Without Consent

Frances Fyfield's writing has been called "brilliant" (The Cleveland Plain Dealer), "elegant and unnerving" (The New York Times Book Review), and "splendidly accomplished" (Chicago Tribune). Now, in this stylish mystery she hones her powers of writerly suspense and keen characterization to a new edge.No-nonsense attorney Helen West possesses a rare combination of jaded pragmatism and well-guarded vulnerability. Yet, rape is a crime that haunts her — particularly her latest case where all the evidence all points to D. S. Ryan, the fellow police officer and best friend of her lover, Superintendent Geoffrey Bailey. But slowly, as West and Bailey delve into this seemingly open-and-shut crime, there emerges a man whose cold-blooded intuition about women guarantees him a ready welcome — and rape, even murder, without a trace.