'GRIPPING' – THE TIMES

'FASCINATING, NO-HOLDS-BARRED' – THE SECRET BARRISTER

How can you speak up for someone accused of a savage murder? Or sway a jury? Or get a judge to drop a case?

William Clegg QC is a leading criminal lawyer in London. In this vivid memoir, he revisits his most notorious and intriguing trials, from the acquittal of Colin Stagg to the murder of Jill Dando, to the man given life because of an earprint and the first Nazi war crimes prosecution in the UK.

All the while he lays bare the secrets of his profession, from the rivalry among barristers to the nervous moments before a verdict comes back — and how our right to a fair trial is now at risk.

Under the Wig is for anyone who wants to know the reality of a murder trial. It's an intelligent crime read for fans of The Secret Barrister's books and Unnatural Causes by Dr Richard Shepherd.

Well-known cases featured:

- Murder of Rachel Nickell on Wimbledon Common

- Chillenden Murders of Dr Lin and Megan Russell

- Lee Clegg, when Labour leader Keir Starmer was his junior

- Murder of Jill Dando

- First Nazi war crimes prosecution in the UK

- Murder of Joanna Yeates

- Rebekah Brooks Phone Hacking Trial