The Cut Throat Trial by the Secret Barrister, writing as S.J. Fleet - a review

If you love deftly-plotted crime fiction and twisty courtroom dramas; if you’re curious to learn what races through the minds of barristers, judges and defendants during a murder trial (and some of the cunning tricks they employ); if you fancy a deep and unrestricted insight into our flawed but noble justice system, then this one’s for you.

It will surprise few to learn that The Cut Throat Trial by the Secret Barrister, now writing as S.J. Fleet, is a thing of beauty. It is gripping, enlightening, witty, accessible and empathic. But above all, perhaps, it offers readers a rare opportunity to experience what it feels like to be on your feet in what is surely one of the most heart-stopping arenas society has to offer, where the stakes for defendants and counsel alike are seldom higher.

So immersive and transporting is the story, in fact, that for this reader, it evoked a strong sense of nostalgia for my time at the Bar…

…which was quickly extinguished by a memory of the last criminal trial I appeared in. It was that of an elderly defendant who was hard of hearing and in a bid to take some last-minute instructions, I joined him in the dock, only to hear the door lock behind me and the usher announce the arrival of the judge. ‘Not guilty’ was all I could muster. And, on reflection, he did at least let me out - something I’m not so sure Fleet’s gloriously awful HHJ Jeremy Letts would have done. 

The Cut Throat Trial was published by Picador on 28 August 2025 and runs to 426 pages.