Reviewed by Chris
Longmuir
I’m an avid crime reader but must admit I don’t normally read court-room
dramas. I’m not sure why that is, maybe it’s because I can’t get rid of the
feeling that because the setting is a formal one, this will detract from the
suspense of the story. However, I won this book in a competition, so it follows
that I had to read it. Well, I’m glad I
did, because this was one of the most thrilling, page-turners I’ve read for
some time.
The characters were completely realistic, and I was completely drawn in
by Sarah Newby, who was no formal, dry as dust QC. She was a living, breathing
character with her own family problems, and dilemmas. She dispelled the image
of wig and gown, although she did wear them in court, but she also travelled to
court on her high-powered motor bike, and when she was angry she revved the
bike and drove dangerously at high speed.
The book starts with the discovery of the body of a young girl in the
bath of her boyfriends flat. She is partially drowned and has slit wrists. It
soon transpires that she hasn’t committed suicide, she has been murdered, with
her boyfriend the main suspect. Sarah has the job of prosecuting him, and the
resultant court case is full of suspense.
The girl’s family are destroyed by her death, and when the boyfriend is
killed they become the prime suspects, and Sarah has the job of defending the
mother who is charged with the murder.
It has to be said that the identity of each murderer is never in doubt,
but the events leading from these murders provide enough suspense to satisfy
the most dedicated crime reader.
This was the second book in the Sarah Newby series but it is not
necessary to read them in order as this book did well as a stand-alone crime
story. Needless to say I’ll now read the first book in the series, although
I’ll have to buy that one, as it would be a fluke if I won that one in a
competition as well.
Chris Longmuir
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