, however, things did get exciting and interesting from about two-thirds of the way into the book and there were a couple of well-delivered twists. This is not a legal thriller, as court time is minimal, but it eventually becomes an engaging story despite being well over-the-top overall.