Anatomy Of A Scandal

My rating: * * *

Goodreads Description

Sophie’s husband James is a loving father, a handsome man, a charismatic and successful public figure. And yet he stands accused of a terrible crime. Sophie is convinced he is innocent and desperate to protect her precious family from the lies that threaten to rip them apart. Kate is the lawyer hired to prosecute the case: an experienced professional who knows that the law is all about winning the argument. And yet Kate seeks the truth at all times. She is certain James is guilty and is determined he will pay for his crimes. Who is right about James? Sophie or Kate? And is either of them informed by anything more than instinct and personal experience? Despite her privileged upbringing, Sophie is well aware that her beautiful life is not inviolable. She has known it since she and James were first lovers, at Oxford, and she witnessed how easily pleasure could tip into tragedy. Most people would prefer not to try to understand what passes between a man and a woman when they are alone: alone in bed, alone in an embrace, alone in an elevator… Or alone in the moonlit courtyard of an Oxford college, where a girl once stood before a boy, heart pounding with excitement, then fear. Sophie never understood why her tutorial partner Holly left Oxford so abruptly. What would she think, if she knew the truth?

My Review

For those of you that like your novels to build slowly, for the suspense to tick along, page by page, and to then have the odd bit of legal procedure tossed in to the mix, this novel will be for you!

It's been such a long time since I've read a cracking legal thriller that I was really excited to get into this one. It's been a much hyped up book and I've eagerly awaited its release since first hearing about it. For me, the let-down in regard to this one was that it contained very little courtroom action, and the courtroom scenes that there were, seemed rather pedestrian and lacked the gripping nature of other legal thrillers that I've read.

Having said that, I did enjoy the general story which focuses on Holly, Kate, Sophie and James, and their interactions with each other. This is also a book about abuse and more specifically, about rape. At the heart of this story is a theme that most of us in South Africa understand all too well - how easy it is for people in government and in powerful positions to get away with all sorts of criminal behaviour, and how they seem to be above the law.

I found this novel to be a slow one. It's a good read but it definitely doesn't rocket along. There were stages where I felt that the pace could have been increased somewhat and where, if truth be told, I would skim read a few pages to move the story along. I'm never really a fan of that and what it ultimately means is that although I enjoyed the story, a rating of anything higher than 3 stars couldn't be justified.

It's a good one, but it's not going to make it onto my list of 2018 favourites.

My Rating: * * *

Publication Date: March 2018 (South Africa)

Genre: Suspense / Court-Room Drama

Format: Trade Paperback

Source: Review copy received from the publisher. Many thanks to author, Sarah Vaughan and Jonathan Ball SA for my copy. It was my pleasure to read and review this title.