Peter Murphy – Steph's Book Blog

Judge Walden Cover Image

About the Book

Judge Walden is back, to preside over five new cases at Bermondsey Crown Court.

Retired resident judge Peter Murphy takes us back to the world of criminal trials in South London for another session with Charlie Walden keeping the peace between his fellow judges Marjorie, Legless and Hubert while fighting off the attacks of the Grey Smoothies, the civil servants who seem intent on reducing the court s dwindling resources to vanishing point in the name of business cases and value for money .

Meet the rum and memorable characters who pop into Charlie s domain, including Lester Fogle from one of London s Disorganised Crime Families, Arthur Swivell the one-time Bermondsey singing legend and the very unbardlike Elias Shakespeare. And you will never feel the same about The Owl and the Pussycat or the Entente Cordiale again.

Fortunately, Charlie has Elsie and Jeanie s lattes and ham and cheese baps, and newspaper vendor George s witty banter, to sustain him in the mornings; and in the evenings, the Delights of the Raj, or La Bella Napoli, to enjoy with the Reverend Mrs Walden.

My Review

With thanks to the publisher for the copy received.When I read a novella last year which introduced me to Judge Walden and all the others connected to Bermondsey Court I found it to be very entertaining so I was thrilled to be asked if I would like to read this collection.
It was like being back amongst old friends, with Charlie having to sort out all the problems that each of his trials brought as well as various other situations that occurred in the other judges courts.
There are five cases, none of which feature murder. These are the more everyday situations, robbery, smuggling and blackmail are just some of the situations we read about.
My favourite character, the Reverend Mrs Walden appears again and as before helps Charlie in a few different ways, including offering advice on battles between judges and lawyers and entertaining officials from other countries.
Very refreshing light-hearted fun and I want to read more. Still don’t fancy the daily specials though.

About the Book

When Charlie Walden took on the job of Resident Judge of the Bermondsey Crown Court, he was hoping for a quiet life. But he soon finds himself struggling to keep the peace between three feisty fellow judges who have very different views about how to do their job, and about how Charlie should do his.
And as if that’s not enough, there’s the endless battle against the ‘Grey Smoothies’, the humourless grey-suited civil servants who seem determined to drown Charlie in paperwork and strip the court of its last vestiges of civilisation.
No hope of a quiet life then for Charlie, and there are times when his real job – trying the challenging criminal cases that come before him – actually seems like light relief.

My Review

I would like to thank the publisher for the copy received.
I read a lot of crime fiction, some of which is court based, but I have never read a book where the main character is a judge. Where There is Smoke is the first of six cases that features Charlie and I enjoyed every minute of it. Whilst there is the storyline featuring the case, which involves an arson attack on a church, I felt that the aim of this novella was to introduce the reader to all of the different characters which feature.
All of the judges have differing views on how their job should be done and what sentences should be given. Charlie is the one who decides which judge gets which case and also has to answer to the ‘grey smoothies’ who are intent on making the job harder than it need to be. As well as the court staff we also get to meet Charlie’s wife, the Reverend. I expect to see quite a lot of her in future books and it is easy to see who wears the trousers in their house.
You do see the entire case go through the court system and it is intriguing, but I enjoyed meeting everybody much more. I’m looking forward to reading the full novel soon.