This one's an absolute corker. It gripped me completely from the first until the very last page.
Tabitha is a small, unprepossessing woman with a vile temper who is on remand for murder. She is accused of killing Stuart Rees, a local schoolteacher who is also involved with the management of the church. She hates being in prison, and resents the fact that she has to share a two-bunk cell with Michaela.
The following day she meets her brief, who she treats very nonchalantly. She knows she is innocent of the crime, and consequently thinks it will just be a matter of a simple explanation and she will be released. The lawyer swiftly disabuses her of this idea and explains that the case against her is very strong. The witnesses to be called by the prosecution, who she thinks of as friends, are nothing of the kind.
She also has a strong motive for the killing: when she was fifteen and a pupil in Rees's class, he had secretly abused her. She had never reported him and when his crime against her is disclosed, all the villagers simply think she is a slut.
Her brief advises her to plead guilty to manslaughter with mitigating circumstances. Tabitha's reaction is to dismiss her brief and conduct her own case. She knows absolutely nothing about the law or the machinery of a murder trial. Her only friend is her cellmate Michaela, who is released well before the trial begins and despite her own complete lack of knowledge, becomes her greatest help.
The rest of the novel tells in (graphic detail), Tabitha's indictment for murder and the long-drawn-out trial which follows. I tried very hard to like Tabitha. I'm afraid I failed, despite admiration for her tenacity. During her trial she is incredibly rude to all the Court officials, including the judge. I did find it a bit hard to believe that a well-educated woman could be quite so ignorant. Nevertheless, a spellbinding novel.
Editor’s Note: The latest from the journalist team ‘Nicci French’ was reviewed earlier by Andrew Hill and can be read HERE
