Under the Wig

How can you defend a man like that?

Under the Wig: A Lawyer’s Stories of Murder, Guilt and Innocence is the gripping true-crime memoir from William Clegg QC (Queen’s Counsel – now known as King’s Counsel), one of Britain’s most experienced criminal defence barristers. Across five decades at the Bar, Clegg has represented more than 100 people accused of murder and stood in courtrooms where a single verdict can mean freedom, life imprisonment, or a devastating miscarriage of justice.

This is not a fictional legal thriller. These are real cases, told with the pace of a courtroom drama and the insight of an advocate who understands how juries, judges, police and prosecutors think. Step behind the scenes of the English criminal justice system – from the first tense prison visit and solicitor’s proof of evidence, to police interviews and PACE safeguards, to cross-examination, jury speeches, verdict day silence, sentencing, and the hard grind of the Court of Appeal.

Clegg answers the questions people always ask: What happens if a client admits guilt? Why can’t a barrister simply refuse to defend a suspected killer? What is the “cab-rank” rule? And why are murder trials different, where issues like self-defence, provocation and diminished responsibility can decide whether the law calls it murder or manslaughter?

Inside, you’ll follow headline-making investigations and unforgettable cases, including:

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  The Wimbledon Common murder and the dangers of criminal profiling, media pressure and a collapsed prosecution
  
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  The murder of Samantha Bisset and the chilling consequences of missed links, fingerprints and DNA
  
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  The Chillenden murders and the unnerving power of prison “confessions”
  
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  Convictions built on unusual forensic evidence, from earprints to trace clues
  
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  A murder without a body and the weight of circumstantial evidence
  
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  War crimes prosecutions that reach beyond Britain, from Belarus to the Balkans
  
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  Modern scandals and trials, including bribery and corruption, phone hacking, and high-profile UK cases such as Jill Dando and Joanna Yeates
  

You’ll also discover the human story behind the wig and gown: a young man from Essex eating dinners at Gray’s Inn, surviving pupillage, building a practice at the Old Bailey and Crown Court, and learning the hard truth that justice is rarely neat. These pages reveal the pressure on detectives and the CPS, the effect of sensational headlines on public opinion, and why a fair trial depends on rigorous defence advocacy.

Along the way you’ll be taken inside chambers: clerks and briefs, rivalry and camaraderie, solicitors and counsel, plea advice, trial preparation, and what it really takes to become a QC. You’ll see how a defence team builds trust with a frightened defendant, how to test witness statements and expert testimony, and how small details can win (or lose) a case.

Under the Wig is packed with what true-crime readers love: forensic science, DNA evidence, police procedure, undercover operations, courtroom strategy, cross-examination techniques, closing speeches, jury trials, appeals, legal ethics, legal aid, and the human reality behind the headlines.

If you enjoy British true crime books, courtroom memoirs, legal biography, crime non-fiction, criminal law, criminology and behind-the-scenes accounts of murder trials, this is essential reading. Buy now and step into the courtroom. Perfect for fans of true crime, law books, and legal thrillers based on real cases.

Reviews

'This is a gripping memoir from one of our country's greatest jury advocates, offering a fascinating, no-holds-barred tour behind the scenes of some of the most famous criminal cases of modern times.' — The Secret Barrister

'Countless veteran lawyers have produced page-turners based in the fictional world of law, but in Under the Wig William Clegg, QC, has distilled his extraordinary life in the criminal courtroom into a yarn equally as gripping.' — The Times

'From the infamous case of Colin Stagg and the Wimbledon Murders to war crimes in Belarus and Bosnia and the Murdoch phone hacking trials, we share and applaud the author's deep commitment to justice and his infectious enthusiasm for one of the world's greatest professions. An absolute must-read for anyone who aspires to join it (and anyone who already has.)' — Bob Marshall-Andrews QC

'Bill Clegg's memoir draws on some of the most high-profile criminal prosecutions of recent years to illuminate the career of a defence lawyer at the peak of his success. Deftly weaving personal reminiscences into the view from counsel's bench, he solves one high-profile murder case long before the police and ensures that justice is finally done in another after the tactics adopted by a better-known QC have led to a miscarriage of justice.' — Joshua Rozenberg QC

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