Summary Justice

JOHN FAIRFAX

Publication: Little, Brown, 2017, London

First edition. Signed by the author. As new, unread copy in dust jacket. The last time Tess de Vere saw William Benson she was an intern law student. He was a twenty-one year old, led from the dock of the Old Bailey to begin a life sentence for murder. He'd said he was innocent. She'd believed him. Sixteen years later Tess overhears a couple of lackeys mocking a newcomer to the London Bar, a hopeless person with a murder conviction, running his own show from an old fishmonger's in Spitalfields. That night she walks back into Benson's life. The price of his rehabilitation and access to the Bar is an admission of guilt to the killing of Paul Harbeton. The government wants to shut him down, but there isn't a barrister that will do it. He's subsidized by a mystery benefactor and a desperate woman has turned to him for help: Sarah Collingstone, mother of a child with special needs, accused of slaying her wealthy lover. It's a hopeless case and the murder trial, Benson's first, starts in four days. The evidence is overwhelming but like Benson long ago, she swears she's innocent. Tess joins the defense team, determined to help Benson survive. As Benson follows the twists and turns in the courtroom, Tess embarks upon a secret investigation of her own.

Inventory Number: 42623