Genre: Mystery/Thriller
Description:
“The truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth…?
Miriam Hassan stands in the defendant’s dock at Birmingham Crown Court
charged with the cold-blooded murder of her well-known, rich, charismatic
husband Zaf, to which she pleads not guilty. However, nothing is
straightforward.
There is conflicting witness testimony. The couple argued on the day
in question, and Miriam was overheard threatening him. A witness places her at
the scene of the crime. Miriam’s evidence casts doubt on her guilt, but no one
can corroborate it.
It soon becomes apparent that both Zaf and the marriage were not as
they seemed. Miriam discloses details about the ‘gaslighting’ and emotional
abuse she suffered, and the court also discovers that Zaf in fact had a number
of enemies. On the other hand, Miriam stands to inherit Zaf’s vast fortune if
she walks free.
Through the moving testimony in the courtroom and dramatic flashbacks
of the two-year marriage, the reader is taken on a gripping and
thought-provoking journey, but when the shocking truth is finally revealed, the
reader will be left with a moral question that may be difficult to answer.”
Author:
“Abda Khan is an award winning lawyer turned author. Her first novel Stained
(2016) has been praised as the 'contemporary Tess of the d'Urbervilles' by
Booklist (USA). Her novel Razia (2019), is a gripping story about a
lawyer's fight for justice for a modern day slave. Khan's debut poetry
collection, Losing Battles Winning Wars, is a thought-provoking journey
through the challenges she has navigated as a first generation British
Pakistani Muslim woman. Khan was Highly Commended in the Nat West Asian Women of
Achievement Awards, 2017, and won British Muslim Woman of the Year at the
British Muslim Awards 2019. Khan also teaches creative writing and produces and
directs community based creative projects.”
Appraisal:
This was an interesting and thought-provoking book. The way it is
structured with the timeline shifting back and forth from Miriam being in court
on trial for murder and then shifting to her life leading up to this point kept
the reader guessing and wondering what the story was. Did Miram kill her
husband, Zaf? Maybe, maybe not. If she did, will she be able to show it was
self defense or something else justifiable? Even if she should be found guilty
based on the legal aspects, should she really? I suppose some people could fall
on either side of the argument for most of the way and definitely when the
story concludes the answer might not be clear. However, it will also get you
thinking about cultures and religions (and no, I’m not talking about just
Muslims as depicted here, but plenty of others) where misogyny is normalized
and marriage that should be a partnership is expected by some to be a
dictatorship. The results can be ugly.
Buy now
from: Amazon US Amazon UK
FYI:
Some adult language.
Format/Typo
Issues:
Review is based on an Advance Reader Copy, so I can’t gauge the final
product in this area.
Rating: *****
Five Stars
Reviewed
by: BigAl
Approximate word count: 85-90,000 words
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