top of page

Henry Milner has been one of the UK’s top criminal defence solicitors for more than forty years, during which time he has defended some of the most infamous names in recent criminal history. He founded Henry Milner & Company, which is described by Chambers and Partners as a ‘Rolls- Royce outfit’, and was the subject of an interview with The Sunday Times entitled ‘The Mr Big of Criminal Briefs’.


His latest crime fiction novel, Miracles Cost Extra, is being published in March 2026. His autobiography, No Lawyers in Heaven: A Life Defending Serious Crime, was published in 2020. His first crime fiction novel, Murder at the Bailey, was published in 2021, about which he wrote:

Having spent forty years observing crime play out from a ringside seat, I thought it was now or never to enter the arena and try my hand at writing a trilogy of books. The first covers my life as a defence lawyer (entitled No Lawyers in Heaven, published in 2020) and the third is a book of short stories (currently in progress). This is the second – a crime fiction novel. If, having read it, you are kind enough to call it a pacy illegal romp, I would take it as a great compliment. 
The characters who appear in my fiction novels are all drawn from my personal experiences over the years. True, they are not pure single malts but rather blended personalities from numerous individuals who have suffered the misfortune of crossing my portals. 
I have always been fascinated by the seemingly insoluble battle between morality and the law, and so, before picking up my pen, I decided that this conundrum would feature prominently. Innocence and guilt are not stamped in black and white. They are not absolute concepts. Most criminal cases fall into a shadowy expanse, reigned over by ever-darkening skies, stretching between righteousness and downright amorality, and inhabited by the types of characters you will find in this novel. They mingle here in muddy waters (as do their lookalikes at the Old Bailey), battling it out against each other, mentally and physically, to achieve their own sense of justice. 

I hope that readers find my style accessible, engaging and easy to understand, and, if so, while being entertained, that they will also become somewhat the wiser as to what really goes on behind the scenes in a murder case that ends up in Court 1 at the Old Bailey. 
To those of you who doubt that the types of characters depicted in my novel exist in real life, I can only say, believe me, they do – I have met them all! 

bottom of page