A cheating wife. An estranged mother. But is she guilty of murder?
Please raise your right hand.
An affair at work has cost Julia Winter her job and her marriage. There’s no denying she has let her family down.
Please remain standing.
When a body is discovered on the North Downs, it hits local headlines. But for Julia, the news is doubly shocking because the body was buried just opposite the house she lived in over twenty years ago. And it is one of her former housemates.
Please resume your seat.
Up on the stand, Julia’s not the only person to have secrets that are unearthed during the trial. But the evidence against her is overwhelming.
And yet one question remains: is she the murderer, or the victim?
Jurors, you may be excused.
Readers, what is your verdict?
The Sexy Nerd ‘Revue’
Julia Winter, like her namesake, lived a very cold and frightening life—putting up with a rotten husband, a son that refuses to speak to her, let alone acknowledge her existence, was it a surprise that she was on trial for murder? Twenty-four years prior, Julia was a young lady trying to find her way. She wanted to get away from her mother, Audrey, who nearly drove her insane with all her mothering. Julia finally broke free and found a nice and quiet apartment in Guilford, where she met other young people her age living their best lives.
The other young tenants who occupied the apartment were an eclectic group. Julia found most of them strange, but she learned to adapt and adjust. One night, as she was nursing her wounds from a previous broken heart, she and Brandon, another tenant, went out for drinks. And that should have been the extent of their meeting, but when you throw alcohol in the mix, you’re bound to get a concoction of raging hormones, emotions and lust. When Julia woke the next morning, she discovered that she had, in fact, slept with Brandon. Uh-oh! Now Brandon was expecting a relationship after their one-night-stand, and Julia wasn’t giving him or their rendezvous any more thought.
When Gideon and his friend arrived at the apartment, Julia was quite smitten with Gideon, and Brandon wasn’t feeling that at all. But the landlady who owned the building they were living in, had a thing for Brandon. She was in her fifties trying to lore young Brandon with money and other things, if he dared, but Brandon was only interested in her money.
Twenty-four years later, Julia finds herself sitting in a jail cell wondering how the hell she got here? Ooh, Julia knew exactly how she got there. She began receiving strange text messages advising that a body had been found. Julia knew exactly whose body had been found in North Downs—Brandon Wells. She, along with her husband, Gideon, and his good friend, were awaiting their fates from the jury. Brandon disappeared all those years ago and he has come back to haunt her. Since being estranged from her husband, Gideon, she had an affair in which her son caught her in the act, which is why Sam had nothing to do with his mom. Only now, he stood to lose both of his parents at the same time for being accused of murder. Were they guilty? Well…readers, you’ll have to dive into this story to find out the rest.
I must say there was a great deal of twists and turns. This was one of those stories where the past and present collided in a major way. Some authors execute the complexities of the past and present effortlessly, and some should never try to do this. Isaac-Henry did a pretty decent job keeping the reader guessing, but I found that a lot of the story was a bit boring for my tastes. To me, I wanted a bit more excitement during the past stories, and I felt the story fell flat at times. It wasn’t until I got to about 60% of the story, where I was totally invested in it. The trial was amazing. I was reading it like a tennis match. The back and forth was awesome! Isaac-Henry really did her homework on the trial aspect of the case. It was truly great to read. I love a good legal drama, and she really brought it out in the trial. I just wished she’d written the entire novel that way and this would have been an even greater read.
The Sexy Nerd gives The Verdict four bangs of the gavel. Overall, I felt this story lacked complete excitement, but the trial was truly enjoyable to read. The story line will keep the reader engaged to want to find out if Julia and her husband were guilty of murder? The ending was quite surprising, leaving a serious question in the reader’s mind. The Verdict goes on sale Thursday, October 31, 2019. Please pick up a copy wherever books are sold. Until next time, Nerds, open a book and get mind blown!
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