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Summary
Author Notes
Frances Fyfield is a pseudonym of Frances Hegarty, born and raised in Derbyshire on November 18, 1948. After reading English at Newcastle University, she did various odd jobs before enrolling in a law course in the Midlands. But it didn't interest her enough to continue and she moved to London where she was a shop assistant at Fenwicks and theatre dresser at the Coliseum.
Fyfield eventually did finish her law qualifications and got a job as a solicitor to work with the Metropolitan Police. She has worked as prosecutor for both the Metropolitan Police as well as the Crime Prosecution Service.
Fyfield is the author of more than seven suspense novels, including Shadow Play and Without Consent. Her novel, A Question of Guilt, was nominated for an Edgar Award and filmed for the BBC. She has won several awards, including the Crime Writers' Association Duncan Lawrie Dagger for Blood From Stone in 2008 and the Silver Dagger for Deep Sleep. In addition, her novel, Safer than Houses was nominated for the Duncan Lawrie Dagger in 2006. She also writes psychological thrillers under the name of Frances Hegarty, among them, The Playroom, Half Light and Let's Dance
(Bowker Author Biography)
Reviews (3)
Publisher's Weekly Review
Never less than fine (Shadow Play) and often spectacular (The Playroom), Fyfield, whether she writes as Fyfield or as Francis Hegarty, is an astute crime plotter and a crafty observer of the subtle nuances that permeate middle-class English mores. Here, she's in top form. As her two series charactersprosecutor Helen West and her lover, high-ranking London policeman Geoffrey Baileymove uneasily toward matrimony, a rapist is plaguing London. The main suspect is detective sergeant Ryan, who's not only a fellow cop of Bailey's but his protégé. Ryan is not an especially likable man, and his past is murky. His most recent investigations involved a series of rape accusations by apparently confused women, and it's not at all clear whether or not the crimes actually occurred. Two of the women were pregnant and died mysteriously. Then Ryan's accuser dies. Meanwhile, a bald doctor pervades the narrative: oddly celibate and ever sympathetic, he has beautiful brown eyes and wears synthetic clothes that leave no residue of foreign particles after physical contact. The doctor visits with troubled women, bearing flowers and chocolates. Fyfield treads into dangerously murky territory, exploring the blurry lines between emotional and physical assault and the confusing legal and moral definitions of rape. West and Bailey may be put through too many emotional hoops, but Fyfield proves herself to be among those rare crime writers (Ruth Rendell is another) who can address provocative topics with intelligent ambiguity. (Nov.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Kirkus Review
Helen West, a lawyer for London's Crown Prosecution Service, deals mostly with cases of rape and the often hapless victims she has to persuade to carry their accusations to court (A Clear Conscience, 1995, etc.). Here, Helen and her longtime lover Police Superintendent Geoffrey Bailey have finally set a marriage date--at the Registry Office--but Bailey has a serious problem of his own: Detective Sergeant Ryan, his protg, whom he had nurtured to responsible maturity in the force and who's now a respected family man, has been accused of rape by Shelley Pelmore, a shopgirl with a taste for nightlife. Shelley's case is but one of several plaguing Helen and her trainee assistant, Rose Darvey. Anna Stirland, nurse at a women's clinic, is another, as is Brigid Connor, a woman addicted to taking long baths and avoiding the attentions of her husband. Mention of a handsome, bald-headed man runs like a thread through many of the victims' accounts, but when Shelley Pelmore is found dead in a local park, Ryan--suspended from the force but not in jail--seems the obvious killer, until Bailey, Helen, and one of the true killer's victims take matters into their own hands. Masterful suspense, although tempered by the author's exasperating tendency to explore every character's psyche at tedious length and to approach every crisis from an oblique angle. Downbeat all the way but, still, powerfully engrossing.
Library Journal Review
Someone is assaulting women, causing humiliation in addition to physical harm. Helen West, a formidable London prosecutor, is drawn into the investigation when Detective Sergeant Ryan, a womanizer and close friend of her lover, Police Superintendent Geoffrey Bailey, is arrested for one of the attacks. While Helen and Geoffrey hunt the attacker, the reader follows the twisted psychology of the villain, who himself has been wounded beyond repair. In addition to the immediate problems of evidence gathering, the question of what distinguishes rape from other assaults adds interest and dimension to a most satisfying police procedural. The London setting and the variety of fully realized characters make this a surefire hit. Helen and Geoffreybrooding, imperfect, lovingresemble the creations of Fyfield's (Perfectly Pure and Good, LJ 3/1/94) American counterparts Elizabeth George and Martha Grimes, with the added benefit of the author's firsthand knowledge as a London criminal lawyer. Highly recommended for all libraries.Elsa Pendleton, Boeing Information Svcs., Inc., Ridgecrest, Cal. (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
