It Ends At Midnight by Harriet Tyce - Review

After I enjoyed Blood Orange so much I thought I would like to read something else by Harriet Tyce, so I requested this at the library and picked it up mid March. I thought it would take me a while to read but instead I raced through it in about 48 hours. It is, like Blood Orange, incredibly compelling. It again has a lawyer as the main character, although there isn't as much law as in Blood Orange. Plenty of the characters are incredibly unlikeable, again including the main character. I like this in books because I just never know what to think - it's a brilliant way to slip in a lot of red herrings and make the reader doubt everybody.

So, Sylvie is a lawyer who has ambitions to become a Crown Court judge. She is currently presiding over the trial of three young boys who are accused of robbing another boy at knifepoint. She has a friend from school, Tess, and is also friends with her husband, Marcus. However, the two have split up - Marcus has left. Sylvie is a bit full of her own problems when Tess tells her that she's got a brain tumour and it might be cancerous. She wants Sylvie to tell Marcus on her behalf. And she also starts talking about Linda. 

Parts of the book are flashbacks to when Sylvie and Tess were growing up together in Edinburgh, when Sylvie was going out with Stewart, who turned out to be an absolute shit. He got off with Linda at one point, and she ended up in prison for some reason, and Sylvie and Tess lied about something which helped her get convicted. Sylvie wants to leave the whole thing behind, but as Tess is convinced she's dying and wants to make things right with Linda.

Meanwhile, Sylvie is seeing a man called Gareth who still lives in Edinburgh. He is a caterer and she met him at a conference about six months previously. She is excited to tell Tess about him, but this is when Tess drops the bombshell about the brain tumour. Tess isn't that great of a friend, which runs deep. Gareth seems like a nice enough person. Tess becomes obsessed with planning a renewal of her vows with Marcus, but Marcus has his doubts that she's even really ill, as it turned out she lied about something before too. 

There's also parts of the book which detail two bodies being found impaled on railings outside a posh house in Edinburgh on New Year's Day, but it's not obvious who the victims are and exactly what has happened. I did guess a couple of the twists but I found the book really compelling. I'm giving it four out of five. 

Blood Orange by Harriet Tyce - Review

I feel like this was was everywhere in 2019 when it came out, so I bought it but then immediately forgot about it. But then I was looking for something else on my shelves and remembered how much I wanted to read this, so pulled it out. I'm really glad I did - it's utterly compelling and full of twists, and I now want everyone I know to read it.

The main character is Alison, who is a lawyer in London (I don't fully understand the difference between a barrister and a solicitor - I think she's a barrister and works under solicitors). She is married to Carl, who lost hus job a few years ago and has retrained as a therapist. They have a little girl called Matilda, who's about six. Carl does most of the childcare as Alison works long hours. 

Part of this is the culture of law firms, which expect everyone to be out at night drinking a lot. Alison basically does have a problem with alcohol - she often drinks more than she intends to and ends up doing things she doesn't really want to do. She is having an affair with Patrick, who works for a different law firm to her. But he has also just given Alison her first murder case. She does worry about what exactly she has had to do to get the case, but she's excited for her first murder. She and Patrick go to meet the defendant, Madeline. She insists that she is guilty of murdering her husband, Edwin, but Alison feels there's more to the story and advises that Madeline doesn't plead guilty immediately. Alison manages to unearth abuse by Edwin, and Madeline's story becomes clearer.

Meanwhile, Alison is determined to be at home more and be a better mother. She realises there are massive problems within her and Carl's marriage, and she is trying to mend things. But then she's late to pick Matilda up - but didn't Carl say he was picking her up? Carl insists he said he had a late client, but Alison isn't sure... 

She's also determined to break things off with Patrick, but that's easier said than done because Patrick has a knack of getting his own way. She keeps getting drawn back into his web, until something shocking about him comes out...

I really liked the book, I liked Alison and wanted her to succeed. I reckoned Carl was a wrong 'un right from the beginning - he has such a creepy vibe! I loved the look at law firm culture and how easy it was to get carried away in that. I would definitely read something else by the same author and am giving this five out of five.