Powerful and Eye-Opening

The Boy from Tiger Bay is a gripping true-crime story that exposes one of the UK’s worst miscarriages of justice. Ceri Jackson combines meticulous research with emotional depth, telling the harrowing story of the Cardiff Five through the eyes of one of the wrongfully accused. It’s a sobering look at systemic racism, police misconduct, and the long fight for truth. A must-read for true crime and social justice readers alike Thanks to NetGalley and to the publishers of this book for giving me a free advance copy of the book to preview and I am leaving this review voluntarily

I love true crime and was really looking forward to reading The Boy From Tiger Bay by Ceri Jackson. While I did enjoy it, I can’t place it at the top of my recommendation list. The true story behind the novel is one that absolutely deserves to be told and heard. However, I had a difficult time getting in to it for some reason. It could be in part that the vernacular was so confusing to me, and even with context clues I had a difficult time fully understanding all of it. But even with that, the narrative simply didn’t draw me in as much as I’d hoped and was expecting.

Nevertheless, I’d give it a solid 3 stars.

Thank you to the author, publisher and netgalley for the opportunity to read this advanced reader copy in exchange for my honest review.

This is absolutely eye opening and an essential read for people studying policing or criminology. What a sad story and a humongous miscarriage of justice. So many lives affected by this! The book is written very well too.

i want to say i cant believe this happened. but i can. i want to say i cant believe it would ever happen again,today. but id be lying. it will and it certainly does...is. its terrifying though. to read these words and see just the effects this had on such a ripple effect of people. how more victims came from this than was ever necessary and how the real victim never got her own justice.
the bias we see in this book i can see mirrored in words and actions we still see today. and in some cases this kind of disgusting attitude and culture is getting worse. it would feel a worrying lesson to learn reading this book. but instead it feels like a worrying ever present reality. a reality that must make the lives of so many fearful every single day they walk the streets. that amount of constant weight must feel so heavy. and there are then those of us that feel so stupid and pitiful for daring to write our "shame" or "concern" and still not be able to do anything about it. all i can do is hope that i can be some sort of ally if that is ever enough. it often doesnt feel like it. and the trouble is this touches us all. this kind of thing does effect the wider world. i wish more people would get this into their heads. it impacts us all.
this book is a fantastic read and im glad the author got a chance to do so.

I always struggle with writing reviews for non-fiction books, but I will endeavour to do my best for this one; as this was outstanding.

Somehow, the story of Lynette White and the Cardiff Five has managed to only exist on the periphery of my knowledge. Despite living only 45 minutes away from what was Tiger Bay and being a bit of a true crime addict, I knew only vague details so I was itching to know more.

This book has been written from the perspective of John Actie who was one of the wrongly accused Cardiff Five. His story and that of the other men has broken me. How incredibly sad that an "investigation" could so easily snowball to the point where countless lives were destroyed for decades afterwards.

The book was written incredibly well. Some true crime books can read a little like a text book and I find those difficult to engage with but this book managed to give me all of the detail whilst injecting raw emotion which oozed off of the pages.

I'm so glad that I came across this book by chance and got hold of a copy. The outrage, the heartbreak and the deep sadness this book has given me won't be forgotten quickly.

The Boy From Tiger Bay' by Cero Jackson is a hard-hitting, impactful read that sheds light on police corruption and the wrongful incarceration of five men. The author's thorough research is evident, exposing huge injustices. Although the writing style wasn't my usual cup of tea, I found it an interesting read, particularly for those familiar with the case. It's a powerful exploration of a disturbing miscarriage of justice.
Thank you to NetGalley and Little A for the opportunity to read and review this book.