Review: The Burden of Lies by Richard Beasley

The underbelly of Sydney's corporate world--one full of cocaine and corruption--is the setting for this entertaining and well written legal thriller. Peter Tanner is a maverick barrister with a distaste for many of the people that he represents. When he is called in to defend Tina Leonard, a woman accused of murder, Tanner finds himself delving deep into the corporate worlds of banking and construction, where everyone has an agenda and where everyone will do anything to save their reputation. Nothing about this case is straightforward, least of all Tina. 

This is the first novel by Richard Beasley that I have read. The genre is a world away from the things that I usually read, but when the authors' Australian publisher, Simon and Schuster, offered me the opportunity to review this one, I decided to take a bit of a chance. I found myself thoroughly entertained by Tanners thoughts about corporate world and the people that he represents (a cricket bat scene early on is quite memorable,) and caught up in the case. I admit, I wondered a bit about Tina and what she might not be telling her lawyer, but the author ties all of this into the story in a satisfactory manner.

A solid story set in a corrupt world. Recommended. 

Thank you to Simon and Schuster Australia for my review copy.

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