Reviews

Books reviewed by Paul Magrath Forensics: The Anatomy of Crime by Val McDermid (Profile Books, £18.99) The Suspicions of Mr Whicher by Kate Summerscale (Bloomsbury, £8.99)     Val McDermid is a crime writer with a reputation for gritty psychological thrillers and her approach in Forensics: The Anatomy of Crime is that of an outsider… Continue reading

Reviewed by Paul Magrath This charming little handbook is now in its third printing, after proving a popular stocking-filler at Wildy’s bookshop. Its author, a retired judge, is also a keen watercolourist and draughtsman, a family trait that apparently can be traced back tot he 18th Century. It is well known, however, that the law… Continue reading

Reviewed by Paul Magrath Faith in the justice system to deliver a fair verdict is in short supply on the grim council estate where the rape, drug dealing and some pretty grievous bodily harm take place in Kathy Lette’s latest novel, Courting Trouble. Her writing style, a giddy cocktail of high-heeled chick lit and wisecracking… Continue reading

Paul Magrath reviews a book and a play about the notorious phonehacking trial at the Old Bailey… Continue reading

Reviewed by Paul Magrath   Ian McEwan’s latest novel, The Children Act, is named after a statute; and the story it tells is about a High Court judge. But its true purpose seems to be to provide a literary appreciation of the art of writing judgments. Not just any old judgments, though. For McEwan seems… Continue reading

Reviewed by Paul Magrath When the life of an accused man hangs in the balance, even a point of statutory construction can be turned to nail-biting drama. In A Matter for the Jury, Peter Murphy continues the story of Ben Schroeder, a young barrister in the 1960s, with a tense account of his first murder… Continue reading

Reviewed by Paul Magrath Stolen elections, military coups, kidnapping, extortion and terror. We may think these things only happen in unstable third world countries, but Peter Murphy shows how close to home – to the White House itself – these things could come. In his first political thriller, REMOVAL, Murphy showed us how a presidential… Continue reading

Flash Boys, by Michael Lewis reviewed by Paul Magrath Few authors can claim to have set in train an investigation by the FBI, but Michael Lewis’s latest book, Flash Boys, has done just that after exposing some of the more dubious practices associated with High Frequency Trading (HFT) on the US securities market. Nor is… Continue reading

Reviewed by Paul Magrath   When the drugged, strangled corpse of a blonde in a green dress is found in the bedroom of hedge fund honcho Vernon James’s trashed hotel suite, the morning after the gala awards ceremony where he was awarded the Ethical Man of the Year prize, his protestations of innocence meet a… Continue reading

The news that an experienced criminal barrister and part-time judge, Constance Briscoe, has been sentenced to 16 months in prison for three offences of perverting the course of justice has prompted widespread comment and, in some quarters, indignation. It brings a promising career to an abrupt end and, for a once inspiring role model, it is also a sad fall from grace.… Continue reading