The Simple Truth by James Buckler

When brilliant research scientist Maria Brennan is discovered dead in her car everyone is convinced she's taken her own life. All the evidence points to suicide; she's lost her high profile job and seems to have been blacklisted in the research community. However, her mother Irina is convinced Maria wouldn't take her own life and when a young lawyer is tasked with getting Irina to sign an NDA he begins to suspect that she may be right.

I was a little bit skeptical when I started reading The Simple Truth as the opening pages are very descriptive, setting the scene on a nature reserve and leading up to the discovery of a body. Once the main characters are introduced the story really begins to increase in pace. 

The story taps into a lot of themes which are very relevant at the moment. Organised crime, green energy and Russian money. Author James Buckler manages to weave these themes together in an interesting, and believable, way. The use of the themes also means that there is never a dull moment in the story, we have action, tension and terror.

A range of characters feature throughout the novel with the main one being young lawyer Lewis Miller. Lewis has fought his way up from his working class background in east London to become an employee of one of the most prestigious law firms in the country. Because of his background Lewis sees parallels between himself and Maria Brennan and this sets him on his crusade to discover the truth.

The story has plenty of twists and absolutely no-one can be trusted. There are plenty of red herrings along the way too. James Buckler has worked in TV and film for years and this is evident in the way the chase scenes are written, your heart is pounding as you wonder if each character can escape pursuit. 

The Simple Truth by James Buckler will be published on 5th January 2023 in hardback, ebook and audio format. My thanks to NetGalley and Transworld Books for a review copy.