Penitent by Mark Leggatt
Justice can be outwith the law.
Meet Hector Lawless. As a brilliant Edinburgh lawyer, Hector has a reputation for untangling the cases that no other lawyer can handle. But the obsessive-compulsive behaviour that’s made him a master of the law has also left Hector a pariah amongst his peers – a social outcast with crippling anxiety. The man with the perfectly ordered desk, the pristine notebooks, the strictly regimented working day and rituals that make sense only to him.
When Hector is approached by his boss, Lord Campbell, with a highly sensitive case that reaches from one of Edinburgh’s most exclusive private schools to 10 Downing Street, he relishes the chance to bring true evil to justice. But when he is betrayed and framed for murder, Hector must call on every one of the skills he has cultivated over a lifetime of being an outsider to survive.
Retreating into the shadows, Hector begins a deadly cat-and-mouse game with the police and MI5. They think they’ve got him cornered. But no-one really knows how far he will go for revenge. Justice will be served. The Penitent must accept their penance. As Hector’s enemies are about to discover, it really is the quiet ones you have to worry about.
PENITENT is a compelling, immersive thriller from Mark Leggatt, author of the acclaimed Connor Montrose series.
About the author
Mark Leggatt was born in Lochee, Dundee and currently lives in Edinburgh.
A specialist in Disaster Recovery and BCP for oil companies and global banks, his career has taken him around Europe, especially Paris, where he lived for a number of years.
When Mark is not being an author, he is a freelance literary consultant and editor for several of the UK’s leading literary consultancies, providing editorial reports, developmental editing, copy editing and assessments.
In September 2012, Mark won an entry to the Bloody Scotland Crime Festival, and was invited to deliver a pitch to an audience and publishing panel. Since then, he has appeared at Bloody Scotland and Thrillerfest in New York in both 2015, 2016 & 2017, and Glasgow’s International Literary festival Aye Write! He has also appeared at Scotlitfest and Bloody Scotland in 2017.
Review
‘Penitent’ is a tense and exciting thriller, set in Edinburgh where events could have major repercussions for the government. I devoured this book in a couple of days and really enjoyed it. This is the first book I have read by this author but I think I might be taking a peek into this back catalogue! This was a dark thriller dealing with child abuse, the imbalance of powers and much more. There are no explicit scenes though.
Hector Lawless is a brilliant lawyer. His life is ruled by rituals - a symptom of his OCD. He has patterns he needs to follow and has a certain way of doing things. He is meticulous in his work for the chambers. This doesn't make him friends though and most colleagues bully and undermine him. His boss Lord Campbell, calls him in early one morning and gives him a special task. To investigate a local MP who is believed to be abusing children from Hector’s old private school. This is an investigation that would rock parliament and soon Hector is playing a cat-and-mouse game with the police and MI5. But this is where his level of planning comes to the fore and will this allow to get away…
Hector Lawless has a brilliant name for being a lawyer - that made me chuckle. It took me a while to warm up to Hector. I loved that he was a quirky character and probably neurodivergent, but it took about 40% into the book when I started to root for him! But then I loved him! His sense of justice was prominent throughout and this was his main strength. Once he knew about the boys being abused he wasn't going to stop until the perpetrators were caught.
Edinburgh itself was a character in this book - it's a dark and damp entity that provides the perfect backdrop to this story. Edinburgh is this sense is moody, and dark, it has a way of hiding those who need to be hidden. It's clear the author loves this city and the writing reflects this. What is also clear is that Mark has also researched about Hector’s personality as it comes as being authentic and real. Hector was a complex character and is one I will think of for quite a while!
Let me know if you pick this one up!
