She’s a murderer.
Everyone knows she killed Stuart Rees – why else would his dead body be found in her shed?
So now Tabitha is in prison, awaiting trial.
Coming back to the remote coastal village where she grew up was a mistake. She didn’t fit in then, and she doesn’t fit in now.
That day is such a blur, she can’t remember clearly what happened. There is something she is missing, something important… She only knows one thing. She is not capable of murder.
And the only one she can trust to help her out of this situation is herself.
So she must fight. Against the odds.
For her life.
/
I read one of this author couple’s novels years ago but I didn’t find the main character of the series Frieda very likeable so the urge to pick up another novel (I have 3 more on my tbr list) was not so high until I came across House of Correction. The novel piqued my interest and with a little nudge from blog friend Sabina I bumped this one up to the top of my list.
House of Correction is a courtroom thriller that is quite different from the norm. We all know that I don’t do different very well, I can’t help it. I’m still thinking about what I just read – and I still haven’t processed everything – mainly because there’s a serious lack of investigation and even more than that it’s how the proceedings in the courtroom went. It’s actually hilarious if you can see the humour in it.
House of Correction describes everything you basically shouldn’t do if you’re on trial. The main character Tabitha doesn’t know how anything works at court and for that I can’t blame her but there were other instances where she is so daft that I cringed several times at the things she did. Seriously, when you have to ‘question’ witnesses in the stand, HOW MANY TIMES does she need to be told that you have to ask a question? I haven’t counted it but if you ask me it was several times too many.
Tabitha is not the brightest star in the sky, to say the least. She flies off the handle at several occasions, she forgets to call the Judge My Lady and calls her Madam, she calls the lawyer for the prosecution ‘the other guy’ in front of the judge, she intervenes rudely when witnesses are being questioned by the prosecution and it’s not her time to comment at all. Basically, she got on my nerves so hard and I think even I would have a better shot at it than she did. It also didn’t help that she can’t recall the events on the day of the murder at all, we were off on a bad start already because I have a low tolerance for memory loss like this.
As for the investigation, I had to wait 200 pages to know a little more about the murder itself but it was kept very vague. I still don’t know how many times the victim was stabbed, it isn’t even mentioned. A lot of questions were not even asked.
Throughout the novel – via Tabitha’s conversations in prison with her visitors – it does become clear that the victim was not an angel himself so there are several people who could have a motive but they weren’t anywhere near the murder scene, as CCTV shows. It’s a mystery and with Tabitha’s particular manner of conduct I was holding my heart that she would be convicted. She repeats it so many times that she’s innocent that it’s actually this half pity, half you got it coming, that was making me turn the pages and I was dying to know how she could possibly escape prison. I’m not going to say how it ends, but similar to the rest of the novel, I wasn’t expecting it to go like this. The ending was ok but didn’t make up for the rest and I simply couldn’t overcome the grievings I had.
Readers might find it refreshing that a main character arrested for murder is not some tough person who has her act together and has a positive attitude. This novel dons all those clichés. Unfortunately, I don’t think I was ready for this as I take what happens in courtrooms seriously and I didn’t feel she was very serious. I see that there are 60% of 5-star ratings though so I happily admit that this opinion’s entirely on me.
I received a copy of this novel in my Capital Crime thriller book club box. This is my honest opinion.
Maybe it’s a Belgian thing, as I didn’t get along with Nicci French’s The Lying Room while most people seemed to love it 🤔😂
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That’s the only one I read and I just saw I gave it 4 stars (I think 3.5 rounded up), which surprised me because I never felt like picking up another Nicci French ever again.
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My issue with The Lying Room was much like Inge’s issue with House of Correction: the MC was just so daft 🙄😂 Seems like I can’t stand the stoopid, be it real or fictional 🤔🤣 I’ve read a few Nicci French novels and some I remember really liking but overall they don’t seem to work for me.
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This author duo does have a particular style and type of MC. I’m sure that if I read 5 novels without knowing which one was theirs I’d still could pick it out. Not my style either it appears.
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Ha a Belgian thing, who knows! Good to know I wasn’t the only one, thanks Kelly xxx
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Sometimes authors just aren’t for you and it sounds like this one isn’t your cup of tea. It happens and it’s totally fine. I have the same problem with Peter Swanson and he’s immensely popular 🤷🏼♀️.
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Yep it’s totally fine, I only have another 3 books of this author to read :-). I don’t think I read Peter Swanson yet but let’s hope he doesn’t make this particular list 🙂
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Fantastic review Inge! I totally agree about how cringey the MC was with everything court related, but I still enjoyed it.
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You still read my review! Thank you Nicki, I’m happy you didn’t hold it against her and still enjoyed the novel!
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I had to read your review Inge and I’m glad I did! 😀
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I for one appreciate you telling us your honest opinion and telling us straight, this wasn’t your cup of tea, and why. It makes it easier for your readers to know whether this one would work for them, or not. Thanks, Sweetie. You always give us the goods.
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Thank you Alex for your never ending support!! I find it important to show that not all books I read are amazing, there is the occasional one that doesn’t cut it and I’m not too shy (for once) to share that as well.
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I thinks it’s good that we’re willing to post about the books that didn’t work for us, as it helps the community better. People just need to be thoughtful and honest, and your reviews are always that. ☺️
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Interesting. I’m not really a fan of legal/courtroom thrillers, but I’ve read some that have held my interest. This sounds like a pass for me. It’s sometimes hard to write a honest review that doesn’t show a book in it’s best light, but I rely on them when choosing what I’d like to read. Your review was thoughtful and well presented,
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Thank you so much for appreciating my review. I don’t have a lot of negative reviews in a year but if I didn’t enjoy a book I will tell so. I’d recommend Fifty Fifty by Steve Cavanagh as one of the good legal/courtroom thrillers ;-).
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I have Nicci French on my list of authors to try out. So many readers seem to love the Frieda series. However, after having read your review, perhaps I can wait a little while with giving the books a go and I definitely won’t be starting with this one.
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I can’t explain it but hearing from other readers it seems like a Belgian thing not to connect with the characters in their books, so you might feel differently. It’s strange however if it would really be geographically related.
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Oh, I definitely prefer to be able to connect with the characters as well. I will still try one of their Frieda books, perhaps I will choose one with the highest Goodreads rating. And if I don’t get on with that, I’ll give up up for good. I doubt, it’s geographically related – but what do I know?! 😆
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Fab review! I’m 99% sure I would have a similar reaction to this one… I think I’ve only tried one of her books once years ago and as I can’t even remember which one it was, I don’t think it was a memorable experience. xD
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Thank you Yvo! Luckily there are a million other authors to try!
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