Review: ONE DARK, TWO LIGHT, Ruth Mancini

• 
  this edition provided by my local library
  
• published by Head of Zeus 2020
• ISBN 9-78188-543354
• 376 pages

Synopsis (publisher)

New Year's Eve, London. Outside the Hope & Glory pub, a man has been left to die. A victim of extraordinary violence, he will never walk or speak again. He remains in hospital, nameless, until criminal defence lawyer Sarah Kellerman walks onto his ward.

Sarah barely recognises the man she once worked with – he was honourable and kind – what was he involved in? Who wanted him dead? But in her race to uncover the truth, Sarah comes to realise there are two men in her life that she never really knew at all...

From one of crime fiction's most compelling voices, One Dark, Two Light sees the personal and criminal collide, as Sarah reaches into the darkest corners to bring secrets into the light.  

My Take

The man Sarah Kellerman recognises in a London hospital has apparently lain there unidentified for about three months. But when Sarah investigates how the police have not identified him earlier, nor seemingly have not written a report on what happened to him, it seems the story does not ring true. And then when her 15 year old client is charged with running him over in a car, she realises she can't leave this alone.

A good read.

My rating: 4.6

I've also read

4.5, THE WOMAN ON THE LEDGE

Review: THE WOMAN ON THE LEDGE, Ruth Mancini

• 
  this edition published by Penguin Random House 2024
  
• ISBN 97815299098
• 405 pages

Synopsis (publisher)

Obsession, intrigue - and revenge. Get ready for an all-night read with one of the twistiest thrillers of 2024.

A woman falls to her death from a London bank's twenty-fifth-floor roof terrace.

You're arrested for her murder.

You tell the police that you only met the victim the previous night at your office party. She was threatening to jump from the roof, but you talked her down.

You've got nothing to do with tragedy.

You're clearly being framed.

So why do the police keep picking holes in your story? Even your lawyer doesn't seem to believe you.

It soon becomes obvious that you're keeping secrets. 

My Take

The structure of this novel will take readers by surprise, so I will try not to spoil it for you. 

Tate Kinsella is in bed when the police bang on her door. They are arresting her on the suspicion of murder, for a death that happened 10 days earlier. We get our first taste of Tate's story when she is at the police station, and relating events to the lawyer who has been assigned to her.

This psychological thriller will keep your brain working overtime.

I'm not sure there weren't some credibility glitches in the narration, but I will let you make up your mind about that.

My rating: 4.5

About the author

Ruth Mancini was born in south-west London and started her career as a marketing executive for a publisher before undertaking a post-graduate diploma in law and retraining as a solicitor.

Ruth has spent the past twenty-five years in and out of courts and police stations, representing those accused of crimes. She still practises as a lawyer for a large criminal law firm with offices in London, conducting advocacy in the courts and defending people arrested at the police station.

She also reviews trial files across the firm and juggles her legal work with writing crime and psychological fiction.

She can be found on Twitter @RuthMancini1 and Facebook at www.facebook.com/ruth.mancini.author.