eProof Review - Rough Justice

The last few months of reading for me has been all over the place. I know I have blogged my reading earlier this month of Evil Under The Sun and Bedknobs and Broomsticks earlier this month, then me DNFing The Glutton by A.K. Blakemore & The Doctor’s Mistress by Daniel Hurst and then reading the platter-cleanse reading Tristan and Lancelot: A Tale of Two Knights by James Persichetti & L.S. Biehler. Maybe I am being more brutal with reading things that make me happy and if it’s not, bye bye or maybe I’m struggling and I need a better balance (maybe I need to do a book cult). 

That’s tomorrow’s challenge, me thinks. After Apple Fitness+ yoga… 

But let’s change the subject. Completely. With something a little different. 

Title and Author: Rough Justice by Her Honour Wendy Joseph KC

Publisher: Transworld

Bought, Borrowed or Gifted: Gifted by UK publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review/reaction

Buy From (affiliate): https://uk.bookshop.org/

Old Bailey judge Her Honour Wendy Joseph KC talks the reader through four very different cases, each looking at the women in the dock and wonders how easy it is for any one of us to be in a court, whether that be a member of the jury, a witness or the person on trial. And, as she looks into these four cases, she discovers horrifying similarities between now and possible miscarriages of justice from years ago and wonders if the law has changed and how the law affects the marginalised and the easily exploited?

A few years ago, I audiobooked Unlawful Killings, Her Honour Wendy Joseph’s KC debut non-fiction and it was one of my fave reads of that year as I found it a fascinating insight into the legal system (though it did make me question if I would be the right person to do jury duty if I was ever asked, even though I would see it as my civic duty). So, when I discovered that she wrote another book, I requested it on NetGalley (even though my NetGalley Review Rating is not that great). 

I am going to be honest, I didn’t like this as much as I did Unlawful Killings, but I think the reason for this is because I audiobooked Unlawful Killings and I read Rough Justice, giving them both a very different feeling. I think, if I had audiobook Rough Justice, I would have enjoyed it more as the information would have been easier for me to understand and digest. Reading this, at times, felt very overwhelming and dry. 

What was a surprise (I think I forgot this was in Unlawful Killings) was the humour. It was dry and sarcastic and the type of humour I quite enjoy reading in crime. It also was a nice balance against the four cases, each looking at women being at the heart of the case. Each case is different and very dark: sexual assault of a minor, child grooming linked to County Lines, murder, domestic abuse in a marriage, PTSD, child endangerment and coercive control. Because of this, at times, reading this is uncomfortable and you had to put the book down. 

I did like this and was surprised how it made me think about the law and the justice system, which is struggling in the UK due to a number of reasons (better people can explain this in far greater detail than I) and whether the law is helping vulnerable people or is making it hard for people to get justice. 

I do hope Her Honour Wendy Joseph KC does write another book (though I will be listening to audiobook, me thinks) and I may, one day, be brave and try to read more non-fiction novels about the UK legal/political systems … we shall see…