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The Fall Guy: Rock 'n' Roll Murder in 1960s London
Charles Holborne faces a new courtroom drama! Perfect for fans of John Grisham, Robert Bailey, Michael Connelly and Robert Dugoni.
London, 1969
The Beatles, the Rolling Stones, the Who … Tin Pan Alley is the heart of London’s music scene.
It is also the dark heart of a ruthless business tainted by sex, drugs and corruption.
When a young fan is found dead from a heroin overdose at an American rock star’s accommodation and the band’s manager is charged with her murder, Charles Holborne, barrister, must defend him. But Holborne is getting married in two weeks, and for some reason DS Sean Sloane, his best man, refuses to speak to him.
Has Sloane been turned? What has a select group of corrupt Met officers known as ‘the Team’ to do with the case?
And is Holborne’s client the unscrupulous venal businessman he is portrayed or is he, perhaps, The Fall Guy?
THE FALL GUY is the tenth crime novel in an exciting historical series, the Charles Holborne Legal Thrillers – gritty, hard-boiled mysteries set in 1960s London.
THE CHARLES HOLBORNE LEGAL THRILLERS SERIES
BOOK The Brief
BOOK An Honest Man
BOOK The Lighterman
BOOK Corrupted
BOOK The Waxwork Corpse
BOOK Force of Evil
BOOK The Final Shot
BOOK Nothing But The Truth
BOOK Death, Adjourned
BOOK The Fall Guy
London, 1969
The Beatles, the Rolling Stones, the Who … Tin Pan Alley is the heart of London’s music scene.
It is also the dark heart of a ruthless business tainted by sex, drugs and corruption.
When a young fan is found dead from a heroin overdose at an American rock star’s accommodation and the band’s manager is charged with her murder, Charles Holborne, barrister, must defend him. But Holborne is getting married in two weeks, and for some reason DS Sean Sloane, his best man, refuses to speak to him.
Has Sloane been turned? What has a select group of corrupt Met officers known as ‘the Team’ to do with the case?
And is Holborne’s client the unscrupulous venal businessman he is portrayed or is he, perhaps, The Fall Guy?
THE FALL GUY is the tenth crime novel in an exciting historical series, the Charles Holborne Legal Thrillers – gritty, hard-boiled mysteries set in 1960s London.
THE CHARLES HOLBORNE LEGAL THRILLERS SERIES
BOOK The Brief
BOOK An Honest Man
BOOK The Lighterman
BOOK Corrupted
BOOK The Waxwork Corpse
BOOK Force of Evil
BOOK The Final Shot
BOOK Nothing But The Truth
BOOK Death, Adjourned
BOOK The Fall Guy
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Published May 27, 2025
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About the author
Simon Michael
17 books69 followersSimon Michael, often referred to as “the British John Grisham”, is a barrister and the author of the best-selling Charles Holborne Legal Thrillers.
The books are set primarily in London in the 1960s and 1970s, a period of huge social change, and they explore loyalty and prejudice, and what happens when justice collides with a corrupt Establishment. They’re historical and legal crime novels, but they’re also about memory, moral compromise, and the long shadow history casts over the present.
At their centre is barrister Charles Holborne, born Charlie Horowitz, a former East End heavyweight boxer and occasional criminal, who is drawn into cases shaped by gangs, organised crime, political interference and institutional corruption.
Moving between London’s courtrooms and the criminal underworld, the novels explore the tension between professional ambition and personal integrity, and the fragile line between justice and expediency. The series does not shy away from the class tensions and prejudices embedded within the legal profession of the time, including the racist, antisemitic and classist attitudes faced by those entering the Bar in the middle of the last century, echoes of which still resonate today. Combining legal authenticity with gritty urban realism, the series uses crime as a lens to examine how power operates within institutions, who the law ultimately serves, and what it costs to pursue truth when the system itself is under pressure.
The books are set primarily in London in the 1960s and 1970s, a period of huge social change, and they explore loyalty and prejudice, and what happens when justice collides with a corrupt Establishment. They’re historical and legal crime novels, but they’re also about memory, moral compromise, and the long shadow history casts over the present.
At their centre is barrister Charles Holborne, born Charlie Horowitz, a former East End heavyweight boxer and occasional criminal, who is drawn into cases shaped by gangs, organised crime, political interference and institutional corruption.
Moving between London’s courtrooms and the criminal underworld, the novels explore the tension between professional ambition and personal integrity, and the fragile line between justice and expediency. The series does not shy away from the class tensions and prejudices embedded within the legal profession of the time, including the racist, antisemitic and classist attitudes faced by those entering the Bar in the middle of the last century, echoes of which still resonate today. Combining legal authenticity with gritty urban realism, the series uses crime as a lens to examine how power operates within institutions, who the law ultimately serves, and what it costs to pursue truth when the system itself is under pressure.
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
December 5, 2025
Best series I've ever read. Most go downhill, this one stays strong. More please.
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