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Bloody Instructions: An Antony Maitland Mystery
"Miss Bell found him," said Antony. "That was about fifteen minutes after I got there. She let out a yell that brought us all running. He'd been stabbed in the back"
Who had the effrontery to fatally stab James Winter, a mild and highly respectable London solicitor, as he was inoffensively taking tea in his office?
The possibilities are plentiful, but police suspicion lands on a temperamental Shakespearean actor, Joseph Dowling, whose estranged wife the old man had been representing in her divorce action. The larger-than-life star of London's latest hit production of Macbeth, Dowling not only had a motive for murder, he had a dagger to draw as well. These actors!
Now it may well be the last act for Dowling in his newest role-criminal defendant-unless brilliant barrister-sleuth Antony Maitland and his famed courtroom performer uncle, Sir Nicholas Harding, can put the spotlight on the real killer in this, Sara Woods' highly-praised debut detective novel.
This gripping courtroom drama from 1962 features an introduction by crime fiction historian Curtis Evans.
"This is just the sort of book I enjoy - a good detective story, with human characters and told with freshness and an amusing good humor." - Francis Iles, author of Malice Aforethought
Who had the effrontery to fatally stab James Winter, a mild and highly respectable London solicitor, as he was inoffensively taking tea in his office?
The possibilities are plentiful, but police suspicion lands on a temperamental Shakespearean actor, Joseph Dowling, whose estranged wife the old man had been representing in her divorce action. The larger-than-life star of London's latest hit production of Macbeth, Dowling not only had a motive for murder, he had a dagger to draw as well. These actors!
Now it may well be the last act for Dowling in his newest role-criminal defendant-unless brilliant barrister-sleuth Antony Maitland and his famed courtroom performer uncle, Sir Nicholas Harding, can put the spotlight on the real killer in this, Sara Woods' highly-praised debut detective novel.
This gripping courtroom drama from 1962 features an introduction by crime fiction historian Curtis Evans.
"This is just the sort of book I enjoy - a good detective story, with human characters and told with freshness and an amusing good humor." - Francis Iles, author of Malice Aforethought
Kindle Edition
Published December 2, 2024
About the author
Sara Woods
122 books16 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 of 1 review
December 19, 2024
3.5🌟 I'm always so eager for new Dean Street Press books to be published—I've got such an addiction to the Furrowed Middlebrow and Golden Age Mystery series! I thought it was about time that I tried one of their crime classics, especially since they introduced a newly republished author this month.
I'm usually not a fan of crime dramas on television, but mystery books are sometimes different. They are a lot more interesting and less stressful in book form. (Also, reading books that take place between the 20s and 60s makes them even better, in my opinion!) It took me a bit of time to get used to Sara Woods' writing style, but it's mainly because courtroom dialogue and lawyer language sometimes makes my head spin.
The characters in this novel were solid and interesting. I was grateful for the map drawing and, though I had no idea how this murder was going to be solved, it was fun trying to figure it out. I was really surprised to find out who the killer was in the end. Seriously unexpected!
The relationship and conversations between Antony, his wife Jenny, and his uncle Sir Nicholas were the parts I enjoyed the most in 'Bloody Instructions'. They were amusing and a bit cozy (with a lot of banter), which I like.
If you're highly entertained by workplace murders, courtroom conversations and a slew of suspicious characters, you will LOVE this crime classic by Sara Woods!
I'm usually not a fan of crime dramas on television, but mystery books are sometimes different. They are a lot more interesting and less stressful in book form. (Also, reading books that take place between the 20s and 60s makes them even better, in my opinion!) It took me a bit of time to get used to Sara Woods' writing style, but it's mainly because courtroom dialogue and lawyer language sometimes makes my head spin.
The characters in this novel were solid and interesting. I was grateful for the map drawing and, though I had no idea how this murder was going to be solved, it was fun trying to figure it out. I was really surprised to find out who the killer was in the end. Seriously unexpected!
The relationship and conversations between Antony, his wife Jenny, and his uncle Sir Nicholas were the parts I enjoyed the most in 'Bloody Instructions'. They were amusing and a bit cozy (with a lot of banter), which I like.
If you're highly entertained by workplace murders, courtroom conversations and a slew of suspicious characters, you will LOVE this crime classic by Sara Woods!
Displaying 1 of 1 review