Book Review: Judicial Whispers

Reviewed By: Harriet Klausner

Judicial Whispers    
Caro Fraser
Class/Genre:   Mystery   Legal Setting
St. Martin's, May 2000, $24.95, 352 pp.

Everyone Knows that barrister Leo Davis is a superstar inside the courtroom. Most people, who know Leo outside the court, think he is a charmer who has led a perfect life.

The ambitious Leo wants to become a member of the Queen's Counsel. However rumors soon surface that Leo has some sexual skeletons in his closet. Apparently, word among the judges is that Leo likes young men, which is enough to doom his application as sexual preference matters. Leo is stunned when he learns that his application is nearly dead. He has behaved exemplary using discretion to hide his proclivity except perhaps his desire for barrister Anthony Cross. Leo decides to find a perfect female to marry. He chooses solicitor Rachel Dean, who has her own crosses to bear. Now a romantic triangle has formed that still might preclude Leo from making it to the Queen's Counsel.

JUDICIAL WHISPERS is an entertaining legal tale that centers on the relationships between individuals working at various layers of the British legal system. The story is loaded with gossip and innuendoes shared over the water cooler and teapot. The three lead protagonists feel genuine as their motives and demons propel them deeper into their triangular relationship. Fans who enjoy an insider look at a judicial system will fully relish this novel although the British legal terms might seem more like a foreign language to the American audience that will want Caro Fraser's previous books released stateside.

Harriet Klausner

Reprinted with permission. Do Not repost without permission from the author, Harriet Klausner