Rawlinson (Indictment for Murder) brings both wit and insight to his latest legal thriller, which neatly satirizes modern Britain's government, law courts and voracious tabloid press. The soon-to-be-published diary of recently deceased dilettante and social butterfly Francis Richmond contains acid portraits of such leading personages as the prime minister ("a complete fraud"), socialite Emerald Cunliffe ("her lips as scarlet as a starlet's") and famed attorney Mordecai Ledbury ("looking ugly as sin"). But Richmond's main target is Defence Minister Richard Tancred, against whom both he and newspaper magnate Digby Price have vendettas. Richmond's innuendoes of "getting money from politics" haunt Tancred until the minister abruptly resigns and slips away to France, apparently to hide from the authorities and the press. What follows are rumors of bribery and graft that take us through Europe, Asia and eventually to Mexico. The author is at his sardonic best when describing the intrigues and whispered conversations between high officials and their underlings, and pompous lawyers with their clients, in the shadows of exclusive London clubs. Scenes set at 10 Downing Street and the PM's country retreat at Chequers, plus caustic references to "Cool Britannia," convey a realistic sense of contemporary Britain. The rousing final courtroom scene, tried before an incompetent judge fixated on an alluring juror, pits barrister Ledbury against a young and untested rival in a libel battle that ends in a stunning reversal of fortune. Twists and ironies in this riveting novel occur until the last page. (Dec. 10)
Forecast:While British critics have likened this novel, misleadingly billed as a mystery, to those of Lord Archer, this quality English import is unlikely to make much of a splash here, especially with no special publicity or promotion and ho-hum jacket art depicting Big Ben.
