Intriguing novel that takes us through a murder mystery revolving around a love triangle. Has some slow points but continued to get better and better! #ClearMyName #netgalley

This was a quick read that I really enjoyed. It was well written, excellent character development and just a good story. I recommend it!!

I have read most of all Paula Daly's novels and loved them all. In Clear My Name, she doesn't disappoint me at all. This book was an excellent novel.. If you read the blurb, then you know that Tess works for Innocence In the UK, going over cases where there might be people sitting in jail convicted of a crime they did not commit.. So, they pick this case about a women named Carries who is accused of stabbing her husband's latest girlfriend to death. There is also a side story here regarding Tess which is revealed as we progress into the book. This was a departure from her other novels, but was excellent with a major twist right at the end of the book which I didn't see coming. I want to thank net galley and the publisher for the ARC of this book for an honest review. No spoilers here. Just read the book. It was fantastic

Very cleverly written thriller I did not want to put down. It was quite unique to other books out there and certainly had some good twists and turns

Innocence UK is a charity that takes on cases of alleged miscarriages of justice. It works on behalf of those incarcerated to overcome wrongful convictions. Four years ago Carrie was convicted of killing her husband’s mistress. To this day she claims she is innocent. Tess Gilroy along with Avril Hughes are representatives of Innocence UK and must find new evidence supporting Carrie’s innocence in order to reopen the case. An original, well written domestic thriller that is both unpredictable and twisty. Filled with a cast of characters that are well fleshed out and believable, this book draws the reader in quickly and makes for an extremely satisfying read. Would love to see more of Tess and Avril in future books!!

Many thanks to NetGalley, Atlantic Monthly, and Paula Daly for the opportunity to read this great psychological thriller - loved it! 4.5 stars!

Tess is in charge of Innocence UK - a charity that works to get innocent people convicted of crimes a new trial and hopefully exonerated. While she works tirelessly at her job, Tess keeps a big chunk of her life separate - no real personal involvements and she changes addresses frequently. When the group decides to take on the case of Carrie, convicted of killing her husband's girlfriend, Tess is forced to go back to her hometown and risk opening up some of those secrets. Told from Tess' and Carrie's points of view both in the present and before the crime, Tess and her assistant, Avril, fight to see if they can uncover enough evidence to prove Carrie's guilt or innocence.

This book has plenty of twists and great writing that will keep you turning the pages as fast as you can to see what happens. Great read!

Clear My Name is about a woman named Tess who works for the non-profit organization Innocence UK who is tasked with exploring cases to see if a person has been wrongfully convicted. Her latest case is a woman who was charged with murdering her husband's lover. She maintains her innocence, but is she lying? Tess, along with a new trainee Avril must examine the evidence with fresh eyes. This book is full of twists and turns and is fast paced. Every time I thought I knew what the ending may be something else happened that caused me to doubt what I thought. I really liked Tess, sure she has flaws, but I enjoyed her. I almost wish this was a series- it would be neat to see Tess and Innocence UK examine multiple cases of potential wrongful convictions. Thank you to Netgalley and Grove Atlantic for an ARC copy in exchange for an honest review.

Clear My Name is the first book I've read by Paula Daly. The things I loved about it are apparently (according to the other reviewers) characteristic of Daly's books: Strong, flawed, quirky characters work their way past initial suspicion, hostility, and/or antagonism to a place of understanding.

If that's the case, I'm in for more.

I also liked that the cluelessness and irrational behavior were evenly distributed between the genders, and that most of the characters evolved during the story, showing some self-insight and willingness to move on. Case in point: Tess, the main character, has an assistant involuntarily foisted upon her, and she initially doesn't take it well -- but there are some unexpected breakthroughs.

Well, there was one guy who clung to his cluelessness:

Pete (whose wife Carrie has been imprisoned for killing his lover) asks Tess, the main character, if she knows what "je nais se quois" means. " 'I do not know what,' translates Tess. 'Ah, well, let me define it for you . . . It means "a certain something",' Pete says, mansplaining magnificently."

So: this is a psychological thriller, with suspense throughout from first page to last, but there is some dry humor (see above) and plenty of shortsighted decision-making. Meanwhile, Tess is spearheading the wrongful-conviction appeal of Pete's wife while she juggles painful parallels in her own life with that of Carrie and her daughter Mia.

And Tess, like all of us, is a lot more perceptive about others' actions than she is about her own.

Thanks to NetGalley for an advance readers copy.

Clear My Name by Paula Daly is at it's heart exactly as the title suggests.  It's an effort by one woman to clear the name of another.   Beneath this, not too far from the surface, it's an exploration of mother-daughter relationships and the lengths mothers will go to in order to protect their children.

Tess Gilroy is paid to lead a team of volunteer experts at the charity Innocence UK where they are tasked with overturning wrongful convictions.  Tess and her team have begun investigating the case of Cassie Kanara who was found guilty of murdering her husbands lover despite the evidence being flimsy at best.   More than anything it seems, Cassie wants to be freed so she can be able to support her daughter Mia.   Throughout the investigation we are provided with insights into the lives of both Tess and Cassie.       As Tess sees the devotion Cassie has for daughter Mia she is forced to face her owns demons.   As a young girl Tess lost her own mother and felt cast adrift.  Having a baby and creating her own family, someone to love, seemed like a great solution but it was so much more difficult than she ever anticipated.  When suicide began to feel like an option, when she felt like a danger to her own baby she gave up her newborn for adoption and has spent the best part of three decades running from her decision.   

As a domestic drama with a bit of suspense it was a very readable story.  It felt like it would be a story with a twist and I kept looking for one, guessing at what it might be.    I was way off target and the twist was a gotcha for me (that's a good thing).     I'll reserve my judgement on whether the twist was in keeping with these characters but I didn't overthink it and simply went for the ride.

Thanks to the author, Grove Atlantic and NetGalley for the opportunity of reading this digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.

3.5 stars on Goodreads.

I will read anything that Paula Daly writes as her books are always slow-burn suspenseful. Carrie is accused of murdering her husband's girlfriend and her blood is found at the scene. But investigator, Tess with her new employee, Avril is determined to get to the bottom of it as she works for a program that reviews cases of people they believe were wrongly imprisoned. And Carrie is adamant that she's innocent, claiming she knew of her husband's affairs and "accepted" them. Of course there are layers to this domestic thriller and once again, Daly doesn't disappoint!

In Tess’s work for the non-profit organization Innocence UK, she is tasked to take a fresh look at evidence from a 3-year old murder case and work to overturn the conviction.

A decent read that compelled me to finish but midway, the odd, repetitive behaviors of Tess became irritating, especially related to her interrelationships. Avril Hughes’ character piqued my interest and I expected her to play an integral role shadowing Tess as the ‘wise beyond her years’ practical new kid, the yin to Tess’s yang but unfortunately that never materialized. A missed opportunity.

Another excellent book by Ms Daly

This is the third book that I have read by Paula Daly, and she never disappoints. This particular book is about 45 years old Tess Gilroy, a former Parole Officer who is working for Innocence UK, an association that looks at cases of potential wrongful convictions and aims for a re-trial and hopefully release from prison, hence the title, Clear My Name.

Paula and her team receive hundreds of requests and have to decide which case to take on. The decision is made to look at Carrie Kamara, 3 years into a 15-year sentence, accused of murdering her husband's lover. All the evidence seems to confirm that Carrie is guilty in particular the discovery of her blood inside the house of the victim, Ella Muir.

However, Carrie's husband Peter had been having affairs for many years. Carrie is resigned to this state of affairs and is prepared to turn a blind eye for the sake of her young daughter Mia. Why did she suddenly snap over this particular mistress and go round to her house and stab her in a frenzied attack 150 times?

The author writes this story for both Tess and Carrie, switching between the present and 4 years ago when the alleged crime took place, enabling the reader to form their own opinion of how guilty or innocent Carrie really is.

However, to add more interest to the plot, the murder was committed in Morecambe. We discover that this is where Tess has grown up in an unhappy childhood, and something else happened that she has always hidden and refuses to even acknowledge. Tess has moved from place to place around this part of Lancashire, never settling down and unable to form proper relationships. Now she has to go back and confront her demons.

The various different strands within the plot are always so clever and make Ms Daly's books so enjoyable to read. Not only did I really want to find out the truth about the first murder and as always there are twists that I just did not see coming, but also, the characters are always so well defined and I was able to sympathise with most of them.

I loved this book, as I have loved all her previous books and am so impressed that Ms Daly can write books that have such different plotlines that always keep you guessing.

I have no idea if this is a one-off Tess Gilroy book, but I feel that it could well inspire a whole series based on the casework of Innocence UK. However, whatever way the author decides to go in her next book, I want to read it!!

Dexter

Breakaway Reviewers received a copy of the book to review

'Don’t cling to a mistake just because you spent a lot of time making it.’

I, and the characters in this book need to remember this!

A fairly traditional 'who dun it', I think I enjoyed the side story more than the main.

I received a ARC from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for my honest opinion.

This book had me hooked from the beginning! Carrie is accused of killing her husbands lover and serving a 15 year prison sentence but maintains her innocence. When Tess, a woman who works with an organization that helps people wrongly convicted, decides to take on her case, the twists and turns start coming quickly. When Tess and her new protégé Avril review evidence and interview witness, they quickly realize things aren’t what they seem. Tess’ own personal life becomes entangled in the case which is all the more interesting. What will get you the most is the end to this book. It’s shocking and not at all what I saw coming. My first book by this author and I can say I really enjoyed it!

I’ve read all of Paula Daly’s books and enjoyed this one equally. The fact they are based close to me makes them more enjoyable as I know/ recognise a lot of places in the books. This has kept me gripped and I enjoyed the main character Tess and would like to read more books with her as the main character. My only criticism is that I thought the court case/ retrial was a bit rushed as it had built up so much through the rest of the book I expected a bit more depth. The ending wasn’t what I expected at all. I would certainly recommend this book.

Excellent book by Paula Daly. Characters were beautifully drawn, full of suspense, and kept my interest until the very end. I genuinely did not guess the ending and could not do any other tasks until I finished reading this book.
Five stars!

This book was ok but not great. The UK Innocence project and the innocent women behind bars was very interesting and twisty.

As a mystery and suspense novel, “Clear my Name,” is barreling down the road on all cylinders. The premise was good, the red herrings ample, the twists and turns (for the most part) were unexpected. And it was a doozy of an ending.

What didn’t I like? I didn’t like the characters. I couldn’t identify with a single one of them. They were all looney tunes. I didn’t like their life styles. They were all living in such a way as to hurt those they “loved” the most. They were selfish, spiteful, pushy people who gave no thought to how their actions hurt others. And they weren’t particularly clever, either. The ones who were supposedly so smart had to have the evidence waved in front of their eyes several times before seeing the obvious.

Well, I did like Steph and Bill, but they were minor characters and treated poorly.

This is my first book by Paula Daly. I won’t seek more from her.

I received this early digital copy from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Author Daly did amazing work intertwining two situations into an easy to follow novel. Characters were thought out and real to life portraying the good and the bad of individuals. Tess is a detective working for Innocence UK a charity that gathers evidence to free those wrongly imprisoned. Carrie has a cheating husband and a troubled daughter who both challenge her coping skills. After Carrie has spent years in prison for the murder of her husbands mistress; Tess is diligent in finding clues that will get her OUT. "A copy of this book was provided by Atlantic Monthly Press via NetGalley with no requirements for a review. Comments here are my honest opinion." Women's Crime Drama.

Paula Daly is fast gaining a name in the crime sector genre. Her books are normally set in the laid-back Lake District, but this, her newest novel has moved up a scale, it is more hard hitting and is set in the City of Manchester.

Tess works for the charity Innocence UK, she is the only one paid a salary as everyone else gives up their time for free. The charity’s aim is to re-investigate certain cases where they believe the person has been wrongly convicted.

Carrie, is one such women. Accused of killing her husband’s lover, she has been imprisoned for three of the 15 year sentence she was handed down. Her daughter is pregnant with her first grandchild. She has always protested her innocence and now Tess, and her new sidekick, Avril have to trawl through all the evidence and decide if this case is worth pursuing, but Tess will only take on Carrie’s case if she believes she is innocent.

The characters of Tess, Carrie and Avril come across as very believable, they each have their secrets and I loved how these slowly unfolded as the story moved forward.

The author well and truly whipped me with the ending. Although I half guessed the outcome, I never in a million years would have predicted how it played out, in fact, I don’t think anyone will as it is so extreme! Hats off Paula for even thinking of this!