A decent legal thriller, although quite a few of the subplots, including Sophie's once a week shift as the titular night lawyer at a newspaper, either don't come together or don't amount to much. The main thread, dealing with her defence of a man accused of rape, is much more engaging. The legal details and problems with the UK's legal service clearly owe a lot to The Secret Barrister, as is mentioned in the acknowledgements. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

‘The Night Lawyer’ is the excellent debut novel by the writer and criminal barrister, Alex Churchill.
I was immediately captivated by this book and loved the main character, Sophie Angel, who is the night lawyer. Sophie has three main aspects to her life; by day she is a practising criminal barrister, trying to do right by her clients and make a living within the forever dwindling public funding system; on a Friday night she is the Night Lawyer, working as the libel lawyer for a newspaper. She is the person who tries to prevent the publication being sued for publishing anything defamatory. The third aspect is that she is half Russian, her father is Russian and she was born in Moscow and lived there for the first six years of her life. She has deep unresolved issues connected with the time she spent there but she is not sure why.
The story is brilliant and multifaceted, bringing the three aspects of Sophie’s life together. It is so much more than a legal drama.
How can Sophie resolve all these issues and get peace in these areas of her life? Will something have to give for her to be able to continue with her work or personal life?
A brilliant debut novel. Highly recommended.
Thanks to NetGalley for a Kindle copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I received a copy of this novel from the publisher via NetGalley.

There was a lot going on here; Sophie's being a night lawyer was probably the least interesting part of the story, although I had never before given a thought to the need for such a person. She was also battling with the clerks at her chambers, wondering what her husband was up to, remembering bits of the first few years of her life in Russia, defending one man accused of being a rapist and refusing to represent another etc etc.

Apart from long paragraphs of 'dialogue' which read more like the author's own views on the shortcomings of the legal aid system and funding for the police and CPS in general, this moved quickly, and both the Russia elements and the defence of Henry were gripping.

This was right up my street! Legal thrillers are my fave and this did not disappoint! A great female lead character with a complicated home life and childhood but a fabulous lawyer! The courtroom scenes were definitely the highlight for me. This had the makings of a new legal thriller series!