Killer or wronged victim?

Who can you trust? The main character in this book meets the man of her dreams, only to discover that he has just been released from prison, is tagged and is on the sex offender register. Her life disintegrates as colleagues, friends and the authorities react to her relationship. In a parallel story, the seven-year-old witness of the murder and rape for which the man went to prison has reached adulthood – and is dealing with grief, guilt and loss. 

We see the whole story from the woman’s point of view and know little, initially at least, of the convicted murderer’s thoughts. Is he a dangerous killer or a wronged victim himself? If he did not do it, then who did? That is the cue for a lawyer who is battling to get justice for the wrongly convicted to enter the story.  

Mancini has drawn inspiration from the cases in which she was involved as a criminal lawyer, both as an advocate and a litigator. She writes authentically about being inside a police station from a defence lawyer’s point of view. 

Mancini did an A-level in English literature but studied foreign languages at university. She did not think about writing fiction until a decade later, when she wrote the draft of her first novel. Mancini’s legal interest was sparked by an A-level law course which included the Police and Criminal Evidence Act; she was hooked. She started going to police stations for a local firm and in 2003 qualified as a solicitor. Her first book was published in 2018. 

The Stranger on the Stairs is a vivid and exciting read in which the characters are brilliantly portrayed. You cannot help thinking: would you trust this man against all the evidence of a conviction? 

David Pickup is a partner at Pickup & Scott Solicitors, Aylesbury