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Georgie Allen #1
Exhibit A
Georgie Allen, Cape Town's worst-dressed lawyer-cum-used-car-dealer-cum-caffeine addict, has a lot on his plate. Saddled with a skedonk of a car, a case file full of no-hopers, and a bitter ex who's out for revenge, the last thing he needs is to take on another pro bono case. But when a gorgeous stranger asks for help after her sister accuses a policeman of raping her in a police cell, he's unable to resist. Together with his unruly sidekick, Advocate Patrick McLennan (aka the Poison Dwarf), and a tenacious township mongrel, Georgie heads off into the platteland to investigate. But things aren't as simple as they first appear, and the threesome soon find themselves enmeshed in a conspiracy of lies, small-town prejudice, corruption and bad coffee in their pursuit of ever-elusive truth and justice. Harrowing and hilarious, Exhibit A is a witty, fast-paced, contemporary legal drama with teeth.
- GenresFictionSouth Africa
263 pages
First published September 21, 2012
190 people want to read
About the author
Sarah Lotz
41 books802 followersSarah Lotz is a screenwriter and fiction novelist with a fondness for the macabre and fake names.
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
September 10, 2019
The storyline is good, but the way it's written is excellent. Characters come to live and you can hear, see and smell them. I loved the humor, had a few good laughs.
It was my first book from Sarah Lotz, but I'm definitely ordering more.
It was my first book from Sarah Lotz, but I'm definitely ordering more.
May 16, 2011
This review was also published on my blog Violin in a Void
Georgie Allen, “Cape Town’s worst-dressed lawyer” and owner of what might be Cape Town’s worst car, can’t afford to add a pro bono case to his long list of troubles. But among those troubles is the fact that his love life has been reduced to giving Love24.com another shot, so when the gorgeous Rachel asks him to help her sister Nina, Georgie doesn’t even bother to discuss his fee. Nina was raped by a cop in a police cell in Barryville, “one of those tiny South African towns that’s stuck in a time warp and is dripping with small-town prejudice and incipient racist values” (6). As expected, the police didn’t bother opening an investigation when Nina laid a charge, so without Georgie’s help, the rapist will get away without so much as a rap on the knuckles.
Georgie leaves immediately for Barryville, stopping only to pick up his friend Advocate Patrick McLennan (aka “the Poison Dwarf”). Patrick brings along a cute but filthy mongrel that’s currently the key witness in a burglary and who Georgie aptly names Exhibit A. The dog promptly makes a bed out of Georgie’s jacket and begins the first of many ball-licking sessions.
If I had to pick just one reason that I’m glad I read this book, it would be learning the word “scrolfing” – Sarah Lotz’s term for the noise Exhbit A makes when he’s “been attacking [his] bollocks… with a dedication that would have been admirable, had it been doing anything else.” (1) Scrolfing is a “combination of grunts and the same liquid smacking noises my granddad used to make whenever he ate a chop without his dentures in” (1). It’s a very useful and oddly endearing term, specifically because I also have a loveable mongrel who makes the exact same disgusting noise despite the fact that she doesn’t have any bollocks to attack.
As it stands though, “scrolfing” is hardly the only thing that makes Exhibit A a good read. It also has amazing characters, a good plot, and it’s incredibly funny. Most of the humour comes from Georgie’s narration – a mixture of witty observations, mild self-deprecation and sarcasm. Just as funny is Patrick, a diminutive, junk-food scoffing Scottish lawyer who makes up for his small stature by being “total and utter bastard” (2) whether in the court-room, passing the bill in a restaurant, or arguing with his long-suffering wife with whom he has somehow conceived five children despite almost never seeing her because he’s always working. Whatever the weather Patrick wears a 3-piece wool suit, he has a strange talent for never spilling anything, even when eating Frosties with milk in Georgie's lurching car, and he can be fantastically tactless.
Patrick asks Georgie to look after Exhibit A and Georgie grudgingly agrees, thereby turning his terrible car into a terribly smelly car and getting his awful clothes covered in a layer of white fur. The little dog doesn’t play much of a role in the main plot, but he’s a constant presence in the story and becomes an integral part of Georgie’s life and character; there’s a reason why his name is also the title of this book.
Georgie, Patrick and Exhibit A give heart and comic relief to a novel that might otherwise be painful to read. Unlike most crime or legal dramas, Exhibit A doesn’t deal with criminal masterminds or glamorous court cases. Instead its subject matter is something disturbingly common in South Africa – rape and police corruption. The perpetrator isn’t especially smart – he’s just a small-minded bastard who took advantage of his power to force himself on an easy target who probably wouldn’t stand up for her rights and couldn’t afford to seek justice.
On the downside (depending on how you see it), this means that Exhibit A lacks the thrills you might expect from John Grisham or similar. With grim dedication to a realistic depiction of crime in South Africa, the triumphs are mostly small and the frustrations many, and there are no heart-stopping moments when a shocking twist or major new clue is uncovered.
However, the kind of crime Exhibit A tackles gives the novel class. Not for a moment do you get the sense that the crimes committed here are somehow intended to be entertaining – an inescapable feeling in a lot of crime fiction where the crimes and criminals are so fascinating that the victims are only so many broken eggs needed to cook up a riveting story.
Exhibit A doesn’t sacrifice Nina that way. Nor does it have to. The story is compelling without being sensational, the humour is fresh and sharp, and the characters are so memorable you could feel that you've met them personally.
Reading over this review, it almost seems like I’ve written about two different books – a comedy about a pair of oddball lawyers and a scruffy mongrel on the one hand, and on the other a serious legal drama about two noble lawyers fighting for the rights of a woman who’s been abused by a corrupt police system. But somehow Sarah Lotz has sewn it all together without any of the elements ever clashing. Highly recommended.
Georgie Allen, “Cape Town’s worst-dressed lawyer” and owner of what might be Cape Town’s worst car, can’t afford to add a pro bono case to his long list of troubles. But among those troubles is the fact that his love life has been reduced to giving Love24.com another shot, so when the gorgeous Rachel asks him to help her sister Nina, Georgie doesn’t even bother to discuss his fee. Nina was raped by a cop in a police cell in Barryville, “one of those tiny South African towns that’s stuck in a time warp and is dripping with small-town prejudice and incipient racist values” (6). As expected, the police didn’t bother opening an investigation when Nina laid a charge, so without Georgie’s help, the rapist will get away without so much as a rap on the knuckles.
Georgie leaves immediately for Barryville, stopping only to pick up his friend Advocate Patrick McLennan (aka “the Poison Dwarf”). Patrick brings along a cute but filthy mongrel that’s currently the key witness in a burglary and who Georgie aptly names Exhibit A. The dog promptly makes a bed out of Georgie’s jacket and begins the first of many ball-licking sessions.
If I had to pick just one reason that I’m glad I read this book, it would be learning the word “scrolfing” – Sarah Lotz’s term for the noise Exhbit A makes when he’s “been attacking [his] bollocks… with a dedication that would have been admirable, had it been doing anything else.” (1) Scrolfing is a “combination of grunts and the same liquid smacking noises my granddad used to make whenever he ate a chop without his dentures in” (1). It’s a very useful and oddly endearing term, specifically because I also have a loveable mongrel who makes the exact same disgusting noise despite the fact that she doesn’t have any bollocks to attack.
As it stands though, “scrolfing” is hardly the only thing that makes Exhibit A a good read. It also has amazing characters, a good plot, and it’s incredibly funny. Most of the humour comes from Georgie’s narration – a mixture of witty observations, mild self-deprecation and sarcasm. Just as funny is Patrick, a diminutive, junk-food scoffing Scottish lawyer who makes up for his small stature by being “total and utter bastard” (2) whether in the court-room, passing the bill in a restaurant, or arguing with his long-suffering wife with whom he has somehow conceived five children despite almost never seeing her because he’s always working. Whatever the weather Patrick wears a 3-piece wool suit, he has a strange talent for never spilling anything, even when eating Frosties with milk in Georgie's lurching car, and he can be fantastically tactless.
Patrick asks Georgie to look after Exhibit A and Georgie grudgingly agrees, thereby turning his terrible car into a terribly smelly car and getting his awful clothes covered in a layer of white fur. The little dog doesn’t play much of a role in the main plot, but he’s a constant presence in the story and becomes an integral part of Georgie’s life and character; there’s a reason why his name is also the title of this book.
Georgie, Patrick and Exhibit A give heart and comic relief to a novel that might otherwise be painful to read. Unlike most crime or legal dramas, Exhibit A doesn’t deal with criminal masterminds or glamorous court cases. Instead its subject matter is something disturbingly common in South Africa – rape and police corruption. The perpetrator isn’t especially smart – he’s just a small-minded bastard who took advantage of his power to force himself on an easy target who probably wouldn’t stand up for her rights and couldn’t afford to seek justice.
On the downside (depending on how you see it), this means that Exhibit A lacks the thrills you might expect from John Grisham or similar. With grim dedication to a realistic depiction of crime in South Africa, the triumphs are mostly small and the frustrations many, and there are no heart-stopping moments when a shocking twist or major new clue is uncovered.
However, the kind of crime Exhibit A tackles gives the novel class. Not for a moment do you get the sense that the crimes committed here are somehow intended to be entertaining – an inescapable feeling in a lot of crime fiction where the crimes and criminals are so fascinating that the victims are only so many broken eggs needed to cook up a riveting story.
Exhibit A doesn’t sacrifice Nina that way. Nor does it have to. The story is compelling without being sensational, the humour is fresh and sharp, and the characters are so memorable you could feel that you've met them personally.
Reading over this review, it almost seems like I’ve written about two different books – a comedy about a pair of oddball lawyers and a scruffy mongrel on the one hand, and on the other a serious legal drama about two noble lawyers fighting for the rights of a woman who’s been abused by a corrupt police system. But somehow Sarah Lotz has sewn it all together without any of the elements ever clashing. Highly recommended.
February 2, 2013
Rape. An ugly word. A heinous act. Is justice possible if the rapist is someone whose job it is to provide protection, a police officer? Sarah Lotz's first legal drama explores this question.
George Allen is a Cape Town lawyer. He can't afford a pro bono case but when a woman he met in a bar (and whom he'd like to know better) asks him to help her sister who says she was raped in a police cell by a policeman, he agrees to investigate. George heads off to Barryville, a small town in the Klein (Little) Karoo. Backing him up is Patrick McLennan, known to the entire legal community (and his wife) as the Poison Dwarf, 'one of the most feared advocates in Cape Town' who makes up for his short stature by being a 'total and utter bastard'. In the backseat is Exhibit A, a scruffy dog Patrick claims is a witness to a crime. The many irregularities they find resolve George and Patrick to pursue the case all the way to the courtroom.
Aside: The South African legal system is modeled after the British. George is an attorney. He meets with clients and handles their legal needs like contracts, divorces, etc. If the case goes to court, the attorney briefs an advocate who is an expert in arguing cases in front of a judge.
Exhibit A is based on an actual event and dramatizes the serious problem of rape in South Africa. The country is reported to lead the world in rape cases and a 2010 study reveals that a quarter of the males in South Africa have admitted to committing a rape. And those are just the known cases. Searching South African news also shows that rape by police officers is disturbingly common. Some readers might prefer a little more distance between their fiction and reality but I think the author's decision to solidly anchor the story in a national crises makes it a stronger.
Lotz has a deft touch creating her characters who are among my favorites in crime fiction. She also finds a way to include dark, ironic, sarcastic humour to offset a grim topic. Patrick is often the focus in humorous situations being short, Scottish, and constantly eating, but his excellence as an advocate is never questioned. Likewise, George, a little down at the heels, practice eking along, and whose love life is a shambles after breaking up with fellow attorney, Val (aka The Witch), has wry observations about himself but still comes across as a lawyer I would engage. Val is George's ex domestic and law partner. She doesn't get as much page time but when she does, it is a treat. She is the target of some of Patrick's best caustic comments. If the author asked me what I wold like to see next in this series, I would ask for a story from before Val and George broke up.
In addition to a good story and characters, the author gives you a good sense of place. You know you are in South Africa. I enjoyed the way she described Barryville in the Klein (Little) Karoo. She lets you feel that you are in one of those 'tiny South African towns that stuck in a time warp and is dripping with small-town prejudice and incipient racist values'. If you enjoy books set in a different country that gives you a feeling for the location then I predict you will enjoy Exhibit A.
Sarah has a second book featuring these characters, Tooth and Nailed. Both are available as Kindle editions on Amazon. Buy both and maybe she will be encouraged to write a third.
George Allen is a Cape Town lawyer. He can't afford a pro bono case but when a woman he met in a bar (and whom he'd like to know better) asks him to help her sister who says she was raped in a police cell by a policeman, he agrees to investigate. George heads off to Barryville, a small town in the Klein (Little) Karoo. Backing him up is Patrick McLennan, known to the entire legal community (and his wife) as the Poison Dwarf, 'one of the most feared advocates in Cape Town' who makes up for his short stature by being a 'total and utter bastard'. In the backseat is Exhibit A, a scruffy dog Patrick claims is a witness to a crime. The many irregularities they find resolve George and Patrick to pursue the case all the way to the courtroom.
Aside: The South African legal system is modeled after the British. George is an attorney. He meets with clients and handles their legal needs like contracts, divorces, etc. If the case goes to court, the attorney briefs an advocate who is an expert in arguing cases in front of a judge.
Exhibit A is based on an actual event and dramatizes the serious problem of rape in South Africa. The country is reported to lead the world in rape cases and a 2010 study reveals that a quarter of the males in South Africa have admitted to committing a rape. And those are just the known cases. Searching South African news also shows that rape by police officers is disturbingly common. Some readers might prefer a little more distance between their fiction and reality but I think the author's decision to solidly anchor the story in a national crises makes it a stronger.
Lotz has a deft touch creating her characters who are among my favorites in crime fiction. She also finds a way to include dark, ironic, sarcastic humour to offset a grim topic. Patrick is often the focus in humorous situations being short, Scottish, and constantly eating, but his excellence as an advocate is never questioned. Likewise, George, a little down at the heels, practice eking along, and whose love life is a shambles after breaking up with fellow attorney, Val (aka The Witch), has wry observations about himself but still comes across as a lawyer I would engage. Val is George's ex domestic and law partner. She doesn't get as much page time but when she does, it is a treat. She is the target of some of Patrick's best caustic comments. If the author asked me what I wold like to see next in this series, I would ask for a story from before Val and George broke up.
In addition to a good story and characters, the author gives you a good sense of place. You know you are in South Africa. I enjoyed the way she described Barryville in the Klein (Little) Karoo. She lets you feel that you are in one of those 'tiny South African towns that stuck in a time warp and is dripping with small-town prejudice and incipient racist values'. If you enjoy books set in a different country that gives you a feeling for the location then I predict you will enjoy Exhibit A.
Sarah has a second book featuring these characters, Tooth and Nailed. Both are available as Kindle editions on Amazon. Buy both and maybe she will be encouraged to write a third.
January 8, 2011
This was a fast, breezy read with a killer voice.
Despite the grim subject matter, Lotz's voice for car-salesman-and-lawyer George doesn't allow the novel to sink into quagmire of depressing introspection.
And, yeah, you gotta love a dog that stays true to life and will not leave its nethers alone. Scrolfing is my word of the day.
Despite the grim subject matter, Lotz's voice for car-salesman-and-lawyer George doesn't allow the novel to sink into quagmire of depressing introspection.
And, yeah, you gotta love a dog that stays true to life and will not leave its nethers alone. Scrolfing is my word of the day.
January 13, 2015
Although the plot of this book is centred on a rape case, it is hilarious, irreverent and a really satisfying read. I read it in one day. The characters are well-drawn, the settings familiar (to a Cape Town dweller), and the dog has to be the Star of the story. You will love his antics. The author is a great storyteller and I was left wishing for a sequel! (3.5 stars)
August 4, 2012
Loved it! Wonderful characters, a good plot with a very realistic ending. We need MORE South African Crime novels like this one! Read it - lots of fun.
March 7, 2016
fantastic read from start to finish!
January 14, 2017
3.5 stars. Razor sharp wit, some important observations about rape and very much a product of Cape Town.
May 23, 2011
2 chapters in and I've already laughed so hard coffee spurted out my nose!
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews