Indefensible

Do not trust all your clients is the message of this unusual legal thriller. It starts as a courtroom drama, set in the 1990s against a backdrop of historical events and people, the most famous or notorious of which is the horror story of the Fred and Rosemary West trial. Even colourful barrister George Carman QC has a part in this drama, as do two colleagues from New Court Chambers. It all adds up to a very realistic description of London legal life, including a Christmas chambers party from hell – and various activities that were normal in the 1990s but not now. The use of historical events works well to contrast fact and fiction.

Our hero is a somewhat jaded barrister, a silk, and we follow his career, enjoying his first major case – a gruesome murder. He struggles with personal relationships and he, perhaps unwisely, starts a love affair with someone involved in the case, a journalist. What could go wrong?

The book is an excellent courtroom thriller which has you guessing what will happen, with realistic descriptions of police officers, counsel, judge and jury. It then develops into a very different kind of story about the aftermath of the trial, the hero’s personal life, wider relationships and dealings with a client. The limits and demands of professional ethics for lawyers is a motif throughout.  

The author, James Woolf, is a London-based writer of short stories, stage and radio plays for Radio 4 and LBC, including Kerton’s Story with Bill Nighy. Woolf works in professional legal ethics at the Law Society, which inspired him to write this, his first novel. A gripping and thought-provoking read.

David Pickup is a partner at Pickup & Scott Solicitors, Aylesbury