Now You’re In Trouble, Here Comes My Solicitor!

A West Country solicitor of 39 years, Steven D. Coles, writes an entertaining and amusing small town account of his professional life, with echoes in style of John Mortimer's Rumpole of the Bailey, of his experiences and the eccentric characters he encountered. It begins with Frank Gilbert determined to do all that he can to protect his clients, the elderly Cora and Letitia who have lived in their rented home for over two decades. They are being illegally harrassed and intimidated by their new villainous landlord who wants to evict them, and he is willing to go to extraordinary lengths to achieve this, such as impersonating a howling werewolf outside in their garden at night. Frank is passed a case at short notice by Alan, a senior law firm colleague, the piglet rustler of Penwith, a repeat offender, an idealistic and amiable Robin Hood, passing on his ill gotten gains to the more deserving poor.

In the case of the stolen charity box from a hotel, Frank represents a young genial and good humoured man, Lee Facey, from a notorious criminal family, managing to get him bail with stringent bail conditions. There is a web of intrigue in the matter of a claim of a forged signature, by the wife of Glen Terrell, on legal documents and the implications for their financial divorce settlement and the sale of a hotel. We have all heard about the nightmare that can result with the neighbours from hell, Mr and Mrs Lemon are a prime example, having their life ruined and disrupted by the aggressive and slippery builder next door. Finally, there is the issue of a dangerous dog, a Rhodesian Ridgeback with puppies, owned by Drusilla, that attacks the dog loving postie.

This is a short, fun and amusing memoir of what it is like to practice law in the West Country, there are some wonderfully off the wall characters within it, a book that will have you smiling whilst you are reading it. Many thanks to the publisher for an ARC.

I received a copy of this book through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This is a short book with a few stories focusing on short mysteries and crimes. Some of the stories are more interesting than others, and the tone is a bit dry at times.

Overall it's an interesting look at the profession and the lengths people will go to.

Charming tales of a West Country solicitor and his clients that have a real sense of farce.
From escalating neighbour wars to cheating husbands, rabid dogs and local werewolves, who knew that rural lawyers had such a varied caseload!
This is not deep stuff: it’s slight but sweet and quirky.
Recommended as a light but fun read. Ideal for reading on holiday.

A fun and absorbing read which relates a few amusing cases in a lawyer’s career. It reminded me a bit of James Herriot’s books, and was a brilliant escape for my day.

Thank you to NetGalley and Matador publishing for the ARC.

I received an ARC of Now You're in Trouble, Here Comes My Solicitor!, by Steven D Coles. This is a book of quirky stories, crime and misadventure in the country. People never stop amazing me, by what they do.

Really good read, five hilariously outrageous stories of a lawyer and his clients, great read to cheer up a wet afternoon.

An amusing and clever book, with some funny anecdotes. Thank you to netgalley and the publishers for giving me a copy of the book.

This is a fun midpaced read which I thoroughly enjoyed! The format was great as I was able to dip in and out of this book one story at a time. Some of the parts of this book are so unbelievable but the fact they truly happened makes the book even more enjoyable as it shows the strangest occurrences of humanity in the countryside. There were many parts of this book where I audible laughed out loud and will go back to these stories again and again for a good giggle!

This book was both entertaining and an enjoyable read with all the funny mini stories. Some of the stories seemed quite unreal, but it made you realise what people are willing to do and risk to get what they want

Funny but also a bit disturbing as it is based on lived experience and it is shocking what people will do! The author tells his tales well with wit and good humour.

Really enjoyed reading about the cases the people this country lawyer represented.I laughed out loud at some o his stories a charming read.#netgalley #matador