On My Life by Angela Clarke

On My Life by Angela Clarke
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - 1 day

Pages - 384

Publisher - Mulholland Books UK

Source - Review copy

Blurb from Goodreads

Framed. Imprisoned. Pregnant.

Jenna thought she had the perfect life: a loving fiancé, a great job, a beautiful home. Then she finds her stepdaughter murdered; her partner missing.

And the police think she did it...

Locked up to await trial, surrounded by prisoners who'd hurt her if they knew what she's accused of, certain someone close to her has framed her, Jenna knows what she needs to do:

Clear her name
Save her baby
Find the killer

But can she do it in time?

'An angry, powerful read - one of those rare crime novels with more to deliver than routine thrills.' Mick Herron, author of London Rules



My Review

Split between then and now, we meet Jenna, accused of killing her stepdaughter and fiance, his body hasn't been found yet. Jenna is innocent but noone believes her, it is only a matter of time before the inmates find out she is a child killer. Jenna has to find a way to prove her innocence but all the evidence points to Jenna, her fiance is missing presumed dead and how can you prove anything when you are stuck in jail and your only hope is your lawyer?

Then takes up back to Jenna meeting her now fiance, now we go through her being incarcerated post the killing and the run up to her trial. Now focuses on her experiences in jail and it isn't pleasant, threats are hanging on every corner. We follow Jenna as she finds out what it is like to go from a normal life to being a child killer, what jail life entails and the knowledge of those closest have given up on you. The then chapters are how her relationship starts, her life before it is changed and a glimpse into a not so perfect relationship, all the while asking yourself where is the fiance?

The jail scenes are gripping, danger, violence, death and devastation at the power some have over others, the abuse and vulnerability these woman experience. Gripping and pulls you in pretty much from the get go, this isn't my first dance with Clarke and it won't be my last, 4/5 for me this time. This is a standalone and if you haven't read anything of hers before this is a great place to start.

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