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Antony Maitland #16
An Improbable Fiction
She was young and pretty, a TV newscaster with a fine talent and many fans. But when she publicly accused a popular married actor of being her sister's lover -- and murderer -- a lot of people wanted her out of sight and permanently silent.
- GenresMystery
178 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1970
1 person is currently reading
18 people want to read
About the author
Sara Woods
115 books18 followers(Lana Hutton Bowen-Judd)
UK (1922 - 1986)
aka Anne Burton, Mary Challis, Margaret Leek
Born in England, she was educated at the Convent of the Sacred Heart in Filey, Yorkshire.
During the Second World War, she worked in a bank and as a solicitor's clerk in London. Here she gained much of the information later used in her novels. Lana married Anthony George Bowen-Judd on April 25, 1946. They ran a pig breeding farm between 1948 and 1954. In 1957 they moved to Nova Scotia, Canada. She worked as a registrar for St. Mary's University until 1964. In 1961 she wrote her first novel, Bloody Instructions, introducing the hero of forty-nine of her mysteries, Anthony Maitland, an English barrister.
Her last years she lived with her husband at Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario.
UK (1922 - 1986)
aka Anne Burton, Mary Challis, Margaret Leek
Born in England, she was educated at the Convent of the Sacred Heart in Filey, Yorkshire.
During the Second World War, she worked in a bank and as a solicitor's clerk in London. Here she gained much of the information later used in her novels. Lana married Anthony George Bowen-Judd on April 25, 1946. They ran a pig breeding farm between 1948 and 1954. In 1957 they moved to Nova Scotia, Canada. She worked as a registrar for St. Mary's University until 1964. In 1961 she wrote her first novel, Bloody Instructions, introducing the hero of forty-nine of her mysteries, Anthony Maitland, an English barrister.
Her last years she lived with her husband at Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
November 4, 2015
I love the Antony Maitland series about a lawyer who solves cases. I discovered this book which I have never read. The premise is an intriguing one...defending a woman accused of libel. Of course, it is not libel to accuse someone of murder if they actually did the murder. So Antony decides to prove that the plaintiff did commit a murder. The case quickly gets out of control and endangers his wife. Another readable mystery by Sara Woods, but there were a couple of loose ends which bothered me.
February 2, 2016
Continuing my effort to at least sample every single possible “long” mystery series written in the 20th century, I turned to author Sara Woods and her long running Antony Maitland books. This is the 16th of 49 books in the series.
Antony Maitland is a barrister in England who solves various types of cases. This time out he is defending a young TV newscaster who has been accused of slander when she publically accused a popular married actor of being her sister’s lover and murderer. Maitland attempts to prove it was, indeed, murder and therefore absolve the slander charge.
I found this novel to be very readable with somewhat typical characters of the era. I understand several characters are recurring throughout the series but as a newcomer I was not privy to which were recurring and which were only in this book…so it read to me more like a standalone novel. The case was sufficiently complex and underwent a number of twists and turns as other people began to die. But somehow I never found myself really getting into the characters, neither the victims nor those trying to end the cycle of violence by solving the case. In the end it was sort of ho-hum. Overall it was OK but nothing particularly special. Sort of like watching another episode of a long-running TV cop/detective show where you watch more out of habit than for any other reason.
Antony Maitland is a barrister in England who solves various types of cases. This time out he is defending a young TV newscaster who has been accused of slander when she publically accused a popular married actor of being her sister’s lover and murderer. Maitland attempts to prove it was, indeed, murder and therefore absolve the slander charge.
I found this novel to be very readable with somewhat typical characters of the era. I understand several characters are recurring throughout the series but as a newcomer I was not privy to which were recurring and which were only in this book…so it read to me more like a standalone novel. The case was sufficiently complex and underwent a number of twists and turns as other people began to die. But somehow I never found myself really getting into the characters, neither the victims nor those trying to end the cycle of violence by solving the case. In the end it was sort of ho-hum. Overall it was OK but nothing particularly special. Sort of like watching another episode of a long-running TV cop/detective show where you watch more out of habit than for any other reason.
September 4, 2024
A compelling, quick mystery featuring a detective barrister, rather like a procedural but with scant evidence and much conjecture. The ending could have been written as more believable without the deus ex machina incidents. I enjoyed it but won’t pursue others in the series.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews