The Trials of Lila Dalton is a debut that defies easy categorization—part legal thriller, part psychological mystery, and part speculative fiction fever dream. British barrister L.J. Shepherd brings her courtroom experience to the forefront in this twisty, mind-bending novel that keeps the reader constantly questioning what’s real and what’s manipulation.

We meet junior barrister Lila Dalton at the exact moment she realizes she has no idea who she is, where she is, or why she’s standing in front of a jury. With no memory but a sharp instinct to survive, she quickly learns she’s been thrust into defending a man accused of mass murder on a remote, mysterious island. And from there, everything just gets stranger.

The plot spirals into a layered web of conspiracies, coded messages, shadowy threats, and surreal events—purple trench coats, cryptic pagers, Nazi symbols, and a missing daughter she doesn’t remember. It’s unsettling, disorienting, and deliberately so. As readers, we share Lila’s confusion and paranoia, and the slow unraveling of the truth (or perhaps several versions of it) is part of what makes this book such an unusual and tense experience.

Lila herself is a compelling protagonist—resourceful, flawed, and constantly questioning. Her professional instincts battle against her fractured mind as she tries to piece together not only her client's fate, but her own. Shepherd smartly uses her legal background to ground the narrative, especially in its exploration of what it truly means to defend someone, regardless of belief or truth.

Pacing-wise, this is a slow burn. Clues are planted with subtlety, and there are no explosive reveals—just a steady, unnerving build-up that pulls you deeper into Lila’s unstable world. Some readers may find the story meandering or cryptic, especially as the plot shifts tone and genre multiple times. Others will appreciate the book’s refusal to be boxed in. It’s a cerebral, speculative thriller that demands patience—and rewards it with atmosphere, originality, and commentary on perception, control, and justice.

While the ultimate twist may feel familiar to seasoned genre readers, and some may find the conclusion divisive, The Trials of Lila Dalton is a bold, ambitious debut. It won’t be for everyone, but for fans of slow-burn speculative fiction and psychological puzzles, this is a fascinating and memorable ride.

“Trials aren’t about the truth. They’re about what you can and can’t prove.”

The Trials of Lila Dalton is the first novel by British barrister and author, L J Shepherd. Her mind completely blank, junior barrister Lila Dalton becomes suddenly aware she is standing in a courtroom, in front of a jury, expected to list the witnesses she intends to call. Bluffing her way through, she gradually learns that she is filling in for her seriously injured silk in the trial of mass murderer, Jonathan Eades.

With no recollection of anything about the case, her first instinct is to fake it until she makes it, because revealing her memory loss will likely have unpleasant consequences; her second is to escape, but that is thwarted by the fact that all this is taking place on an island in the middle of the North Atlantic Ocean; and soon enough, someone gives her a very compelling reason to get Eades off.

There are lots of weird things about Assumption Island, strange things happening to Lila: cryptic notes, a purple trench coat, people only she sees, white supremacists, an escaped prisoner, phones tapped, fishing boats that never go out, neo-Nazi symbols, mysterious pager messages, a wrist tattooed whilst unconscious, threats about a daughter she can’t remember, and conspiracy theories about mass scale mind manipulation. But, as one character tells Lila, “It’s smoke and mirrors, all of it.”

Lila faces spurious murder charges, her unsympathetic solicitor tells her: “That’s what all clients think, isn’t it? That we defend them because we’re on their side, because we believe them. We both know it’s not our job to believe them; it’s our job to represent them.”

While she does include some thought-provoking themes, only Shepherd’s obvious expertise as a barrister saves this debut novel from a lower rating, once the cheap trick, a rather well-used trope, is revealed, although there are glaring clues from early on. This doesn’t quite live up to its promise.
This unbiased review is from an uncorrected proof copy provided by NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press.

A thriller full of twists and turns that keeps you captivated. I can understand why there are mixed feelings about this book though.

This turned out to be quite boring and it took a while for me to finish. Forgettable, quite sadly! Or maybe I just wasn't in the right mindset

This thriller grips you from the very first page with its taut prose and relentless suspense. The plot twists hit hard and often, keeping the stakes high throughout. Rich, well-drawn characters add emotional weight to the heart-pounding action. It’s a masterful, edge-of-your-seat read that’s impossible to put down.

Netgalley ARC

This was one of those books that had so much potential, but never quite got there.

A lawyer who finds herself in a courtroom and doesn't know how she got there sounded like a great premise and I usually don't mind unreliable narrators in a thriller. This case has a defendant who is a neo-nazi whose bomb killed a large number of people. Now we have the added complication of the lawyer's daughter missing - and her life depends on what happens in this case. And, if that wasn't enough, the case is happening on an Alcatraz-like island.

But the suspense was lost for me in all the legal mumbo jumbo, which dragged on and on. It wasn't sold as a legal thriller, so this was frustrating. The story was just weird and I found it too confusing even for a speculative fiction novel. This one wasn't for me.

A huge thank you to the author and the publisher for providing an e-ARC via Netgalley. This does not affect my opinion regarding the book.

This is a book filled with mystery, conspiracy theories and lots of twists and turns. In fact it could perhaps have too many twists and turns because I didn’t quite get it. I thought I did and then I got to the end and was still questioning if I actually understand what had happened. Maybe that’s the point?

The writing is great; sharp and witty. Not too explanatory but still gives a full bodied approach to the plot, characters and world building. I found the characters really interesting, they were well thought out and I was really intrigued by Lila, the main character.

Thank you so much to Netgalley for giving me the wonderful chance to read this book!

The writing is stunning, it is so unique and soft despite the context. But dark and so dark too. I wanted to annotate the heck out of it. It tugs at your heart strings.

Thanks for the ARC! The plot of the book is interesting: a lawyer defending a client while having memory loss and being a murder suspect herself. In my opinion, those elements were not tied together enough and following it was difficult due to everything going on. The narrative was a little boring, and there were parts that felt drawn out and slow. I didn't feel any overwhelming connection to the characters, and wanted more information on some aspects of them. The last scene ties things together pretty well, but it doesn't quite cover it and felt unsatisfying.

I don't think I am smart enough for this book, I feel like my brain is mush now.

This starts off as a courtroom thriller and slowly descends into a mind-bending, reality-questioning conspiracy theory thriller? I can't say I hated the trajectory, but I think there was too much going on for me to really comprehend it all. By the end I was just pushing through to be finished because it all became a little too convoluted (and yet... I still kind of like the overall outcome?)

Lila comes to awareness in the middle of the courtroom with no knowledge of who she is or how she got there- but she quickly discovers that she is the public defender for a mass murder trial. In trying to uncover what happened to her, Lila starts down a road of conspiracy theories that tangle her up more than anything. And then she finds herself in the center of a second murder investigation.

This was giving Shutter Island vibes BIG TIME (from the semi-racist remarks, to the island isolation and potential for reality to be skewed). It took a different turn that I wasn't quite expecting, which helped divert it from the Shutter Island idea, but that's also when things became a little too twisty for me to follow. There is a LOT of legal jargon to wade through in here, and I didn't understand half of the big words. Did that ruin it? No, not really, I just glossed over some things which may have come in handy toward the end??

For a few content warnings since I did not see any listed in my ARC copy: This ends up involving neo-Nazi characters and themes, discussions of terrorism, mass murder via bombs, and psy-ops with distortion of reality.

Lila Dalton doesn’t remember who she is, but more importantly, she doesn’t know why she is the attorney on a terrorism case. Somehow, she needs to defend her client and solve the mystery of her memory loss.
This is a speculative fiction that mixes genres of thrillers, sci-fi and mystery. The mystery kept me going with the book and the stakes were high throughout. There was also an interesting courtroom drama aspect to the novel. However, I found the pacing to be inconsistence as there were parts that dragged on for me. I found the plot to be too convoluted for me and the ending was anti-climatic. Lila felt naïve and childish, especially her internal dialogue. She was too worried about embarrassing herself than way more pressuring matters.
I gave The Trials of Lila Dalton a 3 out of 5 stars for having an intriguing mystery. I also appreciate the author exploring of various genres and themes. But I found the main character frustrating and the story confusing..

"The Trials of Lila Dalton" by L.J. Shepherd follows the journey of Lila Dalton, a protagonist thrust into a web of mystery and intrigue. The novel promises a blend of suspense and psychological depth, set against a backdrop of complex relationships and personal struggles. In conclusion, while "The Trials of Lila Dalton" may appeal to readers who enjoy psychological mysteries with complex interpersonal dynamics, it did not resonate with me personally.

This story has a lot of complexity to it and a slow pace and I would say if you are okay with this then please read it! I listened to the audiobook while reading the book and wow, it really enhanced the reader's experience, especially with the heavy drama in the plot.

The rhythm of the story and writing did keep me engaged but it is a complicated plot with lots of legal terms. The Character development was a struggle to keep up with however. And about the last 10 chapters or so I kind of checked out and read to finish, not read to enjoy.

This book. I'm on the fence. I was so excited about it and for it. But it was so slow to start with and the end just seemed to crash into place without ever really justifying everything. I feel like there's a lot more that could have been done or done better to make everything make sense more and not as an after thought.

This was a great book. I loved every paragraph, every sentence and every word of this masterpiece! I read it in 12 hours, which is a lot for me to do! It had everything and more laid out in the novel! I sure hope There is more to come from this author! I am totally hooked!

Thank you to Netgalley and Poisioned Pen for an eARC of this book.

Unfortunately, this did not pull me in as I expected. The back and forth of the main character identifying how they ended up in court and also still knowing what to do when working on the case seemed forced. This reads more like it would do best as a TV show than a novel. I found myself wanting to DNF but waiting for the book to feel more cohesive.

When I read the description of the book on Netgalley I was so intrigued and excited to read it. Something unique and different. I guess I went into it with high expectations and let myself down. Don't get me wrong. It was a good book. I wanted to know what was going on. I wanted to finish it and never thought of DNFing it. But it didn't pull me in. And in the end I guess I was a little disappointed and not fully understanding the concept. It just could be that this book was too smart for me and went over my head and others may love it. I just was like eh that was an okay book. I probably just had too high of hopes going into it but isn't that what Netgalley and getting these ARCs are for? To try new things and see what you like and don't like. Some you win some you lose this I would say maybe I tied.

Thank you to NetGalley for the chance to read an early copy of this book. Book was fine, it took me a long time to get into it though.

The Trials of Lila Dalton follow our main protagonist, Lila, a woman who comes to it in the middle of a court room. She doesn't know who she is, how she got there, or what she is doing. With quick investigative skills, she realizes she is a barrister and is supposed to be defending a man on trial for domestic terrorism on an island in the middle of nowhere. The more she unravels the more she realizes she cannot trust anybody, not even herself and her mind.

L.J. Shepherd started this novel off on a high. The author does a phenomenal job with the authenticity of the legal processes and courtroom scenes. They really put their work in to make this knowledgable. Lila was a great protagonist, capable and cautious despite not knowing anything. I did not understand the why the reviews were so low until I got about 30% into the story. There were so many moving parts with the memory, the daughter, the notes, and the assumed domestic terrorism. I was not expecting so much history into the far right of England and cult like activities. If one of the main plot points was taken away, this could have been a slam-dunk.

I wish I had more to say regarding this, but I got so lost trying to keep everything organized and straight while reading it. This is a great debut, and I will read what Shepherd releases after this.