False Witness

by Dexter Dias

Overview

An internationally acclaimed attorney presents a courtroom drama about a young English barrister who finds his world turned upside down when he defends a pulp novelist accused of killing a young girl. A first novel.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780446404921
Publisher:	Grand Central Publishing
Publication date:	11/01/1996
Edition description:	REPRINT
Pages:	352
Product dimensions:	5.37(w) x 9.25(h) x (d)

Editorial Reviews

Dias is an English trial lawyer, and his first novel is a lively performance featuring an offbeat atmosphere but an overcrowded plot. On the one hand, this is a courtroom thriller about Tom Fawley, dubiously defending a cripple who writes semi-pornographic trash, acknowledges a sexual interest in teenage girls and is suspected of the ritualistic murder of one of them. It's also a wry, contemporary-London novel about the disaffected Fawley, his unwise amorous involvement with the fascinating prosecutor in the case, his drinking problems, his estrangement from his wife and daughter. Then there is the semi-mystical, dark-blood saga of a cursed family and an evil West Country village where it rains all the time and young girls suffer unspeakable practices. It's doubtful that any writer could have satisfactorily brought all these elements together, and Dias does not succeed. Still, as a narrator, Fawley offers engaging patter and tasty inside legal know-how, and the many and confusing plot strands are eventually tied together in the end, albeit a bit too neatly. (Nov.)

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

Narrator Tom Fawley, a British lawyer, defends a sleazy, wheelchair-bound child molester against a charge of ritualistic murder, but his client disregards his advice. Fawley, who is just as perverse, refuses to listen to important confessions. During a retrial, and after several threats, Fawley begins to investigate the client he had presumed guilty. Meanwhile, problems with his wife, other lawyers, and a would-be mistress further alienate him from society. First novelist Dias views the world through a jaundiced and cynical eye. Recommended.

Library Journal