A Thief or Two

Antony Maitland #26

by Sara Woods

‘My brother George was in his chair by the fireplace. His right temple, the whole of that side of his head, was smashed. I did not take it in immediately, but there was a large crystal of uncut amethyst lying on the floor at his side. It usually stood on the desk for use as a paperweight. It looked as if Harte had snatched it up and hit out wildly.’
‘My lord!’ Maitland was on his feet. ‘My learned friend will agree with me that that is a most improper remark.’

Antony Maitland’s client is Malcolm Harte, a nice, hard-working young man—and an accused murderer. Harte was a jeweler’s assistant, until the night when a fortune in jewels disappeared and the jeweler himself was found murdered. Then Malcolm Harte went on trial for his life, with the evidence strongly against him. Even Maitland is not very sure of his client’s innocence, but he decides to see what he can uncover in his own investigations.

A brilliant addition to the chronicles of Antony Maitland, the detective-barrister who challenges lawyers and criminals on their own ground.

“The jury, passing on the prisoner’s life,
May in the sworn twelve have a thief or two
Guiltier than him they try.”
—Measure for Measure, Act II, scene i

Genres: Mystery

Hardcover

First published January 1, 1977

About the author

(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.

Reviews

[Bev · Rating 3 out of 5]

If Antony Maitland, barrister and sometimes detective, doesn't believe that you're innocent then what's an accused man supposed to do? Maitland is notorious for believing his clients when nobody else does and finding ways to prove them innocent. Malcolm Harte is a jeweler's assistant who has been accused of murdering one of the two brother's who owned the business where Harte worked. And of having stolen a fortune in jewels that were being shown to special client's at George DeLisle's home that fateful night. Motive? Well, Malcolm was scheduled to get married and was, as even his fiancée admits, "desperate" for money. His are the only fingerprints on the safe that stands wide open and empty of jewels. Nevermind the fact that Malcolm was the one who was asked to put the jewels in the already open safe after the showing and that no one can prove that he knew the combination to open it again.

Interestingly enough, it isn't Harte's fiancée who comes to Maitland and begs him to look for more evidence to clear the accused, but another female guest from the private party. When she points out a discrepancy on one of the guest's evidence, Maitland gets interested. And one thing leads to another. Before he knows it, he's doing the thing his uncle Sir Nicholas Harding most dreads--meddling. When one of the witnesses winds up dead (while Harte is in prison), it becomes obvious that Maitland's meddling has made somebody nervous. But who? It may be enough to get his client off, but Maitland would rather be able to hand the police the right suspect...

It's been a little while since I've read an Antony Maitland mystery, but from what I recall this is pretty standard fare. The two things that stand out here are the fact that Maitland seems so very reluctant to believe that Harte might be innocent and the little intermissions we get in the court proceedings where Woods provides the thoughts of the jurors. From the foreman who listens to the opening statement from the Prosecution and decides he's heard all he needs to hear, "The prisoner, who looked a sickly sort of chap, was obviously guilty, or what was he doing here?" to the juror who also believes him guilty, though tries to convince herself that she's impartial, "But of course, you had to hear all the evidence, she hadn't made her mind up yet..." We also get to see how little most of them pay attention to most of the evidence with thoughts wandering to their farms and their young men and matters of business on which their time could be better spent. You have to wonder how fair a "fair trial" really is.

The plot is perfectly fine--nothing extraordinary in the way of motive, but it's always entertaining to watch Maitland once he becomes convinced that there is something to work on. It just takes him longer than usual this time around. I think I prefer it when he's working on the mystery from the beginning, but that's just personal preference and I can understand that Woods might have wanted to break the mold a bit.

First posted on my blog My Reader's Block.

[Kees Jansen · Rating 5 out of 5]

The characters are very enjoyable as are the plots