The Innocent One

Author: Lisa Ballantyne
Genre: Crime Fiction/Suspense
352 pages
Publisher: Piatkus, 2022

Synopsis
Innocent? Ten years have passed, but everyone remembers the Angel Killer. Sebastian Croll was just eleven years old when accused of murdering his playmate.

Criminal solicitor Daniel Hunter helped prove Sebastian’s innocence in a trial that gripped the nation, and now the past is being unearthed when he gets a call from his old client.

Or guilty? Sebastian’s university professor has been brutally murdered and everyone who knew her is in the frame. As Daniel steps in to represent Sebastian for a second time, news about the boy’s past spreads like wildfire, instantly branding Sebastian as guilty.

With tensions around the country rising, can Daniel prove once again that Sebastian is the innocent 

My review
The Innocent One is a crime/suspense novel by Lisa Ballantyne. I was surprised to learn that it’s a sequel to The Guilty One, Ballantyne’s debut novel published in 2012. The two books are interconnected, and Ballantyne skillfully provides sufficient backstory from the first book, making The Innocent One easy to read as a standalone.

The Innocent One weaves together two central storylines. One centers on the murder of a college professor and Daniel Hunter’s defense of Sebastian Croll, the primary suspect and a former client from The Guilty One. The other explores Hunter’s strained marriage, unresolved childhood trauma, and the complexities of representing Croll given their shared history. Years after defending an eleven-year-old Croll, accused of killing his playmate, Hunter receives a call from him once again. Now, Croll’s university professor has been brutally murdered, and he fears his past will cast suspicion on him. Despite facing challenges in his personal life and still wrestling with his own troubled past, Hunter agrees to take on the case.

While the premise of the book is intriguing and had great potential, I felt the narrative lacked sufficient focus on Croll. The idea of being accused of murder at both 11 and 21 could have offered a deeper, more compelling and exciting exploration. The narrative is a slow burn, and I found the pacing somewhat uneven due to its heavy focus on Hunter’s relationship with his wife and son. At times, the story feels more like a family drama than a suspenseful thriller.

The Innocent One had great potential, unfortunately Ballantyne chose to steer the narrative toward Hunter’s personal life rather than the suspense of the case. If you’re seeking a story centered on police procedurals, intricate plotting, or courtroom drama, this might not be the book for you. That said, the final two chapters did get my heart racing, and I appreciated ending on a more thrilling note! Overall, The Innocent One was simply an okay read for me.

My recommendation: it’s an OK read, but doesn’t provide much suspense or thrill.