Book Review: The Trial by Jo Spain

About the book

2014, Dublin: at St Edmunds, an elite college on the outskirts of the city, twenty-year-old medical student Theo gets up one morning, leaving behind his sleeping girlfriend, Dani, and his studies - never to be seen again.

With too many unanswered questions, Dani simply can't accept Theo's disappearance and reports him missing, even though no one else seems concerned, including Theo's father.

Ten years later, Dani returns to the college as a history professor.

With her mother suffering from severe dementia, and her past at St Edmunds still haunting her, she's trying for a new start. But not all is as it seems behind the cloistered college walls - meanwhile, Dani is hiding secrets of her own.

Why we love it

Sometimes you're just in the mood for a totally engrossing mystery filled with great characters and enough plot twists to keep you guessing throughout - and Jo Spain's The Trial ticks all of those boxes.

Split over two timelines, it's tells the story of Dani, a young history student at the fictional collage of St Edmunds on the outskirts of Dublin, whose boyfriend Theo disappears in 2014 under mysterious circumstances. 

Fast forward to 2024 and Dani is back teaching at St Edmunds, haunted by the memories of the past and still searching for answers as to what really happened to Theo.

There's something irresistibly compelling about books set on university campuses - that subtle combination of tension and claustrophobia which comes from characters living in a close-knit, isolated community. From the very first chapters, there's a sense of something secret and hidden simmering away just beneath the surface of this seemingly idyllic campus setting that immediately pulled me into the story.

Stories are often driven either by plot or by character but this one manages to strike a rare balance - it’s tightly plotted and yet the characters are every bit as compelling. I loved Dani, both as a student and as an adult, and found myself completely rooting for her as she struggled to find out what happened to her first love.

As with all mysteries, there's only so much you can say without giving away spoilers but suffice to say this is an engrossing, brilliantly plotted psychological thriller. It cleverly tackles the ethics of drug trials and medical research conducted by higher education bodies, when funding comes from private pharmaceutical companies with a vested interest in the outcome.

Add in plenty of red herrings and plot twists to keep you guessing and you have the perfect summer read - thoroughly enjoyable!