New-to-Me Crime Fiction Authors

Indefensible by James Woolf

Published on February 4, 2024 by Margaret1 Comment

Bloodhound Books| 5 January 2024| 413 pages| E-book review copy| 3*

Synopsis from Amazon UK

A lawyer crosses a dangerous line with a former client and discovers that some decisions are indefensible…

Daniel, a criminal barrister, is working all hours on a sensational trial, defending a client he believes is wrongfully accused of a grisly murder. Determined to keep Rod out of prison, he begins to neglect his wife—and soon suspects she’s having an affair.

After Daniel triumphs in court, the bond with his newly acquitted client grows even stronger. And when Rod offers Daniel a favour that he really shouldn’t accept, things take a catastrophic turn.

Daniel realises the lethal consequence of his actions and now his dream case threatens to become his worst nightmare…

My thoughts

I received a copy of Indefensible from the author, James Woolf for review. It’s his debut novel, although 30 of his short stories have appeared in magazines and books, including four in the longstanding arts magazine Ambit. James also writes stage plays (about 15 have been professionally produced) and has written radio plays for Radio 4 and LBC. He has worked in professional ethics within the law for 20 years, including taking calls from barristers when they have a question about their code of conduct. So his book explores the consequences of not following the code of conduct.

After a dramatic opening it took me a while to settle into this book. I couldn’t warm to Daniel at first, a barrister, recently appointed as a QC. He is a complex character who comes across as very needy, insecure and vulnerable, having left his wife on acrimonious terms. This has knocked his confidence and he finds personal relationships difficult. He is disappointed as his clerk is not getting him the cases he wants. But then he gets his first major case defending Rod, accused of a particularly grisly murder. During the course of the trial he meets Michaela, who is a crime reporter, and the two develop a relationship. I was never sure about the characters, were they telling the truth, and were they really what they seemed.

I enjoyed the setting – London in the 1990s with reference to real court cases, such as the trial of Fred and Rosemary West. For me the strength of this book is the court case, keeping me guessing about the outcome and eager to find out who was telling the truth. But as Daniel says the trial process is about testing the evidence – it’s the test that is important and not the truth. As the trial continued I began to fear the worst, that the truth was being obscured. What happened afterwards was not quite what I expected, as Daniel’s decisions and subsequent choices proved to be indefensible.

After a slow start I found this book compelling reading and I’ll be looking out for more books by James Woolf.

My thanks to James Woolf and Bloodhound Books, the publishers, for sending me the Kindle edition for review.

The Last Trial by Scott Turow

Published on February 16, 2022 by Margaret6 Comments

In this explosive legal thriller from New York Times bestselling author Scott Turow, two formidable men collide: a celebrated criminal defense lawyer at the end of his career and his lifelong friend, a renowned doctor accused of murder.

The Last Trial is the first book by Scott Turow that I’ve read. It is a great book and I wish I’d come across his work before now. This one is the 11th book in his Kindle County series (Kindle County is a fictional Illinois county that is based on Cook County). Now I’ll have to read his earlier books, not that I had any problems reading this as a standalone book, but because I enjoyed it so much I want to know more. I love legal thrillers and this is one of the best I’ve read.

There are quite a lot of characters, the main ones being the defence attorney, Sandy Stein, aged 85 and nearing retirement and his daughter, Marta also a lawyer, and Kiril Pafco, his friend and Nobel Prize winner, a doctor, who has developed a drug to treat cancer, which is currently still in its clinical trial period. Sandy is one of his patients whose life has been extended by the drug. Other characters who stood out for me are Pinky, Sandy’s granddaughter, whose offbeat approach to life proves invaluable – I really liked her, and Dr Innis McVie, who had been in a long term relationship with Kiril and until recently had assisted him in his cancer research.

Most of the book is centred on the trial – Kiril is charged with murder after some of the clinical trial patients had suddenly died, and with fraud and insider trading, after he allegedly doctored the research results and sold shares before the details of the deaths became public. Kiril insists he is innocent – but is he?

The details and the of sequence of events is important and gradually becomes clear during the witness testimonies and cross examinations. It all became real to me as I read – I believed in the characters, even the minor ones, and tried to follow all the details of the charges as though I was on the jury. I might not have fully understood all the details of the insider trading, but the medical details were easier for me to follow. This is, however, mainly a character-driven book, revealing their relationships, secrets, motivations and betrayals. It is full of suspense right up until the end.

I loved it and have his first book, Presumed Innocent lined up to read as soon as possible. If you love legal thrillers you’ll love The Last Trial too.

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B081YWP83K
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Mantle (28 May 2020)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 689 KB
Print length ‏ : ‎ 465 pages
Source: A BorrowBox book
My Rating: 5*

Best new-to-me crime fiction authors: a meme: January to March 2013

Published on April 3, 2013 by Margaret3 Comments

Kerrie at Mysteries in Paradise has set up this meme. To participate just write a post about the best new-to-you crime fiction authors (or all) you’ve read in the period of January to March 2013. After writing your post link HERE and visit the links posted by other participants to discover even more books to read.

So far this year I’ve read crime fiction books by 2 new-to-me authors, both books being the first in a series:

The Redemption of Alexander Seaton by Shona MacLean – a fantastic book, historical crime fiction, full of atmosphere and well-drawn characters. A book with the power to transport me to another time and place. I hope to read more of MacLean’s books. I found this book by accident, as it were, in my local library.
Death at Wentwater Court by Carola Dunn – the first in the Daisy Dalrymple series. It’s a quick and easy read, a mix of Agatha Christie and PG Wodehouse, set in 1923 at the Earl of Wentwater’s country mansion, Wentwater Court. I first came across the Daisy Dalrymple books in other book blogs. This is an enjoyable book, but not one to overtax the brain, but interesting enough to get me reading more in the series.