Without Prejudice: A collection of rediscovered works celebrating Black Britain curated by Booker Prize-winner Bernardine Evaristo

This book was great. I found Lee Mitchell to be a very interesting character. Had a little trouble with some of the British legalese but a good book none the less!

Lee Mitchell is an anomaly in the British legal system. There is absolutely no way a black female from a working class family could become a barrister. Yet, Lee not only is practicing law, she is earning a reputation for having a high success rate. Thus, it is not surprising anymore when legal friends send clients her way. Solicitor Brendan Donnelly pleads with Lee to represent playboy financier Clive Omartian on charges of fraud. A bit wary, Lee accepts the case. However, she is totally unprepared for Clive's aristocratic, hedonistic lifestyle filled with drugs and young girls. She also loathes how he seems to twist reality to fit his needs, and more and more imposes himself on her personal life. However, Lee has no one to turn to as everyone seems to desert her, leaving her integrity and perhaps her professional life on the line as the Omartian case takes shape. WITHOUT PREJUDICE is a tense British legal thriller that introduces a very unique character, who will be well received by fans of the sub-genre. Some patience will be needed by fans on this side of the Atlantic because the British system of justice seems surprisingly so alien. However, sub-genre fans will find it worth reading because no one has laid out the system so brilliantly and effortlessly in as an engrossing tale as Nicola Williams has done with this novel. Additionally, the place in a so-called just society of minorities is provided without preaching. Hopefully, more novels starring Lee Williams and the English code of law will follow soon.Harriet Klausner