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THE MURDER OF MARY STEERS by Brian Cooper

THE MURDER OF MARY STEERS

By

Publisher: Vanguard

The author has based this mystery on one of Britain's classic unsolved murder cases, retaining the facts but changing characters, place etc. to fulfill fictional demands and also to offer his own feasible solution to the crime. The result is highly satisfactory as the narrator presents the day to day drama of the second trial of Hinton Radcliffe, husband, father, Sunday School superintendent, ordinary citizen who has been condemned by his hometown for the murder of a slightly wanton and highly pregnant servant. Enmeshed in circumstantial evidence and slander, Radcliffe is a pitiable figure as seen through the eyes of the narrator who knows he is innocent but who does not (cannot?) speak. The trial itself is a brilliant exercise in legal sparring. Good.