Ben Schroeder, a talented young man from an East End Jewish family, has been accepted as a pupil into the Chambers of Bernard Wesley QC. But Schroeder is an outsider, not part of this privileged society, where wealth and an Oxbridge education are essentials. He encounters prejudice, intrigue and scandal. Kenneth Gaskell, a rising star of Wesley's Chambers has become involved in an affair with a high-profile client and the relationship, if known, could ruin his career, and the careers of all those around him. But Bernard Wesley has some information - he knows about a student prank that went terribly wrong - can he use this knowledge in a desperate gamble to save his Chambers and turn the tables on his old rival, Miles Overton QC? Ben Schroeder has proved his ability, but he is no more than a pawn in this game. Can he survive in this world where nothing, not even justice, is sacred?

1964 brings fresh challenges to Ben Schroeder, now a member of chambers headed by Bernard Wesley QC. A courting couple have been attacked on the banks of the River Ouse near Ely. The news of beating, rape and murder soon become January’s sensational headlines. Schroeder is called to assist the defence but lead QC, Martin Hardcastle, has a reputation that goes before him. As the pressure mounts, talk of alcoholism fills the courtroom with Hardcastle’s repeated absences and seemingly reckless actions risking the support of his team. And when a shock decision is made, it is left to Ben and his colleague, Jess, to deal with the consequences. With the case drawing mass media attention and public opinion turning against capital punishment, Schroeder must once again face the prejudice, scandal and corruption of the brutal courtroom reality and its verdict on the fate of a man’s life.

The Third Ben Schroeder Novel. 1965. The British Establishment is reeling after a series of defections and acts of treachery by high-ranking Intelligence Officers. When Francis Hollander, an American academic, accuses Sir James Digby QC, a Baronet and a leader of the Bar, of being a Soviet spy, Digby retains Ben Schroeder and his head of Chambers to represent him. At first, it seems to be a simple case of libel, but as evidence starts to emerge of Digby’s association with the Cambridge Spies, and as MI6 becomes involved, Ben can no longer be sure that he can save Digby from prosecution and ruin. To obtain vital evidence, Ben will have to put his career at risk. But will it be enough? If you are a fan of John Grisham, and enjoyed BBC One’s legal drama Silk, then you’ll love Peter Murphy's And Is The Still Honey for Tea!

1 July 1969. The Investiture of the new Prince of Wales. When Arianwen Hughes is arrested driving with a home-made bomb near Caernarfon Castle, her case seems hopeless. Her brother Caradog, her husband Trevor, and their friend Dafydd are implicated in the plot, the evidence against them damning. Ben Schroeder's reputation as a barrister is riding high after the cases of Billy Cottage (A Matter for the Jury) and Sir James Digby (And is there Honey Still for Tea?). But defending Arianwen will be his greatest challenge yet. Trevor may hold the only key to her defence, but he is nowhere to be found. . . 'An intelligent amalgam of spy story and legal drama'- Times 'a story that captures the zeitgeist of a turbulent time in British history' - Publishers Weekly

Calling Down the Storm is the story of two separate but strangely parallel lives: the life of a defendant on trial for murder, and the life of the judge who presides over his trial. April 1971.When DI Webb and DS Raymond arrive at Harpur's Mews in Bloomsbury in response to a 999 call, a horrific scene awaits them. Susan Lang is lying on the ground, bleeding to death. Her husband Henry is sitting nearby, holding a large, blood-stained knife. In shock, Henry claims to have no memory of the events that led to his wife's death leaving his barrister, Ben Schroeder, little to defend a potential charge of murder. Unknown to his strict Baptist wife Deborah who lives in the family home in Guildford, Mr Justice Conrad Rainer has a secret life in his London flat, a life as a high-stakes gambler. In his desperation for money to fund his gaming, he has already raided his own and Deborah's resources, and now he has crossed another line - one from which there is no return. To his horror, as the trial of Henry Lang starts, Conrad discovers a sinister connection between the trial and his gambling debts, a connection that could cause his world to unravel. And then, there's the other terrible secret he is hiding in his flat. In a rare case in which the judge is in greater peril than the defendant on trial in his court, both Henry and Conrad have called down the storm on to their heads. Their lives are on the line, and time is running out. 'An intelligent amalgam of spy story and legal drama' - Times 'Murphy's clever legal thriller revels in the chicanery of the English law courts of the period' - Independent

Two generations of abuse... one shocking conspiracy... a woman determined to expose it all When Audrey Marshall sends her daughter Emily to the religious boarding school where she herself was educated a generation before, memories return - memories of a culture of child sexual abuse presided over by a highly-regarded priest. Audrey turns to barrister Ben Schroeder in search of justice for Emily and herself. But there are powerful men involved, men determined to protect themselves at all costs. . .

'A good police force is one that catches more crooks than it employs' - Sir Robert Mark 'A good police force is one that catches more crooks than it employs' - Sir Robert Mark A clever, accomplished Cambridge graduate with a good job and an attentive lover, Imogen Lester seems to have the world at her feet. But when her parents are murdered abroad while working for the Diplomatic Service, she is suddenly thrown headlong into a murky world of espionage and organised crime. When she is charged with drug trafficking, even Ben Schroeder's skills may not be enough to save her - unless a shadowy figure from Ben's past can survive long enough to unmask a web of graft and corruption...

'When a man is denied the right to live the life he believes in, he has no choice but to become an outlaw' - Nelson Mandela 1964, Apartheid South Africa. Danie du Plessis, the son of a conservative Afrikaner family, is poised to start a glittering legal academic career at one of South Africa's leading universities, when he falls in love with a student, Amy Coetzee. But there's a problem: he's white, she's not. Facing arrest, imprisonment and ruin, the couple flee South Africa, and settle in Cambridge, where friends find them positions at the University. They marry and have two children, and have seemingly put the past, and South Africa, behind them. But in 1968 Art Pienaar enters their lives, and, insisting that they have a duty to fight back, enlists their help in increasingly dangerous schemes to undermine the South African regime. When Pienaar and a notorious drug dealer, Vince Cummings, are found murdered together, Danie's activities come to light, and he and his family find themselves in mortal danger. Danie is also threatened with criminal prosecution on behalf of a government desperate to maintain good relations with the apartheid regime. Danie knows he's sailed close to the wind. But has he become an outlaw? Can Ben Schroeder persuade a jury that the answer is no?