‘Go to the police. Tell them the same as I’ve told you.’
‘You want my advice?’ He didn’t wait for my answer, but then he never did. ‘Don’t. You go to the cops with that story and Dougie Fleming will stitch you up faster than a casualty surgeon. He’s a good cop – but he hates you.’ He left the table, went over to a cupboard and returned with two glasses and an unopened bottle of whisky; his birthday present.
‘Been saving it,’ he said. ‘You don’t crack open a bottle of eighteen-year-old Bruichladdich without cause to celebrate.’
‘And that would be?’
He grabbed me in a headlock and kissed the top of my head. ‘You’re still alive aren’t you?’ He pulled out the cork and poured us both a measure of the amber liquid.
‘Dad. When the shit meets the fan—’
‘They’ll find three bodies, one a suicide, and the weapons that killed them. Then they’ll find a bundle of readies and realise no-one would have left there without taking the cash with them. No-one’s going to go looking for anyone else. Trust me.’
‘And if they do?’
‘You were with me and Vince tonight. He took the DVD from his coat pocket and tossed it onto the kitchen table as though determined to knock over the milk one way or another. ‘England two, Scotland three and Jim Baxter doing keepy-uppies.’ He lifted his glass to his nose and inhaled the warm comforting fumes.
I downed my drink without the ceremony. ‘That’s really your advice?’ I asked, as the smooth whisky warmed my insides. What happened to if you flee wi’ the craws? Whatever happened to once a cop?’
My dad tilted his tumbler, let the expensive whisky trickle slowly into his mouth. Eyes closed, he savoured it and then set his glass down on the table again. ‘I’ve retired,’ he said, pouring us both another. ‘I’m learning to live with it – so should you.’
* * * * *
THE BEST DEFENCE SERIES
#1 RELATIVELY GUILTY
Follow the trials of Scots criminal lawyer Robbie Munro as he joins battle in the fight for truth and justice - hoping truth and justice don't win too often because it's terribly bad for business.
A policeman with a caved-in skull, his young wife found clutching the blood-stained murder weapon; it all looks pretty open and shut until Robbie detects the faint whiff of a defence and closes in on a witness who might cast a precious doubt on proceedings.
So why is it, the nearer he gets to the truth and a possible acquittal, that Robbie's murder client becomes more and more eager to opt for a life sentence?
Short-Listed for the Dundee International Book Prize
#2 DUTY MAN
Justice is blind - which is handy because sometimes you need to pull a fast one.
Continuing the trials of Scots defence lawyer, Robbie Munro.
Local lawyer Max Abercrombie is gunned down in cold blood, and the historic town of Linlithgow is rocked by its first assassination in five hundred years. Robbie, Max's childhood friend, is duty-bound to act in the accused's defence, and when investigations reveal a link between his friend's murder and that of a High Court judge many years before, he wonders if his client might actually be an innocent man.
The more Robbie digs into the past, the closer he gets to the truth and the more the bodies pile up.
#3 SHARP PRACTICE
A good criminal lawyer seeks after the truth.
A great criminal lawyer makes sure the jury doesn’t hear it.
Scotland's favourite criminal defence lawyer, Robbie Munro, is back and under pressure to find a missing child, defend a murdering drug-dealer and save the career of a child-pornography-possessing local doctor.
Add to that the antics of his badly-behaving ex-cop dad, the re-kindling of an old flame and a run-in with Scotland's Justice Secretary and you'll discover why it is that, sometimes, a lawyer has to resort to Sharp Practice.
#4 KILLER CONTRACT
It’s 99% of lawyers that give the other 1% a bad name.
It’s the trial of the millennium: Larry Kirkslap, Scotland’s most flamboyant entrepreneur, charged with the murder of good-time gal Violet Hepburn. He needs a lawyer and there’s only one man for the job – unfortunately it’s not Robbie Munro. That’s about to change; however, more pressing is the contract out on the lives of Robbie and his client, Danny Boyd, who is awaiting trial for violating a sepulchre.
Who would anyone want to kill Robbie and his teenage client?
While Robbie tries to work things out, there are a couple of domestic issues that also need his urgent attention, like his father’s surprise birthday party and the small matter of a marriage proposal.
#5 CRIME FICTION
If the ink is in your blood...
Desperate for cash, Robbie finds himself ensnared in a web of deceit spun by master conman Victor Devlin. What is Devlin’s connection with the case of two St Andrew’s students charged with the murder of a local waitress?
Enter Suzie Lake, a former-university chum of Robbie, now bestselling crime fiction author, who regards Robbie as her muse. Lois has writer’s block and turns to Robbie for inspiration. She’s especially interested in the St Andrew’s murder and wants some inside information. How can Robbie refuse the advances of the gorgeous Suzie, even if they threaten to scupper his pending nuptials? And yet, the more Robbie reveals to her, the more he finds himself in a murky world of bribery, corruption and crime fiction publishing.
#6 LAST WILL
Blood is thicker than water - but it's not as hard as cash.
The trial of Robbie Munro's life; one month to prove he's fit to be a father.
No problem. Apart, that is, from the small matter of a double-murder in which Robbie's landlord, Jake Turpie, is implicated. Psycho-Jake demands Robbie's undivided attention and is prepared to throw money at the defence - along with some decidedly dodgy evidence.
Robbie has a choice, look after his daughter or look after his client. Can the two be combined to give the best of both worlds? Robbie aims to find out, and his attempts lead him into the alien worlds of high-fashion, drug-dealing and civil-litigation.
It's what being a father/lawyer is all about. Isn't it?
#7 PRESENT TENSE
'Crime with an edge of dark humour. The Best Defence series could only come out of Scotland.'
Tommy Flanagan, Braveheart, SOA, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2
Criminal lawyer Robbie Munro is back home, living with his widowed, ex-policeman dad and his new found daughter, Tina. Life at the practice isn’t going well, neither is the love life he regularly confesses to his junior, Joanna. Then again, on the subject of Joanna, Robbie may be the last to know... When one of his more dubious clients leaves a mysterious box for him to look after, and a helicopter comes down with two fatalities, events take a much more sinister turn, and all of this is complicated by the rape case he has to defend.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
William McIntyre is a partner in Scotland's oldest law firm Russel + Aitken, specialising in criminal defence. William has been instructed in many interesting and high-profile cases over the years and now turns fact into fiction with his string of legal thrillers, The Best Defence Series, featuring defence lawyer, Robbie Munro.
Based in Scotland and drawing on William's thirty years as a criminal defence lawyer, there is a rich vein of dry-humour running through the series, which he describes as an antidote to crime fiction that features maverick cops chasing a serial killers, and in it he emphasises that justice is not only about convicting the guilty, but also about acquitting the innocent.
William writes from the heart and from his own experiences. Robbie Munro, is very much a real life lawyer, juggling a host of cases, dealing with awkward clients and battling an at times Kafkaesque legal system, all while trying to retain some form of personal life. Notwithstanding their relatively light-hearted approach, the books deal with some very serious issues, each story raising an interesting philosophical or ethical issue. Though the plots are often complex, they are
never confusing such is William's deftness of touch.
The books, which are stand alone or can be read in series, have been well received by many fellow professionals, on both sides of the Bar, due to their accuracy in law and procedure and Robbie's frank, if sardonic, view on the idiosyncrasies of the Scots criminal justice system.
William is married with four sons.
www.bestdefence.biz
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