Wow was this a much more difficult read than I thought it would be. Hold on that’s not meant in a bad way, more that it was a little close to home . Having been with a controlling partner for 13 years ( I managed to escape 5 years ago) I recognised a lot of the gaslighting and how easy it is to be chipped away at a little bit at a time until before you know it you’ve disappeared. This was written with subtlety, and in a time where women no longer have control over what happens to their bodies it couldn’t be more appropriate.

The characterisation is flawless and what I enjoyed the most was how even when the women seemed helpless and weak they were strong. It takes great skill to write with such nuance .

Maria was so complex I didn’t know what to believe and Lottie fell into the trap of flattery (when will women learn)!

I was fascinated by the courtroom proceedings and felt like I was part of the jury as the evidence was presented. I did wonder if being a female reader my judgement would automatically side with Maria but with a female prosecutor this made it harder which was clever.

With a great start, a captivating middle and an ending that you have no idea where it’s going to go this is a book I would highly recommend.

What a great book! I loved the 2 strong female characters and the way their lives started our so differently but ended up very similar. This book was easy to read and kept me interested and the best part was the very unexpected ending, really hadn’t seen that coming. Would like to read more books written by this author.

If you’ve picked this up because you have enjoyed Helen Fields’ DI Callanagh novels, you may well be a little disappointed. Part of the strength of that series is the excellent characterisation and the intriguing relationships between the police, as well as the carefully plotted narrative. In ‘Degrees of Guilt’ the focus is on a middle-aged woman on trial for murdering her famous ecologist husband, lauded by all who recognise those the importance of sustainable living. Whilst the plot is well constructed and the courtroom scenes feel relatively authentic if overly dramatic at times, the characterisation and the jury relationships that develop are both hard to accept. Much of the storyline is built on the reader accepting stereotypes: controlling Asian husband; right-wing tattooed thug; effete art dealer; WI-type bossy woman. Disappointing when I have read HS Chandler, writing as Helen Field, giving her readers far more subtle depictions.
In particular, the erotic scenes between Lottie, bored housewife, and Cameron, muscly carpenter, felt like little more than fantasy/titillation. Would something of this nature really escalate so quickly, and in such circumstances? Cameron’s reasons for embarking on the flirtation are very sketchily told and, without giving away any plot spoilers, it is difficult to imagine the person who is controlling him setting up all of this so successfully.
However, HS Chandler does write about coercive control very powerfully. This important subject has, rightly, been given a lot of coverage recently in many different areas and the way in which she shows just how impotent and despairing Maria becomes as her husband grows more and more controlling, manipulative and punitive is both credible and horrifying. This alone makes the novel worth reading.
My thanks to NetGalley and Orion Publishing Group Trapeze for a copy of this novel in exchange for a fair review.

Maria is on trial for the attempted murder of her husband. Her fate lies in the hand a of 12 strangers who have their own issues. Do they believe that mild Maria could be evil enough to smash her husband’s skull in as he sat at the table? Lottie is one of the jurors and her unhappiness in her own life could lead her down a path she can’t escape from.

Wow this was a really gripping read and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Thank you to netgalley and the publishers for this arc in exchange for my honest review.

Wow I loved this book, it was a real page turner and I read it every spare moment that I had. The characters were brilliant and just when you thought you had it all worked out the author threw in a curveball to change your opinion. I would like to thank the author and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read this book, I will be recommending it to everyone I know.

At first, I thought I knew where this was leading and that it was going to be predictable. However, I was surprised when the twists came near the end. I thought the sexual scenes between Lottie and Cameron came close to chick-lit so I almost gave up reading. I did not think that any of the characters were particularly strong and felt that Ruth's role in the affair was insufficiently explained ( however I did skim a large portion in the middle when it dragged on.) The courtroom scenes were presumably authentic as the author was a barrister but some of the procedures sounded a bit false, and the behaviour of the jury was a little cliched. This is nowhere near as good as Appletree Yard.

I found this to be a very readable book. Maria has killed her husband - there can be no doubt about that. She hit him hard with a chair leg inflicting terrible injuries to him and immediately called the emergency services. When they arrive she shows no emotion until she realises he is in fact still alive. Then she shows her dismay.

Several months later she is on trial for attempted murder and we are introduced to the jury who will decide her fate. Lottie is the main character here, a young married woman at home with a child and bored. The jury members tend to be a little too stereotypical for my taste: the middle class woman taking control, the elderly jurors quick to judge, the tattooed thug. What follows is shown through Lottie's and Maria's eyes and is a tale of domestic coercive control. But will the jury believe Maria or will the prosecution produce enough evidence to show that Maria is a cold blooded killer who was just after her husband's money?

It's a cleverly plotted book, though not without its faults . The relationship that springs up between Lottie and her fellow juror Cameron isn't believable. It escalates too quickly - remember these are two people on jury duty with ten other pairs of (judgemental) eyes on them. The denouement too is a bit 'off'. Having said that, I did enjoy it and if you like courtroom dramas you ought to like this too, Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

Days after reading Degrees if Guilt it’s still going to play on your mind! Which to me is a sign of a great book!

Maria calls the police one night informing them she’s just killed her husband. What follows is a dark gritty tale set in the courtroom from Maria and one of the jurors points of view.

Honestly I loved the characters, yes I know they’re flawed but aren’t we all?

This is a clear 5/5

I always love a courtroom drama, and this book certainly didn't disappoint. The story is shocking, and sadly very topical, and the characters are completely believable and involving. The ending is clever but feels appropriate, and I would thoroughly recommend this book if you want an unputdownable read, which will make you think about it long after you have finished it.

A quick and satisfying read that will please any fan of a murder mystery/legal drama.

The two parallel plotlines of Maria, on trial for the murder of her husband, and Lottie, one of the jurors, are interwoven nicely. Its always clear whose story you are reading at any given time and as their fates converge we are given hints as to the eventual outcome. However, it was so subtle that I really couldn't predict how it would end.

I found the relationship between Lottie and the other juror, Cameron, a little far fetched and it moved too quickly to be believable at times. However, the characters were well developed (even minor characters such as other jurors) and their relationships develop interestingly over the course of the book. Lottie's development is particularly interesting as she changes quite significantly throughout the story.

Worth a read for crime/mystery fans.

As a page-turner this captured my imagination, though there are places where the writing gets a bit bogged down in minutiae that could be edited out without detriment to the tale. I like that there are serious issues at the book's heart about the nature of an abusive marriage: the slow creep of control, the unintended complicity of the victim, the sheer malice of the abuser, the way in which the story can sound unbelievable - all of this is handled with sensitivity and insight.

The second plot-line of Lottie and her erotic attraction to a fellow juror is also gripping, though Lottie's naivety can sometimes be hard to swallow...

The end of the book, though, for me was a disappointment: suddenly all kinds of thriller-ish tropes appear with the ubiquitous twists feeling almost gratuitous. All the same, I raced through this in 2 days, a testament to its grip: it's definitely commercial fiction rather than anything more literary, but with a strong and serious message that gives it some weight.

I didn’t find this book suspenseful. Very average. Felt the middle was too drawn out but was shocked by the events at the end.

I received an advanced reader’s copy in exchange for an honest review

I really wasn’t expecting such a nuanced exploration of psychological abuse inside a legal thriller. Top of the line and makes some gusty feminist arguments about the everyday life of many women. Five plus