A trial record with intelligent commentary makes absorbing reading and this novel employs that device. If the prosecution can convince the jury beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendants perpetrated an armed daylight robbery, the guilty verdict can cost the pair 10 to 25 years apiece in prison. Only the accusation of the robbed jeweler stands out against the man and woman accused. As the trial grinds on, the traditional character evidence reveals the basic immorality of the man and the easy sex habits of the woman. The narrator, an ex-judge of the court where the trial is held, anticipates the dangers of this sort of evidence. Will the jury judge the record for evidence of the robbery? Or do the dredged up pasts of the pair on trial becloud that charge to the point where they are being judged on moral rather than legal issues? Some of the narrator's testiest and most telling shafts are aimed at the television shows that are wrapped up in trial procedures. Nevertheless, that audience is a big one and should find this fascinating.