According to the Evidence

Colonel Brain #3

by Henry Cecil

Alec Morland is on trial for murder. He has tried to remedy the ineffectiveness of the law by taking matters into his own hands. Unfortunately for him, his alleged crime was not committed in immediate defence of others or of himself. In this fascinating murder trial you will not find out until the very end just how the law will interpret his actions. Will his defence be accepted or does a different fate await him?

Genres: Mystery, Crime, Detective, Humor

214 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1954

About the author

Henry Cecil Leon (19 September 1902 – 23 May 1976), who wrote under the pen-names Henry Cecil and Clifford Maxwell, was a judge and a writer of fiction about the British legal system. He was born near London in 1902 and was called to the Bar in 1923. Later in 1949 he was appointed a County Court Judge, a position he held until 1967. He used these experiences as inspiration for his work. His books are works of great comic genius with unpredictable twists of plot, but are not intended to be realistic or strong on characterization. They typically feature educated and genteel fraudsters and blackmailers who lay ludicrously ingenious plots exploiting loopholes in the legal system. There are several recurring characters, such as the drunken solicitor Mr Tewkesbury and the convoluted and exasperating witness Colonel Brain. He writes well about the judicial process, usually through the eyes of a young barrister but sometimes from the viewpoint of the judge; Daughters in Law contains a memorable snub from a County Court judge to a barrister who is trying to patronise him.

His 1955 novel Brothers in Law was made into a film in 1957 and, later, a television and radio series starring Richard Briers. While at Paramount Pictures, Alfred Hitchcock worked on adapting No Bail for the Judge for the screen several times between 1954 and 1960, and hoped to co-star Audrey Hepburn, Laurence Harvey, and John Williams, but the film was never produced.

Reviews

[Geert Daelemans · Rating 4 out of 5]

A bit too naïve to be true

On December 12th at about six o'clock in the evening Ellen Wimslow leaves here house to do some shopping. She never returns. When her body is found, all evidence points to one single man: Gilbert Essex. To great astonishment of the public he is found not guilty due to the fact that all the evidence acquired was circumstantial. Nobody is surprised when a few days later another woman is killed. But that woman was his last victim, because not long after Gilbert Essex gets murdered himself. This time the murderer of a murderer stands trial. Nobody is sure if he deserves to be hanged or to receive a medal?

Henry Cecil likes to play with the morale of the reader by creating some situation that provokes a lot of discussion. This is certainly the case in According to the Evidence (1954) in which he investigates if some murders can be seen as permissible. No matter what the opinion of the reader may be, it is still enjoyable to watch the author play with the juristic system and try to push it as far as possible. The humorous style of Henry Cecil makes it all quite digestible, although at times it tends to exhibit a naivety that kills off the authenticity of the story.

[Samyukta B · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you thought someone was very talkative, then you haven't read this book. I couldn't tell who the main character of the story is.

The plot of the story is about a certain Mr. Alec who is suspected to be the murderer of a man who has murdered many people and surely would have murderer a few more, for which most everyone in the community is thankful to Mr. Alec for killing off such a man, and he really did do it. A certain Mr. Low thinks the best way to make sure Mr. Alec and his wife could lead a happy life without looking behind their shoulders, is to play a game of double-crossing by giving tips to the police to catch Mr. Alec and giving tips to Mr. Alec to save himself from becoming acquitted. And so the story goes...

[TheOldWoman&TheSea · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's a nice little book that oozes the atmosphere of times long gone.

[Kate · Rating 3 out of 5]

For my full review click on the link below:
https://crossexaminingcrime.wordpress...

[Guru Prasad. · Rating 4 out of 5]

A typical Henry Cecil piece. A bit too subtle for a fan of legal fiction. It is simply artistic the way the author takes you through the lives of a troubled convict, a man and his wife trying to be helpful or otherwise, a colonel with a simpler mindset, a sincere counsel and an impatient judge. The key piece of this story is the fact that Evidence can put you on trial, but is there enough to convict !! Passing references to the hackneyed clash of power between the Parliament & Judiciary and the debate about Capital Punishment are worth every word.

In short, a good read!

[Neer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hilarious.

More here:

http://inkquilletc.blogspot.in/2014/0...

[Dave · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not so much a mystery as a comedy of legal manners, pleasantly fluffy and wry and well-written.

[Hooman Broomand · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cecil's British, deadpan humor might not strike a chord with everyone, but if you're generally a fan of witty, often absurd jokes, you'll love this.

[Navya Sri · Rating 4 out of 5]

very interesting.