Thank you Netgalley for this arc. I really enjoyed it and the courtroom style set up in this book. I would recommend reading this if you have a similar reading interest. I rate this book a 5 stars.

The Trials of Lila Dalton by L.J. Shepherd is one of the more layered debuts that I have read in a minute, and I was hooked from the very first chapter! The premise of a barrister standing at the front of a courtroom with no idea of how she got there or who she is was incredibly intriguing to me and the execution was well done. I initially rated this a 3, but after thinking about it more, it is probably more of a 4 star read for me. It is very complex and while I didn’t love the far-right aspect of the story I have to be fair to the author who literally put it in the note at the beginning that I failed to read first for fear of spoilers, so that’s on me.

I did love this book on audio and I thought Ella Lynch made for an amazing narrator. She was pleasant to listen to, easy to understand, and she totally took on the persona of our FMC Lila. The anxiety ridden moments especially as we get to the end were excellently expressed by Lynch and I could feel her voice radiating the tension I myself was feeling for Lila. I loved the isolated location setting as well as the scraps of memory and déjà vu that Lila experiences throughout as she tries to figure out how she got to where she is while at the same time trying to win the case for her client. This ended up being very twisty and I was so glad there was a conversation with the author (not in the audiobook) that confirmed it was what I thought it was. Very freaky and added a bit of an otherworldly twist I wasn't expecting.

Read this if you enjoy intricate debuts that are based on far-right conspiracy theorists, heaps of red herrings, and courtroom dramas!

Book Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Audiobook Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

I enjoyed reading this book. However I did find it kind of confusing at times. I did like it that the legal terms used were explained in the book and loved how the story developed well throughout the book , keepingthe reading in suspense al the time.
Overall I will recommend it to my friends and customers the plot is good and I liked the story.

Thanks to Netgalley and Poisoned Pen for the ARC.
I am not much of a courtroom drama reader, however this story peaked my interest. The plot was a little tough to follow, but that's what good writing should do. Make you really think and stay invested.
Many plot twists that keep you guessing until the end.

The Trials of Lila Dalton is a captivating legal thriller that keeps you on the edge of your seat. The story follows Lila Dalton, a determined young lawyer, as she navigates a complex case that challenges her professional abilities and personal beliefs. The plot is full of twists and turns, with each chapter adding more tension and suspense.

Lila is a strong, relatable character, and her journey of growth and self-discovery is one of the book's highlights. The author does a great job of portraying the challenges of working in the legal world, while also exploring deeper themes of justice, morality, and personal sacrifice.

The pacing is spot-on, with the perfect balance of intense courtroom moments and quieter, reflective scenes. The supporting characters are also well-developed, each playing an important role in Lila’s story.

The Trials of Lila Dalton is a thrilling, thought-provoking read that will appeal to fans of legal dramas and anyone who enjoys a gripping, character-driven story.

Unfortunately, this book was a DNF. The writing was very bad, with the author repeating the same words quite often which annoyed me a lot. I am really not into politics so the political aspect threw me off as well, because going into the book, I wasn't aware it was going to be about that. The plot was very confusing and hard to follow.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was... odd.
Its supposedly a courtroom drama but this went all over the place. No memory, terrorists, apocalypse, some courtroom, some island and needing to get off the island, mind control, a daughter supposedly... just all over the place.
I did get through the whole book but Im not sure what I read or where this went. It was probably longer than it needed to be as well.

Thank you to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I loved the synopsis of the book- court room drama is a new niche for me so I was excited to dive in.

I found myself easily captivated in the first half of the book, rapidly consuming to find out what happened. However I found the ending to be long and a tad stretched out.

Solid 3⭐️ for me!

This book was so confusing and hard to follow that I don't think I can write an actual review. If you've enjoyed other books with confusing and wild plots such as The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle and The Last Murder at the End of the World, then this book may be more for you.

Thank you to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for providing me a digital reviewer copy in exchange for my honest thoughts.

I, at no point, felt captivated by this book, which is a shame because the premise and parts of the plot points were intriguing. I think if maybe we weren't quite so thrown into the trial and amnesiac state at the beginning I would have felt differently but, the two hand in hand just didn't gel for me

I work in the legal industry and this was just too far fetched for me. I liked the premise and thought it was fun and it needed to be a little more realistic.

Judge, jury, support staff throughout, and those others. . .poor Lila is truly at sea in this tale, and I stayed with her to the very end. We discovered, uncovered, recovered, and covered. . .and sadly, I'm still at sea. This tale confused me completely. Refreshing, different, but for me a map in another language.

L. J. Shepherd's writing is sharp and crisp, and the court work she sets the story in held me as its a world I know, and in which I have spent a lot of time, so that was very comforting to at least have a handle on those parts. It was the twisty-turny, repeatedly circling back narrative that had me seasick in a readerly way. Yet there are so many much hardier than me.

Don't let my bamboozlement hold you back - I toss this in the review basket in case there is someone else out there suffering from the same malady. AND that said, I'll make another run at it in a different season to see if I can clamber back onboard for proper closure.

All that said, I'll welcome another work of L J Shepherd to follow up on this one. . .

*A sincere thank you to L. J. Shepherd, Poisoned Pen Press, Dreamscape Media and NetGalley for an ARC to read and review independently.* #trialsofliladalton #NetGalley

This book just wasn’t it. Never read a courtroom book before. I still don’t know what really to say about the story. It was too much information but jumbled together just for the sake of information. Maybe that’s not the right way to describe it. I just wasn’t into this book and I apologize, needed more structure or something.

*Delayed review due to personal circumstances*

Unfortunately this one was a bit of a struggle for me, I felt after reading the premise and it sounding brilliant and right up my street, I was left sorely disappointed.
Heavy on the British legal system and politics.
It did all come together, but was definitely a laung haul to get there.

Thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Lila Dalton is in a bit of a mess. She has found herself in an isolated court where she is meant to defend a killer. There is a big problem though…Lila has no idea as to how she has gotten to be where she is.

Find yourself in a hearing for a multiple murderer. See if you can figure out what is going on before Lila does.

This title offers an interesting twist on a courtroom drama. Those who enjoy legal thrillers, locked room tales, and stories of forgotten memories may want to give this one a look.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for this title. All opinions are my own.

A compelling legal thriller with a distinctive twist. Lila is a lawyer for a mass murderer. but she has no memory of how she came to be in the courtroom or even on the island. She must defend this man with no memories of the case. A good locked room mystery, but I found it hard to connect with Lila at times.
Many thanks to Poisoned Pen Press and to Netgalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

This book had a lot going for it, and I can see why many people would enjoy it. The story is unique and builds a lot of momentum, keeping you hooked with plenty of mystery and intrigue. It’s especially a good pick if you’re into conspiracy theories, as it weaves those elements throughout in an engaging way.

While I appreciated how different the story was, there’s a hidden aspect to it that I didn’t personally enjoy. I can’t say too much without giving away spoilers, but this part of the story felt a bit weak to me and didn’t align with what I was looking for. That said, it didn’t detract from the overall mystery and pacing, which were both well done.

It’s definitely a book I’d recommend to fans of conspiracies and layered mysteries, but it just wasn’t entirely for me. Still, it’s worth checking out if the premise intrigues you!

Thank you so much Poisoned Pen Press and @netgalley for the copy of this eARC!

This was a very different thriller based on a courtroom setting. The book throws us (the reader) in the middle of the court hearing.This is not your normal trial content. An intriguing courtroom mystery! A barrister on an island with no memory of how she got there or the killer she is defending in a high court.

I really wanted to love this book. It was so long and at times confusing but once the story started it picked up.Things got very creepy and mysterious I was engaged. I was eager to find out how Lila got there. She had no idea who she was or who the client she was defending was. There is a lot going on in this book. I would have understood it better if I knew the rules of the British court system. The trial has to do with terrorism, white supremacy, and secret society - not my cup of tea.

The ending was unexpected and somewhat confusing. I was left with so many unanswered questions. I wish the ending would have explained everything.If you like legal books, murder mysteries give this book a chance you will enjoy it.

I think this book has a really interesting premise, but it ended up being more confusing and hard to follow.

The book starts when Lila Dalton wakes up in a courtroom with zero memory of who she is and how she got there. She's the lawyer for a man on trial, but she has no idea what the case is even about. As she navigates the court and the world around her, she learns that she's on an island where all the most serious crimes are tried, and there's no way to leave. It's up to Lila to solve the case and figure out what she's doing here in the first place.

The plot was the first thing that stood out to me. I thought this would be kind of like a locked room mystery, where there's the B-plot of solving the clues in the room, but also the bigger A-plot of finding out who's behind everything. It started out really interesting, with Lila balancing both aspects of these, and I was really intrigued to learn more about the island as she asked questions. As the plot continued, however, I feel like we started following the case more and learning less about Lila's situation, and while this isn't necessarily a bad thing — it makes sense to do it in this order, but here it feels sort of like getting a story without any context. We start to get lines about Nazis, Eights, and Sevens, and while there's an interesting story there I didn't emotionally connected to it. When we finally got back to Lila's role in everything, it was interesting but felt like we had gone on a really long tangent.

I am not completely sure about Lila as a narrator either. I liked her at the start because she worked with the plot very well, but as the plot became convoluted I think Lila also became more passive. Things would happen to her, or clues would be given to her. When she did come to a conclusion, it sometimes felt out of the blue. It also seems like she focused more on the case too, while I wish she spent more time trying to figure out her own history. By the time the book ends, the readers learn who Lila is in terms of the case, but I don't feel like I connected to her as a person.

Ultimately, I found this book kind of confusing and abstract, but the premise is still really interesting.

The story follows Lila Dalton, a young woman grappling with the aftermath of a traumatic event that alters the course of her life. As she navigates a series of challenges and trials, Lila’s journey becomes a powerful testament to her strength and determination.

Shepherd’s writing is vivid and evocative, immersing readers in Lila’s emotional landscape while also addressing broader societal issues.