A lawyer builds crime scenes readers can judge like jurors
A lawyer's novel Smother includes courtroom scenes where readers play juror and judge guilt.
Reported by The Sydney Morning Herald
ShareWhy it matters
Crime readers value authentic courtroom detail, and this shows why lawyers make the best crime writers.
In Australia. Australian crime readers understand that authentic courtroom scenes come from writers with real legal experience.
Key facts
- Smother
- Novel title
- Lawyer
- Author background
- Courtroom scenes at end of each chapter
- Interactive element
- One lawyer-author's novel Smother includes courtroom scenes: cross-examination or witness examination, followed by the judge's ruling.
- Readers play along, deciding if characters deserve punishment.
- The author worked to make scenes legally accurate but gripping.
- Australian courts differ from American television series, where lawyers bang on tables before judges, a practice that would never happen in Australia.
- Real courtroom work is procedural and tedious.
