Currently longlisted for The McIlvanney Prize 2023.Justice can be outwith the law.Meet Hector Lawless. As a brilliant Edinburgh lawyer, Hector has a reputation for untangling the cases that no other lawyer can handle. But the obsessive-compulsive behaviour that's made him a master of the law has also left Hector a pariah amongst his peers - a social outcast with crippling anxiety. The man with the perfectly ordered desk, the pristine notebooks, the strictly regimented working day and rituals that make sense only to him.When Hector is approached by his boss, Lord Campbell, with a highly sensitive case that reaches from one of Edinburgh's most exclusive private schools to 10 Downing Street, he relishes the chance to bring true evil to justice. Hector must call on every one of the skills he has cultivated over a lifetime of being an outsider to survive. Justice will be served.The Penitent must accept their penance. As Hector's enemies are about to discover, it really is the quiet ones you have to worry about.PENITENT is a compelling, immersive thriller from Mark Leggatt, author of the acclaimed Connor Montrose series.