Innocent or Guilty by A.M. Taylor – Review

Innocent or Guilty is a murder mystery that takes the reader through many twists and turns. Author, A.M. Taylor, weaves a grand tale of murder, power, innocence, and long-held guilt.

Synopsis:

A gripping psychological thriller full of twists and turns! The murderer might be closer than you think…

One morning ten years ago, the town of Twin Rivers changed forever when the body of Tyler Washington was found in the woods. Son of the mayor, star of the high school basketball team – his death struck right at the heart of this tight-knit community.

For Olivia Hall, Tyler’s death heralded the start of her own personal nightmare – her twin brother, Ethan, was arrested for Tyler’s murder. Ten years later, Ethan is still in jail. Olivia is convinced he is innocent, and now, a true crime podcast has taken up his case.

As the podcast digs deeper, secrets, lies and shocking revelations are all uncovered. For the first time, Olivia dares to hope that Ethan may be set free. But if he didn’t kill Tyler, who did? And how far will they go to keep their secrets safe?

Perfect for fans of podcasts Serial, Happy Face and The Teacher’s Pet, and TV shows Making a Murderer, Staircase and Dirty John

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My Review:

Trigger Warning: Violence and Rape

Liv Hall was your typical popular cheerleader type girl growing up in Twin Rivers. She had it all. She had a great boyfriend, a wonderful family, all the friends you could ask for or did she? What lies under the surface?

We have a novel that starts out in the present when Liv is all grown up and has become a lawyer. She is working on a case that hits too close to home. As she tries to move forward, Kat and Ray, true crime podcasters, approach Liv because they want to feature the murder of teenager Tyler Washington on their show. A crime that took place in Twin Rivers just after Liv’s high school graduation. The convicted murderer is her twin brother, Ethan, who is sitting in prison for the crime. But is he guilty?

I enjoyed Innocent or Guilty. The murder, the mystery, and the podcast dimension were all well-done.

I admire this author for going in that direction. Jumping back and forth from present-day to ten years ago in the narrative was a wonderful touch. Taylor’s characters have wonderful personalities, the good and the evil alike. There are some characters that I hated, but this is a powerful emotion to elicit from a reader. Great love, and/or exceptional hate are marks of great characters written by a powerful author.

Unfortunately, I must say that the story did drag in some parts. There is only so much we need to know about a few aspects of the book. The whole mystery was somewhat lackluster until the very end when there was some real excitement, and let me tell you, there was some real excitement! My pulse was racing and I was sweating profusely during the last several chapters of the novel!

Consequently, even though the book did move a bit slow, I still urge you to read it. Anyone who loves a good murder mystery/thriller should give this book a try. I award Innocent or Guilty 4 stars out of 5, mostly due to the dragging and the overlap of some points. Otherwise, great book and a fascinating way to spend a weekend.

Thank you to NetGalley and Harper Collins for providing me a copy in exchange for an honest review.