Killer Instinct

Nicola Williams author

Format:Hardback

Publisher:Penguin Books Ltd

Published:10th Jul '25

Should be back in stock very soon

Killer Instinct cover

THE GRIPPING, TWISTY NEW LEGAL THRILLER STARRING UNDERDOG BARRISTER LEE MITCHELL IN A CASE THAT STRIKES AT THE HEART OF HER CHAMBERS

‘British crime fiction has a dazzling new voice in Nicola Williams’ Tony Parsons

When the Head Clerk at her Chambers is murdered, Lee Mitchell doesn’t know who she can trust.

One of the last people to see him alive, the crime is pinned on Junior Clerk Dean who ‘seems like the type’. Working-class and still living on the estate where he grew up, he has the most to gain from Tom’s death.

But Lee knows how easily prejudices can snowball into convictions – and steps in to defend him. As the trial progresses, people Lee has worked with for years become suspects as her Chambers crumbles into a world of chaos and deceit.

And, what of the diary, whispered about by those at Chambers? The one Tom used to blackmail Lee’s friends and enemies alike to do his bidding? The one containing secrets some might kill to keep hidden?

Maybe finding it will be the key to solving his murder. Or maybe some secrets are better left buried . . .

‘An authentic thought-provoking new voice in crime fiction’ Kate Ellis

Compelling . . . The slow-burning Lee Mitchell legal thriller sees Nicola Williams consolidate her status as one of the more interesting British practitioners of the courtroom procedural . . . Williams knows her background intimately, be it law firm or court of justice, and this authenticity shines through and raises the book to an extra level * Crime Time *
Not only convincing but also fascinating . . . . The trial scenes are full of drama and the case plays out against a background of racial and class prejudice , which gives weight to this entertaining exploration of guilt and innocence * Literary Review *
A cast of characters you will love, a story that keeps you turning the pages -- Her Honour Wendy Joseph QC, author of 'Rough Justice' and 'Unlawful Killings'
An intense legal thriller by an authentic modern voice -- Greg Mosse, author of 'Murder at Church Lodge'
An elegant, well-structured legal thriller, rich with authentic detail and characters that walk off the page . . . this is the inside scoop of the dark fears beyond the prestige and passageways of power, where reputation is everything . . . A contemporary London court murder within a bubbling cauldron of class divides, dirty secrets and intrigue held taut by a latent, violent compulsion . . . An exemplary work in concealing to reveal and revealing to conceal -- Nina Bhadreshwar, author of 'The Day of the Roaring'
Gripping and propulsive . . . Killer Instinct is Nicola Williams' best book yet . . . Nicola lays out the knotty threads of the story with the same restraint that her protagonist brings to the law (and that Nicola herself undoubtedly brings to her other profession) . . . Often I found myself reading way past my bed-time because I just had to know what happened next! -- Judith Bryan, author of 'Bernard and the Cloth Monkey'
This gripping, unputdownable murder mystery prompts us to question the justice system and our own assumptions -- S. I. Martin, author of 'Incomparable World'
Vividly sketched barristers with very different social backgrounds, and with secrets to hide, affect the outcome of a manslaughter trial with a shocking twist -- Rhys Taylor, barrister, arbitrator, mediator 

ISBN: 9780241568088

Dimensions: 241mm x 164mm x 37mm

Weight: 633g

416 pages