August 23

The Aladdin Trial – Abi Silver

An elderly local artist plunges 100 feet to her death at an overstretched London hospital and the police immediately sense foul play. The hospital cleaner, a Syrian refugee and loner, is arrested for her murder. He protests his innocence, but why has he given her the story of Aladdin to read, and why does he shake uncontrollably in times of stress?

Judith Burton and Constance Lamb reunite to defend a man the media has already convicted. Together they uncover not only the cleaner’s secrets, but also those of the artist’s family, her lawyer and the hospital.

A new Burton and Lamb legal thriller from the author of the acclaimed The Pinocchio Brief.

My thanks to Lightning Books for my review copy

 

This review is long overdue. Now that summer holidays are over, my kids have returned to school and “normal” is slowly returning I can try to catch up on writing reviews of my summer reads.  I wanted to start with a good one so The Aladdin Trial was an easy choice in that regard.

The lead characters, Judith Burton and Constance Lamb, first appeared in Abi Silver’s The Pinocchio Brief. While reading the first book will give you a little extra detail on their background (and give you a great story to enjoy) you will not be disadvantaged in coming “cold” to The Aladdin Trial which can easily be read as a stand alone thriller.

In this story we have a distressing tale of an elderly artist taking a tumble from a hospital balcony and falling to her death. Suspicions are raised that this may not have been an accident and the police turn their attention to a hospital cleaner, a refugee from Syria, who had befriended the woman during her stay.

Judith and Constance will represent the cleaner in court but evidence is mounting up against their client and he is not providing his legal team with any reliable information with which they can defend him.

Away from the legal fact-finding and court preparations the reader also gets to see the children of the artist coping with the fallout of her death (and I assure you that no pun was intended there).  Unbeknown to her children the artist had accumulated some personal wealth down the years and has drafted a will which requires certain conditions to be met before her children will inherit. Those conditions, while not unreasonable, show that the woman expected certain duties or responsibilities to be met by her offspring before they can  inherit. Watching two adults (and their partners) trying to change their ways made for fascinating and frequently awkward reading.

Lots of twists and turns through the story made The Aladdin Trial a great story to spend time with over my holiday. If you like a courtroom drama then add Abi Silver to your reading lists – two goodun’s…and counting!

 

The Aladdin Trial is available in paperback and digital format and you can order a copy here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Aladdin-Trial-thriller-acclaimed-Pinocchio-ebook/dp/B07C8BB466/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1534798231&sr=8-1&keywords=the+aladdin+trial

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August 1

The Pinocchio Brief – Abi Silver

A schoolboy accused of a brutal murder. A retired lawyer with secrets to hide…

A 15-year-old schoolboy is accused of the murder of one of his teachers. His lawyers, the guarded veteran, Judith, and the energetic young solicitor, Constance, begin a desperate pursuit of the truth, revealing uncomfortable secrets about the teacher and the school. But Judith has her own secrets which she risks exposing when it is announced that a new lie-detecting device, nicknamed Pinocchio, will be used during the trial. And is the accused, a troubled boy who loves challenges, trying to help them or not?

The Pinocchio Brief is a gripping, very human thriller which confronts our assumptions about truth and reliance on technology.

 

Click here to view a one-minute trailer for The Pinocchio Brief http://bit.ly/2uHzCzk

 

A murder mystery in a prestigious school leads to a fascinating courtroom drama and we also have an accused that is something of an enigma.

Ray is a schoolboy, quiet, bullied and a genius. He is also accused of the murder of his maths teacher after being found in his room, hands covered in blood and unable (or unwilling) to provide police or his legal representatives with any information which may help clear him of the crime.

The aforementioned legal representatives are Constance, a young and diligent solicitor and Judith. Judith is a courtroom veteran who retired from practice some years previous to the Ray’s trial.  Constance persuades Judith to come out of retirement to help defend Ray, but can the two combine the best of their skills to persuade a jury that the awkward loner did not kill his teacher.

What may be the biggest hurdle to overcome is the new Pinocchio technology which is being introduced to the courtroom.  Developed as a more reliable “lie detector” the Pinocchio machine is intended to read the movements and mannerisms of witnesses or defendants in court and provide accurate feedback on whether they have lied to the court.  Ray’s trial is the first big public test of the technology and Judith, for reasons of her own, is keen to have Pinocchio removed from the process.

Can a machine replace a jury? Why does Judith want the technology removed from the court? Why is Ray so unwilling to communicate with Constance and Judith? Who really killed the teacher, could it have been Ray – despite Judith’s conviction he is innocent?

All those questions kept me reading. Several hooks which all drew me in.  The Pinocchio Brief is a cracking courtroom drama but the murder story is also really well thought out. Shades of classic Christie with the murder in the school, a small suspect pool who all have very different backgrounds and each of the suspects has a reason for bumping off the teacher. This is the type of book I love to read.

Thoroughly enjoyed The Pinocchio Brief and hope this finds its way into many homes – seek it out…there is a handy link just below. 

 

The Pinocchio Brief is published by Lightning Books and is available in paperback and digital format. You can order a copy here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Pinocchio-Brief-Silver-Abi-ebook/dp/B073QCN77F/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8

 

 

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