Terence Eden’s Blog

Theo Miller knows the value of human life to the very last penny. In the Criminal Audit Office, he assesses each crime that crosses his desk & makes sure the correct debt to society is paid. But when his ex-lover is killed, it's different. This is one death he can't let become merely an entry on a balance sheet. Because when the rich are getting away with murder, sometimes the numbers just don't add up.

One day you or someone you love will almost certainly appear in a criminal courtroom. You might be a juror, a victim, a witness or – perhaps through no fault of your own – a defendant. Whatever your role, you’d expect a fair trial. I want to share some stories from my daily life to show you how the system is broken, who broke it and why we should start caring before it’s too late.

When the body of a murdered woman is found in the extraordinary, decaying city of Beszel, somewhere at the edge of Europe, it looks like a routine case for Inspector Tyador Borlú of the Extreme Crime Squad. But as he probes, the evidence begins to point to conspiracies far stranger, and more deadly, than anything he could have imagined.

Inspired by discussion around why society appears to deem people of colour as bad immigrants - job stealers, benefit scroungers, undeserving refugees - until, by winning Olympic races or baking good cakes, or being conscientious doctors, they cross over and become good immigrants, editor Nikesh Shukla has compiled a collection of essays that are poignant, challenging, angry, humorous, heartbreaking, polemic, weary and - most importantly - real.

Sooner or later, death visits everyone. Before that, they meet Charlie. Charlie meets everyone - but only once. Sometimes he is sent as a courtesy, sometimes as a warning. Either way, this is going to be the most important meeting of your life.