A legal thriller which is low on the action front but is much the better for that.
A legal setting, many characters with secrets to keep, a man who knows these secrets and a death followed by a politically motivated investigation leading to the charge and trial of a colleague of the deceased. A missing notebook belonging to the deceased detailing all of the secrets he kept.
Not much given away throughout the book pointing to suspects but as well as the accused, fingers are pointed in one other main direction although it's clear that many people would have been happy with the death.
I hadn't seen many, if any at all, signs of the direction that the case would go but it was overall a satisfying conclusion.

I only learned after reading that there is a previous novel with one of the main characters in it so it's safe to say that this can easily be enjoyed as a stand alone novel.

Thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for my review copy.

Thank you to #NetGalley and #Penguin for my copy of Killer Instinct by Nicola Williams.
Dean Carter is a junior clerk at one of the best law firms in the City of London, and when the Head Clerk is killed shortly after they were seen together.
He is an easy target. But did he do it.? A barrister at the same firm, Lee Mitchell, doesn’t think so.
A legal thriller that shows the deep prejudices that still exist in the justice system.
I didn’t know until I had finished the book that it is the second one in a series. It worked very well as a stand alone.

A slow burn legal thriller that hooks you with its layers of blackmail and revenge. The plot feels fresh, and the characters are vivid and memorable. I really enjoyed the ride, I was so invested in what was going on and who was responsible. I absolutely loved the plot and that it just felt so original and unlike most thrillers ive come across. Must read

A legal thriller.
when junior clerk Dean is the last person to see Tom the head clerk before he is found dead, the police arrest Dean but have no evidence.
Lee is a barrister in the same firm and she believes he is innocent and tries to help him.
when Lee finds out Tom had a black book on all secrets and blackmail he had done within the firm and any of them could be the murderer she has a fight on her hands with all the lies and deceit she encounters.
lots of twists to keep you reading.
thanks to Netgalley for the ARC and I give my honest review

Killer Instinct is a decent read, especially, the court scenes, but wasn’t as consistent outside the court and felt slightly padded out as a result.

So overall an ok read.

'Killer Instinct' is the second book to feature Lee Mitchell but can easily be read as a stand-alone. It's a well written legal drama that will keep you guessing as to who killed Tom Mannion, the senior clerk of Maple Street Chambers. There are quite a few characters to follow but once you have sorted out who's who and also why they may be the killer you'll be totally invested in the book. Many thanks to netgalley, author and publisher for an arc.

A thriller told from a different angle. This book is told from different viewpoints, mostly centred on a chamber of barristers based in London. After an evening "do" Dean, the junior clerk of the chambers is asked to go for a drink with his boss, Tom. Tom is the senior clerk and runs the chambers with an iron hand, but also has a book of secrets which he is able to use to manipulate . The next morning Tom is found dead, possibly killed and his diary of secrets is missing. As Dean is the last to have seen him alive, he becomes the main suspect. This book follows the investigation and the trial as well as the relationships between the people working at the chambers and their families. There are quite a few characters to follow, but as you get to know them, they do emerge as individuals.
THe book is slow to get going and the complicated legal system took some time to get my head around. In the lead up to the trial and once it started, the pace picked up and there were a couple of twists I did not see coming. The characterizations were very well written, you can picture the types from the descriptions. The human side, Lee's relationship and Ollie & Mary's family issues were also well portrayed.
Thanks to Net Galley for them ARC. 4 stars because of the first few chapters where I had difficulty getting into the plot

Excellent legal drama. Tom Mannion is a senior clerk in Chambers and a disagreeable and controlling character. Despite this, he is highly respected and has his finger tightly on the legal pulse.

On an evening out with his junior clerk, Tom divulges that the secret behind much of his success is a little black notebook in which he records the deepest, darkest secrets of both his friends and enemies.

When Tom is subsequently found dead in a nearby alleyway, his notebook is missing and suspicion immediately falls on his junior clerk who seemed to have the most to gain by Tom's death.

But is he the guilty party or is it one of Tom's legion of enemies........ Kept me guessing until the very end which, for me is the mark of a really good thriller.

Because of their specialist settings, legal thrillers can be hard to pull off – but here is an author who puts her knowledge of criminal law and her professional experience as a barrister to good use to achieve just that. That she manages to set her thriller so expertly in recognisably contemporary settings, thereby creating a fascinating new protagonist, just heightens my admiration. This protagonist is a young barrister from a working-class Caribbean background by the name of Lee Mitchell, who has worked hard to establish herself in the legal profession. The crime she investigates is the murder of the odious, most senior clerk at her Chambers. I found myself turning the pages of this novel faster and faster as the investigation continued – not necessarily to find out how the novel would end, but to rather to find out more about Lee Mitchell and her motivations for a legal career. Highly recommended reading material – and I am grateful to the publishers and to NetGalley for the free digital ARC that allowed me to familiarise myself with Nicola Williams’ work.

When senior clerk Tom Mannon is found dead in an alley suspicion falls on junior clerk Dean. They had both been drinking together at a London club. The diary in which Tom wrote details about his colleagues private lives, is missing. This is a very well-written and superbly plotted legal thriller that raises issues of race and class. There is a diverse cast of believable characters. The author uses her knowledge of the legal system to add authenticity to the story. I did not realize that this is the second novel featuring barrister Lee Mitchell. I now look forward to reading more in this series.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an arc in exchange for an honest review.

When Tom Mannon, the senior clerk of Maple Street Chambers is found murdered in an alleyway the finger of suspicion points at Dean the junior clerk he'd been drinking with in a private members club shortly before.

High stakes, high drama and murder mystery all rolled into one with some interesting characters. Killer Instinct is well plotted legal thriller that started slow for me but stepped up a gear as it entered the courtroom, the lively exchanges between prosecution and defence elevating it to a dramatic thriller as it reached its conclusion.

My thanks to Penguin UK and NetGalley for the early read, all opinions expressed are my own

Absolutely enjoyed reading this legal thriller. I love a good courtroom drama, add a murder and it is right on top of my list.

I love how the book sets up the characters and the victim to give a better insight. The book is told from multiple perspectives and you get a feel of the characters before the action starts.

I love how the book keeps one guessing and the element of the case being fought in parallel. An interesting premise and suspicious characters filled with ambitions. Recommend!

Thank you Penguin General UK and NetGalley for this e-arc in exchange of my unbiased review.

This was a great thriller! Took me some time to get into, but I found the narrator's character compelling and complex and genuinely enjoyed the twists and complexities the story took me on. Once I got into it I couldn't put it down. Would recommend and read again!

A really great story where you are left trying to work out what has gone wrong, who is to blame, whilst also feeling empathy for many of the characters along the way...

Read this not realising there was a previous book however it wasn’t a problem.
A lot of people to remember and I had to double check at the start who was who.
If you are a legal thriller fan this would be a great read for you.
Thank you NetGalley, Penguin & Nicola Williams for an advanced copy of this killer book.

I don’t often award Netgalley books five stars but this certainly deserves it. The senior clerk, Tom, in a well regarded London legal Chambers has an argument in public at a charity event then he takes his number two, Dean,out for a drink. Dean leaves before him. Then Tom is found dead, maybe murdered, but there is no certainty about that conclusion. The person Tom had the public argument is a well known name and the police are discouraged from interviewing him. Dean stood to benefit from getting the senior position in the chambers, now vacant and he is arrested for manslaughter on thin evidence. The case goes to trial with Dean being defended by one of his colleagues.. The story is not as simple as that summary sounds and there are many other side stories about relationships and families, all supporting the central theme. It is pretty easy to guess that Dean is not going to be convicted- that would be too easy! But the reader is left to guess what will happen to change the outcome at the last minute. This is a very good read and I recommend it.

Thanks to Penguin UK and NetGalley for ARC.

This thriller centres on barrister Lee Mitchell's chambers, with the murder of. their senior Clerk and the arrest of his deputy for his murder. I enjoyed this overall, although it rather stretched me to believe absolutely everyone in chambers, and a lot beyond, had so many secrets they would go to great lengths to protect. The courtroom scenes are gripping, and although this read well as a standalone, I've sought out the first book in this series.

This book is absolutely brilliant. The plot and characters were very well written. I couldn't put it down. Highly recommended.

This book is part of a series, but can be read as a standalone which is what I did as this is a new author to me. An interesting story with many of twists and turns, I found this book to be compelling. I really enjoyed it, and found it gripping and well-written.

I was attracted by the blurb (I hadn't realised Lee Mitchell had been in previous book) despite my disinclination to read court-case fiction (I even skipped over parts of To Kill a Mockingbird!!) .. but despite that I enjoyed the set up, and the look-in to Chambers' politics. The set up of toxic male (the one who's killed) and clever, put-upon female colleague worried me at first because it's all so filled with cliche .. but it was over taken by author's smarts in making characters very real. There were, however, for me , too many to keep good track of. I enjoyed the denouement! Maybe this author will continue this series!! Recommendable, that's for sure ...