Their Word is Law
 Stephen M. Murphy
 (Reviewer - Narayan Radhakrishnan)
 2002 Berkley Publishers
  ISBN: 0425184781

Bestselling Lawyer-Novelists Talk About Their Craft. An authoritative & in-depth look into the world lawyer-authors.

Sr. Reviewer - Narayan Radhakrishnan writes:

It takes a fanatic to know one, a devotee to appreciate another; & as a self-proclaimed numero uno legal thriller lover, & as the Associate Reviewer for legal thrillers for Rebeccasreads.com, I found Stephen M. Murphy's Their Word is Law a true testament to the growing popularity of legal-fiction.

During the last decade ever since the publication of Scott Turow's Presumed Innocent & John Grisham's The Firm, legal thrillers have become the mainstay in the mystery genre. Since the 90s, more than 200 lawyers have taken to fiction, exploring in their own way the myriad ways of the law & of lawyers.

Legal-Fiction has come to occupy special categories in libraries across the world, like Science Fiction. What accounts for the popularity of the legal thriller genre? Why are so many lawyers turning away from the courtroom to mystery writing? I had occasion to address these questions while researching for an article, A Fiction of Law: 100 years of Legal-Fiction since published in Picturing Justice.

Their Word is Law is a wonderful compilation of 31 interviews with the masters of the genre, including John Grisham, Scott Turow, Richard North Patterson, John Mortimer, Steve Martini & Lisa Scottoline. Author-compiler, Lawyer Stephen M. Murphy, discusses the inner workings of their writings & why they turned to fiction. The sharp analytic questions bring out the essence of the writings of each of the authors & how they put to great use, the knowledge of law in their works. The questions posed & critical analysis of each work raised by Mr. Murphy also reveals the author's passion & regard for the legal thriller genre.

Good reference works on legal thrillers are few, might be because it is still an evolving mystery sub-genre. Save for Jon L. Breen's Novel Verdicts (1998) or Diana Tixier Herald's Genreflecting: A Guide to Reading Interest in Genre Fiction (2000), there are no other worthwhile books that detail the popularity of this sub-genre. Their Word is Law aptly fills the vacuum, & I would not be surprised if in the next couple of years, a second volume of interviews will be published by this author.

A must-have reference for the legal thriller lover. Hats off!!! Mr. Murphy, a wonderful compilation.

Do catch Advocate & Sr. Reviewer - Narayan Radhakrishnan's Interview with Author Stephen Murphy.
(10/06/02)

Narayan
2002©Narayan Radhakrishnan
A RebeccasReads.Com Sr. Associate Reviewer

Reviewer's Bio:
I am a 26 years old lawyer practicing in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India. Along with my legal practice, I have finished post-graduate studies for both Business Law & Human Rights. I am a self proclaimed numero-uno legal thriller lover & am the proud owner of all of Grisham's & Turow's novels. I enjoy John Mortimer's Rumpole & relish an occasional Martini & a rare Scot(ch)t-oline with a Patterson on the side.

My work A FICTION OF LAW is now about 500 pages in length & features 500 lawyer authors & 2000 legal thrillers covering a 300 year period - inclusive of entries from the USA, UK, Asia, Europe, China, Middle East etc. Still in search of a publisher.
www.keralatourism.org