The Best True Crime Dramas of 2022 Ranked

While this book isn’t focused on a legal case, it has a corporate lawyer lead and is full of corporate intrigue. It’s also a great read for fans of past and present chapters–which I love. Ellice Littlejohn already has a lot on her plate, including putting the woman who raised her in a home and worrying about her brother, when she walks into work and finds a partner dead by apparent suicide. Rather than calling it in, she leaves and lets someone else find him, opening the door for her to become the prime suspect as the firm she works for decides to promote her. Everything quickly is spiraling out of control and she needs to figure out what is happening…

(TW main case questioned as suicide/ alcoholic parent/ dementia/ teen sexual assault recounted, not graphic/ child abuse/ brief mention partner abuse/ fatshaming)

This follows an actual case but in a very clever and unique way–the format is different from what you’re used to. It’s the kind of book where going into it knowing nothing or as little as possible is the funnest way, but I know some readers want to know as much as possible so I’m splitting this review first with the bare bones and then with more info.

We start with law students being given case files of a real case to go through. All of the files are email exchanges and text messages between a group of people who overlap being in a play together and working at a hospital. You are provided with all the information to “play along” and solve the case.

Law students are given evidence from a real trial to go through which consists of email exchanges and text messages. There is a community play being put together by a wealthy family known for this and the toddler granddaughter has just been diagnosed with cancer. Quickly the community comes together to help raise a large sum of money to try and get her experimental drugs from America which have not yet been approved in the UK. We get to know all the characters involved through their messages to each other: from the play being cast, organized, practiced and performed, to the fundraising efforts that go into full effect. The students are tasked with reading everything in order to help with an appeal in the hopes that they will spot what was missed in the original murder trial. As the students are prompted to solve certain things, you as the reader also get to play detective/lawyer and try to answer the questions.

This book had me longing for the days that we used to have full conversations over email and I loved how much you could get to know the characters solely through their digital correspondence. There’s the busy body who emails one person one thing and then has a slightly different story in a different email exchange; the married couple trying to settle into a new place after working with a group like Doctors without Borders; the oncologist awaiting the money for the drugs ordered; the family trying to raise the money; and the woman in charge of all the fundraising. I was completely sucked into everyone’s life and rather impressed with how well this book works even though it’s all just digital correspondence. If you’re looking for a page-turner that is formatted differently from other books, and want to participate in the puzzle solving, pick this one up.

(TW child cancer/ past child deaths from illness/ pregnancy complications/ addiction/ mentions sexual assaults, not graphic)