This is a courtroom thriller which is focused on the UK justice system
This is brilliantly written.
There are many twists and turns.
I really enjoyed this book

I love legal thrillers and this one did not disappoint, I thought the plot was very well written and kept me intrigued, and I found the main character likeable and relatable

I liked this book. There were a few too many storylines for me. I think I would have preferred it to focus more on the cases and her marriage, I didn't need all the family history in there. It would have made it a little more thrillery, which I would have loved! I still enjoyed this book, although the British legal system was a little confusing for me at certain points. The author did a really good job explaining it.

Well this story is jam packed full of drama and excitement. I loved it! It was so easy to read and even though there was a lot going on. It is written so well that we don't feel bogged down with the information.

The Night Lawyer is told from the point of view of Sophie Angel. She is a barrister by day and a night lawyer with a newspaper, giving guidance on what they can't and can't say in stories. Incase of libel charges.

I was given this book from NetGalley for an honest review -
Sophia, a night lawyer for the paper, and a barrister on her day job has just taken up a rape trial of an innocent man.
Rumors are her husband is having an affair with a co--worker, plus she has dreams of her past, and to top it off she is being stalked by a past criminal she has put away who has escaped.
With all these issues - can Sophia rise above them? Can she stay safe? Will her marriage survive>?

Drew me in from first pages.A female trial lawyer terrific in court.A woman with issues at home problems from her childhood.I really enjoy courtroom dramas this was really a tense story. will be recommending.#netgalley#thenightlawyer

I absolutely loved this legal drama and would love to see this heroine brought to life on the big or small screen. I was hooked into Sophie’s world straight away and struggled to put the book down last weekend. Sophie is a barrister by day but, once a week, by night, she’s the night lawyer - the legal expert who decides what’s it ok and not ok for the papers to print. She’s working in a beleaguered system, where justice is often only for the rich and dangerous elements of society lurk at edge of cases, Sophie gains a client through a wealthy Russian, a supposedly innocent man, accused of rape. However it soon becomes clear that pressure could be brought from shadowy corners in Russia, meaning Sophie must put career, marriage and maybe her life on the line to find the answers,
This was an excellent debut, with a likeable central character who has enough family secrets to sift through in several sequels! That’s not to mention the gossip circulating about her marriage to QC Theo. I found the courtroom scenes fascinating and realistic, it was like being let into the inner sanctum of a secret society. I also enjoyed the contemporary issue of the media’s responsibility in rape trials. Should cases like this be reported at all, when the accused’s whole life can be judged by the media before they’ve even hit the courtroom? Is anonymity for only one party fair? It is also a case of drug rape which is a very timely issue, with issues of consent and attitudes towards women’s sexual choices still a hot topic.
Finally there’s Sophie’s mysterious Russian heritage which she would like to explore in more detail. This brings her parents into the story as well as a trip to Russia. I truly hope that this is the first in a series of Sophie Angel novels because I need this type of book in my life.

This book could not decide what it wanted to be. There are three stories here: one is Sophie Angel, barrister, who works one night a week at a local paper to review the stories they're about to post online. The rest of the time,she works on the defense side of the legal system. The second is a mystery surrounding Sophie's past in the USSR, and the death of her uncle Kiril: her Russian father, a musician, defected while on tour, and her English mother, with Sophie, walked to the English Embassy in Moscow and left the country that way. The third is the well worn trope of a woman who marries a man (who cheated on his wife with her) who everyone but her knows is cheating on her, but she has trouble believing it.

Any one of these things would have been interesting - in fact, it would be great if the writing duo delved into the Russian story, because I'd read that in a heartbeat.

There are probably some spoilers in this, so if you want to read this, I'd skip to the bottom.

As it stands, we get a prologue that is a bit creepy, but not really necessary, in my opinion. The actual first chapters deal with Sophie turning down the defense of a violent rapist (and I suppose we're supposed to believe that the rapist, who has escaped prison that day has turned up at the newspaper somehow, in that prologue). The next part deals with someone buying the paper where Sophie works as the night lawyer. The wife of the buyer is Russian, and there seems to be some history between her and Sophie, although Sophie has little memory of her time in Russia. It occurred to me that since we get only a couple of scenes at the paper that this whole paper thing and the buyout of it was done just to get these two characters together.

Lydia (the Russian wife) asks Sophie to defend a young man accused of rape. His mother, and the young man, of course say he is innocent, and he may very well be. This part of the book is heavily focused on the legal system in England, and it's heavy on jargon from that system. If you don't know what solicitors and barristers are, or what a dock is in a courtroom, you may get a little lost, but it's still readable. Clearly, one (or both) of the writers has a great interest in the legal system and how it is (as in the US) heavily skewed against poor people.

Throughout the book, we get glimpses of her life with Theo, her husband. He's always "working", and when Sophie enters the dressing room to change into robes for court, other women look at her with pity. This reader spotted Theo as a cheat right off - after all, if someone cheats on their partner to be with you, they will most certainnly cheat on you to be with someone else. Sophie, though, waves it all away, even after finding a lipstick in Theo's car on the floorboard. Of course he has an easy excuse for it, as he does every time she is passively questioning him about it. Ultimately, and thankfully, she finally gets a clue and kicks him to the curb - she leaves.

But, since she's broke, and because she thinks this dude somehow means it when he says they should try again, she moves back into the house. She thinks she hears an argument, but is sleepy and ignores it. Then she wakes up, tells Theo there's someone in the house, but of course he does not get up. She goes downstairs and the escaped, violent rapist is there to take her away. The fight scene there is pretty good, and it's nice that she offs the bad guy - no thanks to Theo, who hid in the bathroom and dialed 999 (the British version of 911).

Sophie discovers she's pregnant, but leaves Theo again anyway (hooray!). Lydia (remember her? The Russian wife of the buyer f the paper?) tells Sophie to come with her to Russia to look into the disappearance of her uncle Kiril. She does, and then, mystery solved by her memory of the time being teased out, she returns to London and decides she's home. Presumably, she goes about her business from that moment forward.

The writing is fine, and the descriptions of he British legal system are interesting. There's a lot of editorializing by the authors via Sophie about it. It's an okay book - not great, but not unreadable.

I'd have liked it better had there been one story picked of these versus cramming three into it. Alas, that was not the case, and alas, this one didn't do it for me. Your mileage may vary.

Two stars of five. Thanks to NetGalley and RedDoor Press for the reading copy.

A great legal thriller - it felt cinematic in its pace and scope. I hope someone adapts it for the screen.

A multilayered, quietly suspenseful book.

I truly loved the world of the British legal system that this book was set in, as this was something completely new and unknown to me. Alex Churchill takes you through more than one crime while you also dig into family secrets, possible Russian conspiracies and a murky marriage - all surrounding the young barrister, Sophie Angel. There was so much that laid under the surface in this read - leaving you wondering if something had a deeper, darker meaning before you were suddenly thrust into another shady situation. However, the storyline was clear and flowed nicely so that you never felt confused or overwhelmed.

*I only gave it 4 stars instead of 5 because my personal excitement and interest usually falls in more high suspense novels with a twist.

Gripping, suspense-filled & unputdownable debut!

I was hooked from the prologue, I had to know what happened! Which of course meant I didn't put it down until I'd turned the very last page.

Sophie is a brilliant main character, a complex, and intriguing. Her latest case is thrown into the spotlight as she pieces together the evidence we alongside her are trying to work who is telling the truth - Who is innocent? Who is guilty? It shows the devastating impact trial by media can have in this day age and difficulty of having a truly fair trial when social media influence is so far-reaching, what happened to innocence until proven guilty?

It packs a punch commentating on present-day problems within the justice system in England, thought-provoking - certain to illicit an opinion and discussion it would make an interesting book club read.

A fabulous debut, you won't want to miss. I for one hope there is a book two for Sophie in the making!

A huge thanks to Anne Cater & Red Door Press for gifting me a copy in return for an open & honest review.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⠀⠀

Sophie Angel is a great protagonist in The Night Lawyer. She struggles with work, with her marriage, and her nebulous ancestral history. The Night Lawyer started out slowly for me, but I kept at it and was well-rewarded as author Alex Churchill knew just how to pace the action. The last third of the novel sizzles.
Thanks, NetGalley, for the ARC.

An excellent court drama uniting events of past and present, between the old world of Russia and the protagonist’s current life. Enjoyed the story immensely!

The story of Sophie, a female Barrister in the UK, working with her enigmatic husband, plagued by dreams of her past, before she and her family fled from Russia, and stalked by a criminal.

It's got all the makings of a really interesting and intense tale but unfortunately, it frequently lagged just when things were getting going. Sophie herself was an okay but relatively passive character, who annoyingly kept waving things off as her imagination or a dream when they clearly weren't.

The author is clearly very passionate about the UK justice system and law - it's actually something I'm interested in too - but the over descriptiveness and thick jargon of it all only pulled you out of the focus of the chapter.

I also found it a bit of a let down that Sophie's job as a Night Lawyer didn't really have anything to do with the book itself. It was a convenient way for her to bump into someone from her past and nothing more.

The things I really loved about this book were Sophie's parents and their dynamic, I was always happy when Vassily was in the scene, his overprotective Russian fatherness brought a wonderful colour to the book.

In fact, every character was built really well - I can recall everyone's name with ease which is so rare for me - they all had such stand out personalities and distinctive traits.

An interesting read with some strong story elements woven in, that I wish pushed my buttons a little more.

Sophie Angel is a barrister by day and once a week, a night lawyer for a newspaper advising them on what they can't print. She is married to QC and charismatic Theo who has a penchant for spending money and is rumoured to be having an affair. Sophie has a Russian father and English mother and they fled from Russia when Sophie was a young girl. Nightmares from this time still haunt Sophie. She is also being stalked by a deluded rapist who she put in jail. In the midst of all these complicating factors are the politics of her chambers and a new case defending a young girl who has been raped. Will she be believed?

This immersing court room drama is a debut novel and very well structured as many layers and storylines are interwoven seamlessly. I look forward to reading more by this author.

I received a copy of this book to review from Netgalley. Thank you for the opportunity.
This book is an intense, gritty thriller. It is fast paced with the prologue leaving off on a cliffhanger which lead to me gasping for more. The writing is good and characters interesting which we learn more about as the story progresses.
However, i felt that there was an excess of non essential details which detracted from the intensity of the story. There are some upsetting scenes to be aware of for those who may find it disturbing
A good book for any fan of thrillers and legal drama.

In this book we are following a criminal lawyer and her different cases, the central one being a rape case. There’s also the mystery surrounding the death of the protagonists uncle in russia thirty years earlier, a stalker and some family drama. It gives interesting insights into the work of a barrister in the UK and I quite enjoyed the courtroom scenes. Unfortunately though I did not like this story nearly as much as I was hoping to. Overall I found it too lengthy with parts where nothing really happened and had trouble staying invested in the characters life, also some of the strands of the plot felt implausible to me. However there were important questions raised about the criminal justice system in various countries that are worth thinking about.

How I love courtroom drama books (and films) but I must admit I was intrigued about this – how could you be a night lawyer? That was quickly cleared up as we learned that not only was Sophie a barrister at the London Inns of Court but she also did a shift at a newspaper as the night lawyer – who is effectively there to check through the various articles before they went to print in order to protect the newspaper from legal action.

In true detective fashion this leads to another question – why? She obviously had a busy, stressful job which required lots of reading and research; we then find out she needs the cash despite being married to a very successful barrister. However, the successful barrister had to pay off his ex-wife and Sophie’s contribution to the household is crucial – perhaps not helped by her husband’s extravagant tastes. To add to this financial problem, not all barristers get enough cases to pay their expenses in chambers and then they may have to wait for their fees to be paid. Hence the part-time job.

The book also reveals the gossip that flourishes in Chambers and in law circles in general and also the difference between lawyers and their stance of ethics and morals. Who hasn’t heard condemnation of those in the legal profession that defend murderers and the like?

Add to this Sophie’s parentage, Russian father, English mother; plus the takeover at the newspaper and the threat of job losses and the icing on the cake – Sophies stalker.

I hope this has whetted your appetite: for me there is one big disappointment, I have finished the book and cannot recommend it enough. A brilliant read with good characters that you may or may not like – but you will have an opinion, guaranteed.

Thank you to the author, publishers and NetGalley for providing an ARC via my Kindle in return for an honest review.

I do love a good legal thriller and this one had everything including a rape case, an historical mystery about barrister, Sophie’s background and an evil stalker! I couldn’t put it down curious to see how all these situations would resolve themselves.
Sophie is married to Theo, a senior barrister in her chambers. She is asked to defend and prosecute many cases. In this story she turns down the defence of Adam Harris who has been accused of a horrendous crime as she just doesn’t believe him and he wants to plead not guilty. However the reader quickly becomes aware that this decision may have negative repercussions for her.
When she is asked to help Henry who has been accused of rape she immediately believes in his innocence and takes the case on. These two cases represent Sophie’s strong ethical code.
Whilst defending Henry, Sophie also continues her job as a night lawyer at a national newspaper as she earns good money from this extra work.
When working at the newspaper she learns something about her Russian background which leads her to question everything her parents have told her. Escaping from Russia at the age of 6, Sophie has put that side of her life behind her although her father, Vasily tells her a bit about her life in Moscow in the 1980s she really knows very little. A chance encounter with her new Russian editor, Lydia brings a lot of memories back. The reader wants to find out what happened to Sophie and her family all those years ago and why it still affects them now.
I enjoyed getting to know Sophie and finding out about her life. She come across as a strong character with very high moral standards. About half way through I began to think that her choice in men was pretty poor but I did try and give Theo the benefit of the doubt.
I found this book very easy to read and I particularly enjoyed the court scenes when Sophie was defending Henry. They were compelling and so obviously written by an author who knew a lot about the way the justice system works. It made me think about how it could be difficult to get a fair trial if social media is allowed to influence the jury. How do you really stop that happening when there is such easy access to the internet nowadays?
I wondered whether this book might be the first in a new series as I’d definitely like to read more about Sophie and her life.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for my arc in exchange for an honest review.

A decent legal thriller, although quite a few of the subplots, including Sophie's once a week shift as the titular night lawyer at a newspaper, either don't come together or don't amount to much. The main thread, dealing with her defence of a man accused of rape, is much more engaging. The legal details and problems with the UK's legal service clearly owe a lot to The Secret Barrister, as is mentioned in the acknowledgements. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.