Naked Villainy

In barrister Antony Maitland's newest case, he is engaged to defend Emile Letendre against the most terrible of chargesparricide. The case for the defense appears all but hopeless: fingerprint evidence, motive, testimony of witnesses and opportunity add up to an overwhelming advantage for the prosecution. Antony, however, is persuaded that the young Frenchman's claim that his father was murdered by a coven of modern witches fearful of exposure must be true. Unfortunately, Antony has no usable evidence, and the members of the covenall nominally respectable peoplehave influence in high places. They circulate a rumor that Antony illegally coached his principal witness. If these allegations come to be believed, Antony's reputation and his career will be ruined. Woods, who wrote 48 Antony Maitland detective novels, is at her best here in the cut and thrust of courtroom drama. It's a pity we'll have no more of her work; she died in 1985. (March 24)