A small town in Georgia is rocked by the disappearance of a recent law graduate. It started as a study session for the bar exam, and ends in mystery and intrigue. Evil at Barristers Hall, by Robert Groves, is a short story that tells the tale of a young woman who dreams of moving on from a difficult childhood to truly make a difference, and ends at the center of a mystery. Soon, family and friends from around the nation are looking for this young woman who mysteriously disappeared after an intensive study session. A grisly discovery made by simple chance breaks the mystery, and shows how events unfold and spiral into a tale that affects countless lives.

Evil at Barristers Hall is a fast paced read that takes you through a "slice of life" scenario and gives you a glimpse of the entire process of a crime, from it being committed through the whole legal process. Robert Groves tells a complete tale in a few pages of powerful storytelling as he describes the scenario from several angles. It was a bit difficult for me to keep up with all of the characters, so don't go in thinking this is a light tale because you will need to pay attention to keep up with the characters and the action taking place. If you're looking for a good, intense, quick read, then this is an excellent choice that will keep you entertained through the last page. This story is well written and well done.

Evil at Barristers Hall by Robert Groves offers a very different approach to crime fiction. The opening chapter sets a mood of lingering, unidentified evil with its description of something being “off” in the air on the morning readers first meet Lisa Evans, a student studying for her final bar exam. The following chapter, in which the narrator changes from third to first person, jolts readers back to Lisa’s childhood where she tells us how she and her siblings were locked out of their home by their mother on a freezing night. As Robert Groves returns to third person narration, readers are ready to settle into a riveting crime story…and the details are gripping and ugly.

But from this point on, once crime reporter Brian Kinsey begins following the sudden disappearance of Lisa Evans after a party, Evil at Barristers Hall becomes more of a documentary, a report, such as that offered by TV shows like 48 Hours. As investigations proceed, and the police begin questioning Lisa’s classmates and friends, along with tenants in the same apartment building as that occupied by Lisa, the source of that “off” smell in the air mentioned in Chapter One is discovered. What follows is nailing down who is responsible for Lisa’s untimely death and why.

What’s interesting about Evil at Barristers Hall is how readers, as a result of Groves’s writing style, find themselves wondering if this is fact or fiction. I even went so far as to research the perpetrator’s name and the location of this story to see if, indeed, someone by that name murdered a law student. Don’t be surprised if you do the same. Groves's style of writing may not appeal to addicts of crime fiction. It is detailed, quite devoid of emotion. After those opening chapters, one doesn’t become all that involved with the characters or the plot. But it’s a quick read and gives an insight into how these investigations are conducted.