A Compelling Case

British mystery writer Underwood here adds another entertaining puzzler to his series about London lawyer Rosa Epton. The guilt of her client, Stephen Lumley, seems a foregone conclusion after the police grab him fleeing from the jewelry shop where the owner, Bernard Hammond, has been murdered during a holdup. Because the victim was Lumley's estranged uncle, partly because the accused is ``like King Kong without the charm,'' and despite her strong defense, Rosa loses the case. She has come to believe Lumley's version, however, and continues to investigate his story. The two disguised thieves known to be in the store--supposedly Lumley's partners--have got clean away. Increasing the lawyer's determination to prove her client's innocence is news that Hammond's widow Clare has been abducted and held for a sizable ransom. Resolution comes in a neat twist that challenges the reader's deductive powers and wins applause for the author's ingenuity. (June)