And Shame the Devil

Antony Maitland is not the favorite barrister of Scotland Yard C.I.D. and thus he is much surprised to receive their urgent, though unofficial, request for help. Two policemen have been accused of willful false arrest in the northern town of Arkenshaw and it is their defense that he is asked to undertake.

The case intrigues Maitland: the plaintiffs, already acquitted of the original charge of burglary, are two Pakistani immigrants, and the suggestion that they have been victimized because of racial prejudice is too obvious to ignore.

The bleak, industrial Yorkshire town, its tightly knit social structure, its whisperings and gossip, and the underlying resentment and conflict among its diverse elements are handled by Sara Woods with her usual fine craftsmanship in this multiple mystery in which Maitland's persistence, both inside the courtroom and out, gradually uncovers the truth of the complex mystery of Arkenshaw.- from blurb