Synopsis: A girl is found murdered. In just twenty-four hours Nathan’s world falls to bits and those closest to him become the focus of mistrust. A bloody scratch, a dead dog and a broken neck all point in one direction but can Nathan prove the police wrong? Time is running out and Nathan still can’t decide what to believe.

Review: Until Proven Guilty is a suitable speed-read, simply written with a straightforward narrative structure and short, aptly titled chapters. While the sentence structure and simplicity of characters and plot would suggest a younger readership, the subject matter is perhaps better suited to early KS3 and would be ideal for weaker readers. Nevertheless, if delivered sensitively, there is a lot of scope for teachers of Year 5/6 to use the novel as a class-reader.

The main character is a boy named Nathan and the novel charts his experience of his dad’s arrest after a girl has been found murdered in the local woods. Ultimately, the novel is about how Nathan deals with the situation on an emotional level, rather than about the details of the murder, and how the local community react to tragic events.