THE TRIAL OF LESTER CHAN

When Lester Chan, the ‘Jewellery King’ of Hong Kong, is charged with a banking fraud, Jonathan Savage, a middle-ranking QC who is used to a professional diet of murder and mayhem, and who has never before worked outside of England, is sent out to defend him. Also caught up in the defence case is Frank Grinder, a retired solicitor. For the Prosecution, Graham Truckett, a member of the Hong Kong Government Legal Department, has been put in charge and is completely out of his depth. The trial judge, Mr Justice O’Brien relishes his reputation for efficiency, but trouble at home keeps him preoccupied. In this light-hearted novel, a host of humorous characters reveal what it is like to be involved in a criminal case against a backdrop of life in Hong Kong.