Hawk's Justice

The debut legal thriller from Jim Ross, for fans of John Grisham. What happens when murder happens on the inside of the courts?

In the hallowed halls of the Royal Courts of Justice, the verdict is murder.

When High Court Judge Ryland is found dead at the bottom of a stone staircase within the court complex, authorities are quick to label it a tragic fall. But the shadows of the Great Hall hide a darker truth: Ryland was fleeing for his life.

Enter Mr. Justice Tom Hawk. One of England’s youngest judges, Hawk prefers a motorbike to a wig and refuses to play by the old rules. When a high-profile trial settles unexpectedly, Hawk is handpicked by his mentor, Lord Justice Keats, to take over Ryland’s vacant caseload—specifically, the explosive Karpov v Spassky trial.

The case is a legal minefield involving a bitter dispute over a $1 billion share in Spassky Steel, Russian oligarchs, and a claimant who has already survived a car bombing. But for Hawk, the stakes are personal. Keats suspects Ryland’s death was no accident and tasks Hawk with finding the connection between the lawsuit and the late judge’s demise.

Aided by Lisa Goode, a sharp and experienced Canadian judicial assistant who refuses to be sidelined, Hawk must navigate a maze of missing evidence, hostile lawyers, and shadowy threats. As the media circle and the pressure mounts, Hawk realizes he isn't just presiding over a trial—he is hunting a killer who has already struck once within the court’s secure walls.

Justice is blind. But in Tom Hawk’s court, it fights back.