All I Said Was True

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Mahmood perfectly executes the killer combination of beautiful prose and a bloody great story. I will read anything he writes." - Ayisha Malik Mahmood, whose parents are first-generation immigrants from Pakistan, was born in Liverpool in 1969. [1] Growing up in Liverpool, he attended comprehensive schools. [1] [2] After earning his undergraduate degree in 1990 at Kingston University in London, he studied for the bar at the Inns of Court. [3] He is now a barrister, with chambers in Middle Temple, specialising in criminal law and in common law. [1] [3] He and his wife live in South East London. [4] Literary career [ edit ]

All I Said Was True is Imran’s third standalone novel and possibly his most complex to date. If you haven’t read any of Imran’s books before (or watched the brilliant BBC adaptation of You Don’t Know Me), then let me introduce you to the KING of UNRELIABLE NARRATORS. Layla is a lawyer so is fully aware of the predicament the police face and knows that they only have forty eight hours in which to charge her or let her go. Layla pleads with the police to find Michael but as the interviews progress more facts come to light that threaten to expose Layla.

As with the protagonists of Mahmood’s previous novels, YOU DON’T KNOW ME and I KNOW WHAT I SAW, Layla is an unusual, perhaps unreliable, narrator. It is clear from the start of her interrogation that Layla knows more than she initially offers, that she seems to be giving up her information to a planned timetable. She maintains that Michael killed Amy but the police cannot find any evidence that Michael was on the roof, or that he actually exists. THEN, Layla tells us that Michael saved her from being run over by an out of control car on a London street. Thereafter, Michael appears at intervals, claiming that he has not been following Layla, that their meetings are not coincidental, that they are in fact linked in some way, that they are intended to prevent some terrible occurrence. At times the reader might question whether there is something supernatural going on here, or Michael may just be a liar who Is following her… A twisting path to the moment of murder via a police interview where the truth meets its match. A relentless, absorbing thriller of the darkest paranoid noir." - Janice Hallett I had no clue, absolutely zero, what the truth was. The narrative from Layla was believable and seemed to be perfectly reasonable but as the questioning goes on, Laylas behaviour starts to seem more unhinged and you wonder if the police do have something. Owen, James (8 June 2021). "The best thrillers for June 2021". The Times . Retrieved 6 December 2021. as a portrait of vulnerability, it's sympathetically rendered and the resolution surprisingly disturbing.

Amy Blahn was murdered and her body discovered on a London office rooftop. Layla Mahoney held Amy as died in her arms. The police arrest Amy who offers little defence other than saying ‘It was Michael. Find Michael and you’ll find out everything you need to know.’ The problem is these two narratives don't align. Layla insists someone called Michael is the one who committed the murder but the police cannot find any trace of him.Layla knows she only has forty-eight hours to convince the police that bringing in the man she knows only as 'Michael' will clear her name and reveal a dangerous game affecting not just Amy and Layla, but her husband Russell and countless others. Mahmood's second book, I Know What I Saw, is a thriller about a murder in the affluent London district of Mayfair. It was published by Raven Books, the new crime imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing. [2] [10] Its narrator, formerly a wealthy banker, meets scepticism when police cannot confirm his account of witnessing murder. [11] The Times recommended it as one of their "Best Thrillers for 2021." [12] Financial Times also praised the book, saying "it affirms his talent." [13] At the start of the book, Layla Mahoney is being read her rights; she isn't an immediately sympathetic character and her cool, rather abrasive demeanour meant I wondered whether I would be able to relate to her as a protagonist. It's undeniably true that her actions throughout the novel ensure she isn't the easiest person to warm to; I was confused and frustrated by her behaviour but she is such a compelling character. I begrudged the times when I had to stop reading because I was so desperate to know the truth – about Amy Blahn's murder, the secrets Layla's husband, Russell was keeping, whether Layla was of sound mind and who the mysterious, apparently ever-present Michael really was. I Know What I Saw". Bloomsbury.com. 2020 . Retrieved 22 November 2020. This is Xander Shute: once a wealthy banker, now living on the streets. As he shelters for the night in an empty Mayfair flat, he hears its occupants returning home, and scrambles to hide as the couple argue. Trapped in his hiding place, he soon finds himself witnessing a vicious murder.Published: 10-06-2021

I must admit that I never got to grips with Layla and her mindset. By the end of the novel I had a better understanding of why she acted as she did in custody, but I couldn’t identify with the why of it. I think that she’s a bit obsessive. A suspenseful and intriguing thriller, layered with authenticity and told with real poise." - Victoria Selman Layla Mahoney is in custody for the murder of a woman she says she doesn’t know. The evidence appears incontrovertible;- while she says she didn’t commit the act, her explanation of who did isn’t convincing anyone, including her lawyer. So who did kill Amy Blahn? And why isn’t Layla helping herself to reveal the facts of what happened?

a b c d Lea, Richard (4 May 2017). "Imran Mahmood: 'Can the moral question overwhelm legal guilt?' ". The Guardian . Retrieved 21 November 2020. Born in Liverpool in 1969 to first-generation immigrants from Pakistan, he downplays the challenges of starting at the bar for a comprehensive-educated, working-class British Asian from the north of England during the early 1990s. However, I found the main character, Layla, so unlikeable that I had to pause my reading. I think it was intentional to make her seem frantic and disorganised throughout the investigation. She did not help the police by giving information or help herself.