pickThe second outing for barrister, Lee Mitchell, sees her defending someone from her legal Chambers - Junior Clerk, Dean. Dean's boss, Tom Mannion, was found dead in a dark alley after a night out drinking, & Dean was the last person to be seen with him. Even though the evidence, what there is of it, is mostly circumstantial, the police & judiciary seem oddly keen to prosecute the case. (continued)
pickI'll say right from the off that I have always believed that Marilyn Monroe was murdered. Her death was just too convenient for certain people & the evidence & changing testimony of those there that night just don't fit with suicide or accidental death. The scenario posited by this book hangs together with the evidence a lot better than the bs we've been fed for decades. (continued)
pickLeanne (Lee) Mitchell is a young barrister, she's a woman, working-class, & Black so the odds are against her. Having moved from her childhood home to a house in a richer part of town, Lee is also viewed with suspicion by some in her old community.
When the younger son of the local pastor is shot, the community is shattered but vengeful, especially when evidence suggests thar a police officer, Sergeant Jack Lambert, was the shooter.
I enjoyed this one slightly more than the first book. It was frustrating but true to life, to see the rich & [en]titled with their private clubs & 'old boys' networks conspire to focus attention on working class Dean. If there's a criticism, i would say that again the solution to the case literally walks through the door, 19h
My thanks to #NetGalley & publishers, Penguin UK/Hamish Hamilton, for the opportunity to read an ARC.
19h
Read 11th-13th July 2025
#ReadAway2025 @Andrew65 @DieAReader @GHABI4ROSES 19h