A Clear Conscience: A Helen West Mystery - Hardcover

Fyfield, Frances

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0679426663 ISBN 13: 9780679426660

Publisher: Pantheon, 1995

Synopsis

Caught in a crisis of faith in herself, her job, and the law itself, Crown Prosecutor Helen West becomes embroiled in the private and legal life of a battered woman, whose situation is so bad that it may serve to excuse a horrible crime. Tour.

About this title

From the Back Cover

If it ain't broke, don't fix it. Crown Prosecutor Helen West applies this maxim with equal verve to the state of disrepair of her garden flat and to her relationship with senior policeman Geoffrey Bailey, although both are in need of a little tender loving care. Bailey, in particular, is caught up in a seemingly open-and-shut murder enquiry, but something about the case is making him uneasy.

Returning home from another unsuccessful court hearing, another domestic violence case which leaves her frustrated and angry, Helen decides that her life needs brightening up. Where better to start than her home, and who better to help than Cath, her newly acquired cleaning lady?

Cath is a treasure, recommended by Helen's friends, the Eliots, and her life could do with brightening too. Not only is she mourning the death of her much-loved brother, she is also ensconced in a less-than-perfect marriage. Helen is only too happy to turn a blind eye to Cath's unhappiness, until, as the paths of her private and professional lives unwittingly collide, she becomes a witness to the destructive forces of love and guilt, and finds herself applying her own version of justice.

From the Inside Flap

D IS A WONDER . . . A very intricate and surprise-filled plot."
--Los Angeles Times Book Review
Helen West, Crown Prosecutor in domestic violence court, is working up a good case of burnout because justice-by-the-book seldom seems to do the women she represents much good. Helen's love affair with Police Superintendent Geoffrey Bailey also seems to be losing its fire.
Then, as if someone has designed a test case for her, Helen learns that humble Cath, her cleaning woman, is being beaten by her husband. Cath has no family--her beautiful brother, Damien, has recently been brutally murdered--so she needs all the help she can get. Helen is willing to give it.
But as the truth of Cath's young life, her marriage, and her brother's murder begin to take shape, piece by jagged piece, help and justice seem hard to come by . . . and may be forever beyond reach.
"Fyfield is a brilliant writer, her pen dipped in acid and moonbeams."
--The Cleveland Plain Dealer<

About this edition

• Publisher: Pantheon
• Publication date: 1995
• ISBN 10: 0679426663
• ISBN 13: 9780679426660
• Binding: Hardcover