{"title":"Books by John Fairfax","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"9780349143521","title":"Fatal Proof","description":"Unputdownable...This writer gets better and better' A.N. Wilson\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e The Hither Green murder...\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e William Benson knows what it's like to be accused of something you didn't do - the fear, the vulnerability and the nightmare of watching your life unravel. Now he speaks on behalf of those who have no voice, defending anyone who claims to be innocent. This time, it's Karmen Naylor, estranged daughter of a south London crime boss, fighting a murder charge and desperate to be believed. But Benson becomes trapped into a grudge match between two rival clans, endangering himself and those he loves.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Tess de Vere is by Benson's side but she's keeping something from him. A stranger on the trail of a secret death squad operating in Northern Ireland during the Troubles brings a terrible secret into the heart of her own life. And he won't go away.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Can Tess and Will find their way through all the secrets and the lies? Should justice always be served - and if so, at what cost?\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Praise for the Benson and de Vere series from readers:\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e 'Keeps you wondering throughout the book. Loved it' 5 stars\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e 'I really enjoyed this book. It had a great plot and two very sympathetic and intriguing leading characters' 5 stars\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e 'Keeps you guessing right to the end. Lots of lovely twists and turns' 5 stars\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e 'This series is the best I've read in a long time' 5 stars\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e 'Got completely immersed in this plot, just love Benson and Tess' 5 stars","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":43201739489458,"sku":"9780349143521","price":9.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9780349143521_a5e1530d-8fb0-44ac-a1e9-b4b482afbb33.jpg?v=1786013511"},{"product_id":"9780349142500","title":"Summary Justice","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe last time Tess de Vere saw William Benson she was a law student on work experience.  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.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eSixteen years later Tess overhears a couple of hacks mocking a newcomer to the London Bar, a no-hoper 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, whose family have vowed revenge.  He's an outcast.  The government wants to shut him down and no solicitor will instruct him.  But he's subsidised 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 defence team, determined to help Benson survive.  But as Benson follows the twists and turns in the courtroom, Tess embarks upon a secret investigation of her own, determined to uncover the truth behind the death of Paul Harbeton on a lonely night in Soho.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eTrue to life, fast-paced and absolutely compelling, \u003ci\u003eSummary Justice\u003c\/i\u003e introduces a new series of courtroom dramas featuring two maverick lawyers driven to fight injustice at any cost.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56286123688309,"sku":"9780349142500","price":10.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9780349142500_f586b4be-6b41-4ccd-94fa-40867a45e740.jpg?v=1786013462"},{"product_id":"9780349143514","title":"Forced Confessions","description":"William Benson.\u003cbr\u003e Criminal barrister.\u003cbr\u003e Convicted murderer....\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Convicted of murder sixteen years ago, William Benson is ostracised by the establishment and his family. Supported by a close-knit group including solicitor Tess de Vere, he's defied them all and opened his own Chambers. Now he faces the case of his life - and the terminal illness of Helen Camberley who helped him leave his prison life behind\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Jorge Menderez, a doctor from Spain, has been found dead in a deserted warehouse in East London. A troubled man, he'd turned to counsellor Karen Lynwood seeking help. Now Karen's husband, John, is accused of his murder. Who is Menderez, and why did he come to London? Benson is defending the couple against seemingly impossible odds, while secrets from his own past threaten to overwhelm him...\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Praise for Summary Justice and Blind Defence\u003cbr\u003e 'Assured storytelling and highly intriguing moral complexity. I tore through it' Chris Brookmyre\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e 'The courtroom scenes are brilliant, and Benson really comes alive under pressure. Stubborn, fitful and contradictory, he's a highly individualised creation' Spectator\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e 'Punchy dialogue and devious plotlines . . . compelling' The Times\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56286671307125,"sku":"9780349143514","price":10.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9780349143514_dc06e425-1f33-48fd-b273-5b9d1686a53f.jpg?v=1786013510"},{"product_id":"9780349142517","title":"Blind Defence","description":"'Vivid and exciting' The Times\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e WINNER OF THE PRIX DU MASQUE\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e She was found hanging in a dingy London bedsit with a blood orange in her mouth. Diane Heybridge, a young woman without a past or much of a future, has captured in death the compassion denied her in life.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e For the prosecution, this seeming suicide is nothing more than a bungled killing and a disgusted public looks to Court 2 of the Old Bailey for justice. Her callous, jilted partner Brent Stainsby stands accused of her murder and he's turned to the maverick legal team William Benson and Tess de Vere to defend him.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e However, as the trial unfolds it soon becomes clear that there is far more to Diane Heybridge than meets the eye. She wasn't the weak and downtrodden victim now being presented to the jury. She was capable of a sophisticated form of vengeance. By the same token, Brent Stainsby isn't who he seems to be either. He's hiding a motive for murder unknown to the police and may well be playing a deadly game of poker with the judicial process. What began as a simple trial rapidly turns into a complex search for the truth beyond the confines of the courtroom...\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56287083331957,"sku":"9780349142517","price":10.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9780349142517_6766b253-4b4d-45ba-8aae-ba9cf187565b.jpg?v=1786013463"}],"url":"https:\/\/backstory.london\/collections\/author-john-fairfax.oembed","provider":"Backstory","version":"1.0","type":"link"}