Case to Answer

Jerry and Peter have been successfully conning vulnerable householders for years. But then Jerry decides to try the straight and narrow, getting an honest job in a chip shop. Once there he meets Imogen, pregnant and temporarily living with her step-grandmother, Charlotte Frost. In his new role as a good citizen - and hopeful suitor - Jerry agrees to tackle Charlotte's neglected garden.

But Charlotte has her own troubled past. Recently widowed, her departed husband's family are deeply suspicious. And as her life becomes entangled with Jerry's, lies and deceits from their pasts begin to surface, until on a night none of them will ever forget, Charlotte disappears, and Jerry is the number one suspect.

A novel of subtle suspense and creeping tension, A CASE TO ANSWER is effortlessly crafted crime fiction, in which human weakness and vulnerability lead to secrets, lies and tragedy.

“There is not a word wasted in Margaret Yorke's deftly constructed crime novels, yet they have a hinterland greater than many novels twice the length. Her understanding of the faultlines that run through human beings is second to none”

Margaret Yorke knows all about human weaknesses and follies, vanities and ambitions, as well as about that rarer phenomenon, real, unadulterated evil - Susan Hill

The mistress of the skilfully-spun suspense novel . . . her quiet, unemphatic style of narrative makes the story a compelling read - Sunday Telegraph

Her short, sparse accounts of things going wrong and innocent people getting caught up in events beyond their control never fails to induce a powerful sense of apprehension and foreboding - Guardian

Margaret Yorke was awarded the 1999 Cartier Diamond Dagger for her outstanding contribution to the crime fiction genre. She was a past chairman of the Crime Writers' Association and the author of over 50 novels. She died in November 2012.

Jerry and Peter have been successfully conning vulnerable householders for years. But then Jerry decides to try the straight and narrow, getting an honest job in a chip shop. Once there he meets Imogen, pregnant and temporarily living with her step-grandmother, Charlotte Frost. In his new role as a good citizen - and hopeful suitor - Jerry agrees to tackle Charlotte's neglected garden.But Charlotte has her own troubled past. Recently widowed, her departed husband's family are deeply suspicious. And as her life becomes entangled with Jerry's, lies and deceits from their pasts begin to surface, until on a night none of them will ever forget, Charlotte disappears, and Jerry is the number one suspect.A novel of subtle suspense and creeping tension, A CASE TO ANSWER is effortlessly crafted crime fiction, in which human weakness and vulnerability lead to secrets, lies and tragedy.

This item is eligible for free returns within 30 days of delivery. See our returns policy for further details.