This could just as easily be named What’s Guilt Or Innocence Got To Do With It?

A man is murdered and his wife brutally injured by an intruder in their home. The police quickly make an arrest, certain they have the culprit even though the evidence is flimsy and circumstantial.

The ensuing courtroom battle has nothing to do with the man’s guilt or innocence, or with finding justice for the victims. It’s all about ambition, corruption, settling old scores, and hiding the dirty linen of the Judge, the Prosecutor, and the Defence QC.

Structurally, this novel could be improved. The POV switches are sloppy and confusing, to the extent that I never really connected with any of the characters. Indeed, I couldn’t even work out who the main character was although, as this is labelled the first in a Naomi Nicholas trilogy, I guess it’s her. Too much exposition, chunks of backstory and info dumps distract from the story and kill the tension. One entire chapter is taken up with the unrelated backstory of a previously unmentioned character who, it turns out, is largely irrelevant to the plot – although potentially an interesting character for future development.

David Crigman is a practising QC, specialising in criminal cases – and this is abundantly clear in the narrative. If you want to see the inside track of criminal court procedure you should read this. The opening statement from the surviving victim is chilling in its realism. The procedures and interaction between the characters is authentic, the behind-the-scenes detail convincing.

A well-written, well-crafted novel this isn’t. But it is a stark insight into court politics, a QC’s priorities, and how justice is meted out, so worth reading for that.