The Suspect by Rob Rinder #TheSuspect @RobbieRinder #bookreview

 

The Suspect by Rob Rinder

Published by Penguin

Publication Date: 20th June 2024

Book Description:

When the UK's favourite breakfast TV presenter dies live on air in front of millions of viewers, the nation is left devastated.

More devastated still when it becomes clear that her death was not an accident.

The evidence points to one culprit: celebrity chef Sebastian Brooks. But junior barrister Adam Green is about to discover that the case is not as open-and-shut as it first seemed.

And although her angelic persona would suggest otherwise, she was not short of enemies in the glittery TV world . . .

Can Adam uncover the truth?

My Thoughts:

Rob Rinder's first book The Trial was a refreshing surprise when it comes to celebrity authors. I'm not a fan of well-known people attempting to write novels as they're often either ghost written or poor quality writing (or  both!). Rob Rinder has convinced me otherwise, and despite his debut novel still having room for improvement he has proved his worth with this second book. In my opinion he has conquered some of the difficult issues facing every author, from credible storylines to the intricacies of plots - especially when writing a series. The characters need to be consistent from one book to the next, and Adam Green and his colleagues in the legal world are excellent examples of this.

The Suspect follows on beautifully from the end point of The Trial. It's as though the reader has merely turned a page and continued Adam's journey as a new fledged barrister in Chambers. His job may be more secure than it was in the first novel, but his workload hasn't let up - if anything it's increased due to one of his colleagues needing to take a break for health reasons.

Along a similar vein to his first big case, Adam finds himself assisting the defence team in a case involving two high profile public figures. The nation's favourite breakfast TV presenter Jessica Holby has lost her life due to an allergic reaction during a live broadcast. Celebrity chef Sebastian Brooks is prime suspect and has also an apparent motive but isn't giving his lawyers anything to work with. A custodial sentence is looking almost certain.

Alongside this case Adam is also representing a young man charged with firearms offences. The team know he's taking the rap for his older brother but is only doing so due to family loyalties combined with pressure from one of the most influential and dangerous gangs in the area. This case tests Adam to his limit as his conscience regarding justice versus protecting his clients on a personal level is challenged once again.

If anything the two cases in this book could easily feature as standalone storylines rather than sharing the limelight. I would have enjoyed reading more in-depth about the young man facing the firearms charges as the themes involved are some which face many of our youngsters today. Hopefully this is a thread which feeds into future novels facing our young barrister. We will have to wait to see where the author takes us next as I understand book three is already commissioned. I'm in the queue already!

About the Author:

Rob Rinder is a practising criminal barrister, a broadcaster and Sunday Times best-selling author. Called to the bar in 2001, Rob went on to specialise in cases involving international fraud, money laundering and other forms of financial crime, while working in media to make law more accessible. He started his broadcast career with Judge Rinder for ITV before going on to host his own BBC 5Live series Raising the Bar. Featuring in Who Do You Think You Are?, Rob’s story resulted in creating the documentary My Family, the Holocaust and Me.

A regular host on ITV’s Good Morning Britain, Rob co-hosts BBC Two’s Amazing Hotels: Life Beyond The Lobby and has recently filmed a new travel show, The Grand Tour, which will see Rob and his co-host Rylan retrace the footsteps of cultural greats around Italy. Shedding light on the unsolved mystery of what happened to the Princes in the Tower during Richard III’s reign for a Channel 4 documentary in 2023, Rob’s filmed a new show for the channel exploring the history of prisons which will come to our screens later this year.

In 2020, Rob was awarded an MBE for his services to Holocaust education and an honorary doctorate for his legal work.

The Trial was Rob's number one bestselling debut novel and The Suspect is the much anticipated follow-up. Both novels are inspired by Rob's own experiences as a barrister.