The trial by Rob Rinder
Many will be aware of Rob Rinder, “Judge Rinder” – former barrister, television and media personality. This is his first novel, an engrossing read with clear echoes of the author’s former life as a lawyer. If anyone would like to write a sentence or two about these books, please email me janet.bayliss@esneft.nhs.uk – so we can post to the book group part of the ESNEFT book group website.
We liked this one, The trial which is a crime thriller with a twist and the feeling of a “legal procedural” rather than a “police procedural”, dealing as it does with a murder of a hero policeman by poisoning. The central character is appealing: Adam Green, a young barrister in his first year in chambers, whose experiences and characteristics must echo those of the author. We also liked his mum, who seemed to be a believable character in that she was the classic Jewish “mom” trying to get her son married; albeit concealing a dark secret and living with a deep grief related to this.
Rob Rinder, the author was born in London and the book has something of a sense of place as it is set there, with particularly vivid descriptions of the Old Bailey. The book was started while he was still practising as a barrister, having been called to the Bar in 2001. He started his pupillage at chambers known as 2 Paper Buildings, then moving to 2 Hare Court, both of which may have acted as inspirations for Stag Court Chambers, where Adam Green is based. However, it is to be hoped that Rinder never had a “pupil master” quite as awful as Jonathan Taylor-Cameron.
The story of the book was found intriguing and involving, although with some plot weaknesses that were a bit unbelievable in places and some writing and characterisation which surprised us, given that Rob Rinder is a very intelligent (but also very busy man). There has been a rumour that a ghost writer was involved in some way with this book; which we felt was an interesting possibility. Overall, a thumbs up for this one, with several readers wanting to read more, as a sequel is available and another soon to emerge.
For those who like a good legal thriller, then we recommended the Harry Bosch series by Michael Connolly, who combines strong plots with a believable sense of place in the setting of contemporary Los Angeles.
Going back in history, the stories of Wilkie Collins are excellent examples of early “detective” type novels, or at least books with a central mystery and a detective, such as The woman in white. In addition, famously there are the creations of Arthur Conan Doyle, the tales of Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson, which work well for some readers and not for others, but are classics of the genre.
Outside of the crime scene, Out of Africa by Karen Blixen, a memoir of her years in the continent 1914 – 1931 has a good story. With regard to historical fiction, The square of sevens by Laura Shepherd-Robinson, based in the 1700s was found to be an involving book about deception with clever writing and at around 300 pages, a possible future book group choice.
We were still reading “The Seven Sisters” series by Lucinda Riley and finding them compulsive.
Finally, A world on the wing by Scott Weidensaul is a fascinating book in the non-fiction sphere about birds and flight, for those interested in the animal world and nature.
Several of the above are on Libby, check them out at the ESNEFT Libby pages.