In Her Defence

By (author) Philippa Malicka
Short description/annotation:
The Talented Mr Ripley meets Gillian Flynn in this juicy, page-turning courtroom drama about family, privilege, the dark side of therapy and the slippery nature of memory.
Description:

''Smart, elegant and endlessly unsettling'' ABIGAIL DEAN
''A brilliant mix of courtroom drama, psychological thriller and love story'' JP DELANEY
''A stunning debut'' ERIN KELLY
''I was completely hooked from the first page to the very last!'' MEGAN MIRANDA
''Beautifully written and brilliantly addictive'' VALERIE KEOGH
''Haunting and twisty'' LIV CONSTANTINE
''I devoured it'' DEBBIE HOWELLS
''A star-making debut'' JULIA HEABERLIN

Everyone is watching . . .

Wealthy and famous, Anna Finbow stands in court, accusing therapist Jean Guest of brainwashing her daughter Mary to gain access to her trust fund.

Jean claims that the dark memories she''s helped Mary uncover are real. That therapy has offered her a chance to finally heal from childhood trauma, and she would be better off away from her family''s damaging influence.

I''ll tell you now . . . you shouldn''t believe either of them.

A fiercely intelligent psychological thriller of obsessive friendship, toxic families and the precarious nature of therapy, from an exceptional new talent.

READERS ARE RAVING ABOUT IN HER DEFENCE

''WHAT. A. BOOK. I just finished and I am totally shook'' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
''Twisty, thrilling and unputdownable. If I could give it more than five stars I would'' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
''This book is so suspenseful it practically feels like horror'' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
''Razor-sharp plotting and deeply believable characters'' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
''I LOVE a courtroom drama, but this was so much more!'' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Biographical note:
Philippa Malicka grew up in Essex and now lives in London. Her journalism has appeared in the Sunday Telegraph and Sunday Times and she is a graduate of the Fiction MA at the University of East Anglia. In Her Defence, a Reese''s Book Club pick in February 2026, is her first novel.
Review quote: previous work:
In Her Defence has pace, the lush backdrop of Rome, and many wonderfully wealthy characters destroying their lives - The Times

A gripping courtroom drama I absolutely inhaled - Grazia

So, so, so good! You don''t know what''s real and you don''t know who to trust. I couldn''t put it down . . . you''re going to lose your mind over it

Smart, elegant, and endlessly unsettling. This is a novel full of delicious, vivid details: the ambiguous characters, the unforgettable settings, the unnerving psychology