You Don’t Know Me

Imran Mahmood is a criminal defence barrister with over 20 years' experience in the Crown Court and Court of Appeal. He specializes in Legal Aid cases involving violent crimes as well as fraud and sexual offences. He was born in Liverpool and now lives in London with his wife and daughter. You Don't Know Me has been chosen as a BBC Radio 2 Book Club Choice for 2017.

'A daring concept executed to perfection, a hypnotic and authentic voice, and questions for us to answer as readers and people' LEE CHILD

An unnamed defendant stands accused of murder. Just before the Closing Speeches, the young man sacks his lawyer, and decides to give his own defence speech.

He tells us that his barrister told him to leave some things out. Sometimes, the truth can be too difficult to explain, or believe. But he thinks that if he's going to go down for life, he might as well go down telling the truth.

There are eight pieces of evidence against him. As he talks us through them one by one, his life is in our hands. We, the reader - member of the jury - must keep an open mind till we hear the end of his story. His defence raises many questions... but at the end of the speeches, only one matters:

Did he do it?
'It's the voice that does it: edgy, conflicted, desperately urgent. A startlingly confident and deft debut' TANA FRENCH, internationally bestselling author

'A bold and original courtroom drama, You Don't Know Me heralds the arrival of a thrilling new voice in crime fiction' TIM WEAVER, Sunday Times bestselling author of the David Raker series

'An eye-opening, slick and compulsive thriller with an important message and unique writing' ADAM DEACON, actor, writer, rapper, director - star of Kidulthood and Adulthood

'A dazzling debut - authentic, funny, sad, sympathetic. I was utterly gripped. Rich in understanding of human nature, acerbic on the rights and wrongs of the justice system' GILLIAN MCALLISTER, Sunday Times bestselling author of Everything But the Truth