For fashionable Gen Z-ers and the nostalgic middle-aged, the 90s can seem like a cosy decade. A time of tie-dye and glow sticks, grunge and raves. Edinburgh dwellers had a Royal Mile unspoiled by mass tourism, The Scotsman building bustled away at its original purpose. But there was also a darker side to the city: sex for sale, financial corruption, unregulated institutions of male power and privilege, and homophobia. 

Myles Bonnar’s hit podcast, Shiny Bob: The Devil’s Advocate, tackles all of these, harnessing together threads from mortgage fraud to blackmail, abuse, sex work and the redemptive power of investigative journalism, through the story of a legal scandal that struck Edinburgh in the early 90s. Esteemed QC ‘Shiny’ Bob Henderson (said to be able to ‘light up’ a courtroom) was rumoured to be manipulating the courts by threatening to ‘out’ a list he had of secretly gay judges and lawyers. As Bonnar’s tale proves, however, what was marauding as nasty homophobic blackmail had an even darker side to it. 

The story unfolds over six episodes with all the twists of an Ian Rankin novel: the closer it draws towards power and wealth, the more fetid and vile these characters become. It’s an eye-opener for anyone who believes the lie of Edinburgh’s outwardly refined façade, or that institutions of unchecked male power aren’t a recipe for abhorrent behaviour.  

With so many threads, the narrative could easily have grown messy or focused only on one salacious plot. But instead Bonnar (aided by investigative journalist Marcello Mega) makes time and space to properly explore each avenue, showing compassion for the story’s many victims. It’s a masterclass in podcast storytelling, up there with S-Town and Serial as one of the best examples of the genre; a reminder that true crime, when explored properly, is a valid lens through which to examine a society’s rot.

Shiny Bob: The Devil’s Advocate episodes available now on BBC Sounds.