Mr Justice Carstairs is a High Court Judge. He is completely incompetent and a chronic worrier to boot. This is perfectly illustrated when he sentences a man to ten years' imprisonment and then immediately doubts his verdict. Taking the unprecedented step of trying to overrule his own judgement he encounters resistance on all sides. Matters get really complicated when, in trying to prove the man's innocence, he becomes convinced of his guilt. He also becomes the target of a blackmailer. Fi...

A dour and highly-respected High Court Judge finds himself on trial for the murder of a prostitute. He has no recollection of the events leading up to the murder so believes he may be guilty. His daughter, however, is convinced of his innocence, so she enlists the help of a petty thief to help solve the complex mystery.

Anne, beautiful and intelligent, stands in the dock accused of adultery. Utterly humiliated by hearing the evidence against her, she is determined to put the record straight . But the prosecution does not play the game she had been expecting and she is forced to change her approach. This duel between a brilliant barrister and a very determined and astute young woman has an unexpected twist which keeps you guessing right to the end.

What does it feel like to be a Judge? Read these stories and you can almost feel you are looking at proceedings from the lofty position of the Bench. With a collection of eccentric and amusing characters, Henry Cecil brings to life the trials in a County Court and exposes the complex and often contradictory workings of the English legal system.

Mrs Vernay and her husband live in a flat above the Chambers of Brian Culsworth Q.C. in the Temple. One day Mrs Vernay receives a visit from a Mr Sampson and she gets the impression that he is a blackmailer. She then immediately seeks advice from Mr Culsworth in his chambers below. Mr Culsworth's client, a Mr Baker is bringing an action to recover his share on a win on the pools. The story of these people becomes inextricably linked in a brilliant novel of suspense and humour.

What does an elderly judge do when he is confronted by a man who wants to kill him for a death sentence he had given out years before? 'Portrait of a Judge' is the first fascinating story in this collection of short stories based on all matters legal. Written with cracking pace and full of unexpected twists, paradoxes and subtleties the book will have you riveted to the very last page.

Roger Thursby, aged twenty-four, is called to the bar. He is young, inexperienced and his love life is complicated. He blunders his way through a succession of comic adventures including his calamitous debut at the bar. His career takes an upward turn when he is chosen to defend the caddish Alfred Greenat the Old Bailey. In this first Roger Thursby novel Henry Cecil satires the legal profession with his usual wit and insight.

When megalomaniac proprietor of the Clarion Newspapers Ltd, Alexander Bean is humiliated in court by judge Mr Justice Beverly, he swears revenge. He engages the services of Sidney York to find a way to blackmail the judge. The situation gets out of hand when Sidney dies in a mysterious accident. The judge and his family fall under suspicion. Thus Alexander Bean becomes involved in a story that runs out of control for all those involved until it reaches its final unexpected conclusion.

Ronald Holbrook is a fifty-seven year old bachelor who has lived in the same house for twenty years. Jane Doughty, the daughter of his next-door neighbours, is seventeen. She suddenly decides she is in love with Ronald and wants to marry him. Everyone is amused at first but then events take a disturbingly sinister turn and Ronald finds himself enmeshed in a potentially tragic situation.

Harry Woodstock is a lazy but amiable criminal who would rather live by fraud than by working .He is very comfortable in Albany Prison, Isle of Wight where a clergyman visits him in an attempt to reform his character. When he is out of prison he stays with a friend in Albany, Piccadilly and tries to avoid a violent criminal who is convinced Harry defrauded him out of £60,000. Understandably, Harry feels safer in prison so, when not dodging his enemy, he spends his time thinking up ways to ...

Lucy Meeson-Smith works at a big bookmakers and always manages to back the back winners. Her employers become suspicious and take her to court for fraud. At her trial it is revealed that her father, a vicar, studies form avidly and is a brilliant tipster (though he himself is not a betting man). The judge in the case, Mr Justice Painswick is most intrigued by the evidence. His own personal life is complicated by his son - a thoroughgoing cad who is deeply in debt. Find out how these person...

Roger Thursby is prospering in the legal profession and is about to be made a Queen's Council. In this brilliantly funny sequel to Brothers in Law we follow him through a further series of hilarious legal highs and lows.