Tale of a young solicitor living on the edge

Not many thrillers feature the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal and Law Society Gazette. This is an excellent and thoroughly enjoyable first novel about a billionaire who sets up a trust to manage his (possibly ill-gotten) gains. The setting for the story ranges from Russia to London and then to South Africa. It is all told with the attention to detail found in the books of Frederick Forsyth. 

The real hero is a young solicitor whose career takes some interesting turns and is increasingly linked to the philanthropist. He is nearly struck off for malpractice at one point, and later he has to negotiate dark forces and ruthless journalists who will stop at nothing.

It is great fun and an exciting tale which includes a firm of solicitors that only has one client, does not advertise itself and turns away any enquiries. That sounds tempting and intriguing – and it is. There are plot twists and temptations for our lawyer hero.

The novel is an interesting reflection on solicitors’ careers and what makes for success, as well as the power of big business and the insatiable appetite of the media. At one point the book says that we solicitors are ‘undertakers for the living’, presumably meaning we do things other people don’t want to do.  

Author Stephen Tranter set up his own firm comprising himself and a secretary on a council estate in 1984. The firm grew and became two practices: criminal law which is still active in Manchester; and Tranters Freeclaim Solicitors, a personal injury practice, the successor of which is CFG law based in Manchester.

Tranter started out as a general practice solicitor, like the central character in the book, but he later specialised. He is now retired and has recently started writing his second novel. I am told this will be a different kind of book, albeit still in the legal thriller category.

David Pickup