Book description
For the police it was an open and shut case: Stephen Lumley was guilty
of taking part in the robbery at his uncle's jewellery shop. All the
evidence was against him - he was unemployed and in debt, he'd made
threats in the past against his uncle, Bernard Hammond, and he'd tried
to escape when the other thieves fled the scene.
Yet Lumley maintains his innocence, and the only person who believes
him - apart from his wife - is his lawyer, the intuitive Rosa Epton.
Rosa's efforts to learn the truth are frustrated by the elusiveness of a
possible lead, so Lumley must stand trial at the Old Bailey. Undeterred,
Rosa carries on her private enquiries with little success, until, that
is, her lead turns up - dead.
As the police investigate, new evidence comes to light, and events take
another turn when Hammond's wife is kidnapped. Michael Underwood (the
pseudonym of John Michael Evelyn) was born in Worthing, Sussex and
educated at Christ Church College, Oxford. He was called to the Bar in
1939 and served in the British army during World War Two. He returned to
work in the Department of Public Prosecutions until his retirement in
1976, and wrote almost 50 crime novels informed by his career in the
law. His five series characters include Sergeant Nick Atwell and lawyer
Rosa Epton, of whom it was said by the Washington Post
that she 'outdoes Perry Mason'.
