While serving time in prison Eli maintains his innocence and just tries to keep his head down. A new solicitor investigating miscarriages of justice along with a psychiatrist will help him remember that night that put him in prison. Will he be a victim or the killer.

This was a great story and all the way through I was hoping it was fiction, what a rollercoaster of emotions this book took me through, a seriously great book and one that will not be forgotten!

I didn't really find An Inquiry Into Innocence to be a thriller. It was more so a horror, with an overabundance of horrific scenes interwoven through a slow-moving plot that wasn't at all thrilling as it continued to roll out. For such a short read, this contains so much violence that between the sensitive scenes of abuse and "bad guys" in the prison it started to feel cartoonish and took the light away from the core point of the novel: injustice in the legal system, especially injustices that occur to queer people within the system.

This wasn't exactly poorly written, but the few scenes that weren't violent were painfully boring, and despite knowing that the main character was someone I empathized with, he is written as an extremely odd and weak character. Not because he was a survivor of abuse, but because he simply takes most things that happens to him after the fact without much fight. If R. N. Cogley had gone into the psychology of why someone who'd survived what he had would end up that way, it would've made for a much better read.

Instead, we got extended scenes of violence against a gay man and a trans woman with no reprieve from that violence. I didn't enjoy this, and thought it missed the mark of what it tried to accomplish.

Thank you to Cranthorpe Millner Publishers and NetGalley for providing an ARC.

1 ⭐️

For seven years, Eli Kelly has lived in hell, serving a life sentence for a crime he can’t remember committing. Eli’s life consists of constant vigilance and self-preservation, so he holds fast to the small sanctuaries he finds in his friendships with Charlie and Brendan and his recent infatuation with Nick. He’s resigned to his fate because his mind remains empty of anything about the event or any history relating to it, despite various attempts to unearth his memories. When the government decides to undertake a countrywide investigation into miscarriages of justice, the solicitor sent to Eli’s prison takes his case, but it’s vital Eli remembers the night of the crime. As he works with a psychiatrist to piece together his life before, he learns that “regardless of his guilt or innocence, he is yet another victim whose cries for help were ignored by the very services supposed to keep him safe.” As Eli’s forced to confront horrors from his past, the horrors of his present become increasingly untenable, but will his memories bring him salvation or plunge him completely into never-ending despair?

After reading the blurb, I was intrigued by how An Inquiry Into Innocence would use the amnesiac prisoner set-up; though it starts strong, it falters throughout. To me, it felt like the narrative is structured in a way that highlights areas the author cared more about crafting. These components are stronger because they get intense focus and are less riddled with inconsistencies, making other aspects weaker and appear less important, primarily character development and navigating the core mystery. Cogley does a good job illustrating how innocence projects help victims regain their freedom and debunking some popular misconceptions about how these programs release guilty and violent offenders back into the populace willy-nilly. The insidiousness of partner abuse and domestic violence is portrayed in vivid detail. He’s also great at conveying the physical and emotional cruelty of the judicial and legislative system and their dehumanizing brutality and corruption at every level via greed or indifference, especially for people who are queer and/or have mental health challenges.

Eli, Charlie, and Brendan represent various miscarriages of justice. Brendan was beaten into a false confession; Charlie was punished for sex work by laws touted to protect sex workers; and Eli’s trial was a circus with a clown for a defender and a ringmaster prosecutor. The book is a treatise on injustice that achieves that goal well. Unfortunately, the characters are more archetypes of the system’s failures; Eli becomes a messenger for these ideas and less a fleshed out protagonist. The more personal elements, character development, and the mystery are shortchanged in certain ways.

This tiering of importance is the overlying issue I had with the book. When an author creates an environment and establishes clear rules, consequences, and restrictions, it’s disruptive when these constructs are broken. Inquiry breaks them quite a bit, and it happens almost exclusively in non-violent scenarios. The timeline is slippery and things are left out or events happened that don’t make sense. There are many instances where something is stated and then contradicted. The misdirections aren’t developed well, and there are a couple I charitably label misdirections instead of careless mistakes because they blatantly undercut the total memory block premise. This uneven blending of social commentary and plot hindered my engagement with the story.

I had to suspend disbelief early on regarding Eli’s memory retrieval because what’s conveyed undermines its believability, and it’s lazily done. For years, Eli’s seen multiple psychiatrists, participated in memory studies, and even tried hypnosis; his memories are stored so deeply nothing works. Yet, rudimentary talk therapy works? He basically fast travels the entire process. It’s a cycle of ‘Hey Eli, here’s a date, can you tell me about it?’ then boom—Memory Achievement Unlocked. I had to create a head-canon for whys/hows/inconsistencies because there’s often connective tissue missing. Occasionally a throwaway line will technically provide a quick, breezy explanation because outside of being abused, there’s no time for Eli to have meaningful reflection. For me, these missing pieces could have shored up the emotional heft of the story. I wanted to connect with Eli and his journey, but the narrative is mostly a repetitious pattern of new date, new memory, and more violence and prison assaults without fully developing Eli. I felt like I was being beat down by the story’s messages and ended up being tired and uninvested.

For all the beatings, violence, fear, etc., the writing feels somewhat detached and leaden at times, particularly the often stilted dialogue. Again, emotions tied to violent events are effectively evocative. After all, responses to head bashing and broken ribs and neck muscles tearing can coast on simple word choice. The story bathes in the details of domestic violence; for a reason, certainly, but this highlights the shallowness in most non-violence related scenes. Being told Eli says something happily tells me what he feels, but rarely expresses the feeling. Eli’s a sympathetic character because he’s had terrible things done to him, but I didn’t care about him. Many of Eli’s emotions are fleeting, there and gone with little to no impact, and when he does get mad towards the end, it comes across as less emotive and more performative. To me, the moment symbolizes Eli finally fighting against his helplessness and maintenance of the status quo through self-preservationist silence, but it feels hollow.

As mentioned before, the characters’ personalities and almost all their emotional expressions are one dimensional. Charlie is despondent and victim to her mental disorder; Brendan is a hyperactive puppy; and Nick’s portrayal is inconsistent with very little emotionality. As the main character who is poised on the brink of hope and battered by his nightmarish past and present, Eli should have a decent emotional range, but that was not my experience. That’s not to say there aren’t moments that convey friendship and support or upset, but they are actions and do not develop the characters as more than their roles in the narrative. This short-cutting is also seen in Eli’s relationship with Nick. I understand Eli’s lust—for passion, for intimacy, for a small sliver of normalcy—and can intuit things about Eli’s personality, but his fall into complete trust in Nick after a few interactions still feels unearned and another example of important areas being sacrificed for scenes of violence.

While I may have wished the memory premise was more developed and that I fully connected with the characters, An Inquiry Into Innocence is a strong indictment of the broken retributive justice systems many countries employ and an effective portrayal of the coercive nature of partner abuse and its defeating effects. There’s a lot of graphic violence depicted, but so is the importance of not losing hope, even in the face of terrible odds.

For a short novel this has surprising depth. An Irish prison drama about a young man called Eli who has been locked up for seven years for a murder her has no memory of committing. He can remember holding the body and a knife as he was arrested but the events of the day leading up to that point are a mystery to him. Did he kill or is he innocent?

The story is a gripping psychological drama full of danger as Eli keeps his head down trying to survive day to day in a system where gangs hold power among the prison population and the staff sometimes turn a blind eye. It's not helped by the homophobia and intolerance meaning that Eli has to keep his sexuality secret to prevent a target being put on him.

Mistakes have been made in the Irish criminal system leading to false imprisonments and a new government scheme has been set up to deal with the issue leading to a solicitor visiting the prison to take on cases that could prove the innocence of some of the inmates. Eli becomes involved in the inquiry and the key to his defence is his meetings with a psychologist to try and access his hidden memories.

The narrative switches between events in the prison and looking at Eli's younger life leading to a dramatic conclusion.
There are twists along the way and themes of domestic abuse, violence, crime & LGBTQ issues are sensitively handled.

Eli is a likeable character and I was rooting for him to be one of the cases of false imprisonment. Will he survive long enough to find out or is he guilty? It's tense & dark but with some uplifting family moments.

A recommended read.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for access to the Ebook.

Thank you Cranthorpe Millner Publishers and NetGalley for this ARC!

This one’s a quicker read at 264 pages, but still packs plenty of punch! . Lots of twists and turns, and adore the main character Eli!!

4/5 ⭐️

A very different read for me . I enjoyed this book set in an Irish prison. I was rooting for Eli and hoping he would remember what happened. I did not expect what was to follow.

I'm not sure how I felt about the book. It had great promise, love a murder mystery and the premise of looking into a false trial, but the whole thing seemed rushed? I understand it was short, but there were a lot of gaping holes and questions I still have. I was confused about Charlie for much of the book because as a character who should have been presented with depth, we weren't really introduced outside of their moodiness. The Nick/Eli situation was interesting, but also probably the only plot line really closed off, but even that was rushed. I think with another 50-100 pages, it could have been fleshed out more and it would have been a better read. It was good to get through quickly, but would have preferred more depth and info on plot.

I don't usually read thrillers and mysterious books, so this was a new adventure for me! It was a little bit scary for me but perfect for fans of horror and thriller novels. I am excited to look into more books by this author in the future!

For a shorter book, this has quite a few twists and turns, and kept me guessing.
I’ would have preferred to have a longer book with more substance, but, for the length it was, this wasn’t a bad read!

I was very intrigued by the summary (the story of our protagonist Eli Kelly's life in prison for a crime he cannot remember committing) and the book delivered exactly what it promised. I was surprised by the Irish setting because it is not one I have previously read about, but every confusion regarding differences in legal systems were properly addressed to make sure that no reader got left behind.
Eli’s flashbacks to his life before the prison had to be my favourite part of this book, as heart wrenching as it was. The man did not have it easy (…at all) and as the story progressed, I just found myself wanting to give him a good hug. Poor guy deserves it.
One thing I am a bit sad about is that we did not get more of our side characters. We got plenty of Eli, which was great, but I was left wanting to know more about Charlie, Brendan and even the dána. Nevertheless, I am aware that this is a very subjective opinion as Eli’s arc, the main plot of the story, was very well developed. In the end, this is what matters most.
Overall, it was an enjoyable and engaging reading experience!

The fact that I read this in fewer than 24 hours shows how immensely readable it is. It was clever and twisty without being gimmicky, and the author’s narrative style is quite sparse which suits the prison setting. My only criticism would be that Eli’s character is almost too ‘good’ to be believable, but that might just be my own cynicism!

A great book.

Thank you to Netgalley and Cranthrope Millner Publishers for an ARC copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

This was a great book! It is a quick read at under 300 pages. This book follows the story of a fictional convicted criminal who is serving a life sentence told from a single POV. The book is an eye-opening look into some prison cultures and court systems. Please check any relevant trigger warnings before picking this up. Highly recommend giving this one a read if you are new or familiar with crime-related stories.

This was good. I haven't read many books like this so I was excited to try it. The story is interesting and, at times, very profound. However, the writing style doesn't suit the story? It fell a bit flat and almost felt too juvenile for the topics discussed within the book? I think this is a 3.5 star book for me.

"Somebody knows what happened, somebody remembers every detail, just not me. And if I never remember, I'll be stuck in here for life."

His crime was described as 'the most heinous', and Eli was given a life sentence. That was until Anna turned up and chose to take his case on.

I got a copy of this book from NetGalley and have had a brilliant time reading it. The plot kept me trying to guess who had done what and who was telling the truth.

It's called an Inquiry into Innocence by R.N. Cogley. I received a copy from Cranthorpe Millner publishers via Netgalley and this book will be out on the 23rd of January.

We follow Eli Kelly who is convicted of a crime he has no memory of committing and he is serving a life sentence. One day, a solicitor is sent to the prison to investigate potential miscarriages of justice and hope arises for Eli. The only thing he needs to do is regain his memory. Will Eli finally remember what happened on that night? Is he guilty or innocent?

This was a fun and interesting read to start the year with. Decent characters and an interesting storyline. I would have loved it if the story was more elaborate and to learn more about the different characters and the different storylines. That would have made the book much more interesting, I think. It still is, don't get me wrong, but it would have been fun to read more.

3,75/5 ⭐

Eli has been on death row for seven years. He’s been sentenced to a crime he claims he did not commit. However, he has no recollection of the events. If he didn’t do it, who did?

Soon he begins working with a psychiatrist trying to bring up old memories and search for new ones. Can Eli be exonerated for a crime he didn’t or did commit?

I felt the story was a little flat. It just read as a story being told with little excitement. I did enjoy the twist. The cover is fabulous too.

I’d like to thank the publisher and NetGalley for an ARC. All opinions are my own.
Publication date January 23, 2024
2.5 raised to 3 ⭐️

Utterly Gripping.
An incredible and breathtaking read that is so full of twists it leaves you spinning helplessly to the finale.
I thoroughly enjoyed this story, written and narrated with such perfection, it had thrills, chills and gasp out loud moments that I simply couldn’t resist continuing, which I did, finishing it in one evening and only slightly regretting my lack of sleep but STILL exploring the tale in my head when I awoke.
It really is something special and manages to fill you with an impending sense of dread yet simultaneously full of hope.
IF you read or listen to one book this year then THIS is the ONE.
I suspect if I’d read this rather than Netgalley graciously offering me the audio version I would have devoured these shocking pages with greedy aplomb and instead, I really enjoyed sitting quietly and being treated with flawless narration at a pace.
Without doubt, this is worthy of a five star rating.

I went through so many emotions whilst reading this book, I think I experienced every emotion, but, in particular anger and sadness. I didn't know what to expect but it was so much better than I expected it to be

Seven years ago Eli Kelly was sentenced to life in prison for murder. However, he has no recollection of the crime. The whole period is a blur to him. All he knows is he was found with the victim holding the weapon.
Stourbliss can be a brutal place. Guards will turn their backs and gangs are common place. The only way to get through your day is to keep your head down.
A government scheme is set up to investigate potential miscarriages of justice. This leads to a solictor visiting Eli. She will take on his case but he needs to work with a psychiatrist to try and get his memory back of the events of the murder.
This book also tackles the topic of homophobia and the LGBTQ community within the penal system. It also looks at domestic abuse. This was an interesting read and gave an insight into prison life.
Many thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to see an ARC