Bloody Instructions by Sara Woods

5 Days of Sara Woods — Day 1

Wow! I actually said that out loud at two o’clock in the morning when I read the last page of Bloody Instructions by Sara Woods. This is the first book in her 48-book Antony Maitland series. I cannot tell you how excited I am that Dean Street Press Ltd. are republishing the first five books in this series on 2 December 2024! To celebrate, I’ll be posting a review of one book per day leading up to the big day. I think a lot of people are going to love these books. I’m so excited to tell you about them!

First off, let’s talk about the brilliant author. Sara Woods is the pen name of Eileen Mary Lana Hutton Bowen Judd. (Try saying that five times fast!) She was born in Bradford, Yorkshire in 1916, married in 1946, and after a dozen years spent farming in rural Yorkshire with her husband, the two moved to Halifax, Nova Scotia in 1958. It is there she began writing mysteries, publishing her first book Bloody Instructions in 1962. She died in 1985 at 69 years old. Which means she wrote about two books a year for 23 years. And I had never heard of her!

As I read Curtis Evans’ wonderful introduction to Bloody Instructions, I felt a personal connection to Sara Woods. She was born in the same city as my mother. Although, 26 years earlier. She also emigrated to Canada, as my mother did. And it wasn’t until sitting down to write this review that I realised they emigrated the same year, in 1958. My mother and grandmother could have come over on the same boat, as Sara Woods. My grandmother would have been about the same age as Sara Woods. There is even the possibility that their paths crossed at some point while they were living in Bradford. I wish I could find that out! Regardless, there is something special about reading a book by a woman that comes from the same place and lived there at the same time as the grandmother I never met.

I could sit here and entertain ‘what ifs’ all day, when what I should be doing is telling you what I loved about Bloody Instructions and why I think Sara Woods is doing something special in this first Antony Maitland book.

When Antony Maitland, barrister-at-law, goes to a nearby firm of solicitors, Messrs. Ling, Curtis, Winter and Winter of Bread Court, just a five minute walk from the Inner Temple, to pick up a missing affidavit from a brief, he finds mild-mannered solicitor, James Winter, has been fatally stabbed in the back at his desk in his chambers. Who would want to murder Winter? And who would have the audacity to do it in the middle of a work day when the building is fully staffed?

There are a number of potential suspects, including Antony, but it is Shakespearean stage actor, Joseph Dowling, that the police see as having the most motive and the opportunity. Dowling’s wife was being represented by Winters in her divorce case. Known for being a bit of a loose canon at times, Dowling was not at his best when he was shouting at Winter not two hours before the solicitor was found dead. 

With some coercion from Antony, Sir Nicholas takes the case—this seems to be a theme in the books—and we get to see the two in action through the investigation in preparation for the trial and to the courtroom where Sir Nicholas shines.

Antony Maitland is tall, dark, and was wounded in the Second World War. He still carries injuries to his right arm and shoulder, and it’s clear that the war has left its mark on him mentally as well. 

“I’m sorry,” [Antony] said again.

“You needn't be. You've done your best, after all.”

Antony stiffened. Once before, in a moment of failure, he had been tossed those words for comfort; and then, as now, they had seemed the final insult, the ultimate condemnation. (168)*

He has the tendency to stutter when he is angry, and on occasion we get hints of his traumatic history. Although, having just finished book two I’m not sure if that is entirely from the war or from personal losses earlier in life. Although, I am happy to report that we find out in book three which occasion is being alluded to in the above quotation.

 Jenny, Anthony’s wife, has curly brown hair, is loyal, has a great sense of humour and in my opinion is very patient with both her husband and her husband’s uncle, Sir Nicholas Harding, Queen’s Counsel of the Inner Temple, London. 

The couple live in a mostly self-contained apartment on the top two floors of Sir Nicholas house at Kempenfeldt Square. This was intended to be a temporary set up during the war when the couple first got married, but none of them have felt the need to change it. Sir Nicholas is often upstairs for dinner, when his cook has the night off and has had the audacity to leave him something cold. And Antony often comes in late and seeing his uncle’s study light on, heads in there to find his uncle and his wife by the fire. This brings us to what I think makes this series special, the domestic details. They don’t take away from the plot, rather seeing these three characters together provides insight into their characters. We see Antony’s love and appreciation for his wife in the moments when he is observing her unnoticed. 

He looked at her more searchingly for a moment, trying to see her as a stranger might, her slim figure silhouetted against the red velvet hangings of the box, and her brown curls shining. Her eyes were probably her best feature: grey eyes, with a quality of steadfastness. For the rest... but what a soulless thing was a mere catalogue: she was Jenny, he reflected with a sudden surge of affection, and the most beautiful thing in the world. He smiled to himself, to think how she herself would have greeted such an extravagance. And Jenny looked round with an answering smile, as though she had known his thought, and the moment of detachment was gone. (60)

We see how Jenny acts as a buffer between Antony and Sir Nicholas when the two are rubbing each other the wrong way. And we see Sir Nicholas’s close working relationship with his nephew, as Antony is his uncle’s junior barrister, and how he is grooming his protégé for the law, while at the same time, he trusts Antony’s instincts even as he is giving him a hard time. 

“I shouldn’t have lost my temper,” [Antony] said, at last. “That just made matters worse.”

Sir Nicholas pushed back his plate, took a sip of claret, and held up his glass as though to observe the colour of the wine.

“I don't agree with you there,” he said. “The mistake you made was in behaving like a schoolboy when first Sykes talked to you!” 

Antony was drawing patterns on the tablecloth with his fork. He was beginning to see now, with distressing clarity, the implications of what had passed at Scotland Yard. It was obvious, too, that his uncle was perfectly alive to the situation; hence—in part—his anger. (74)

We can easily imagine how empty Sir Nicholas’s private life would be if he didn’t have Antony and Jenny living with him. This evening I finished the second book in this series and immediately started the third. I love these characters and I already know that I am going to be mourning their loss when I finish the last book Dean Street Press Ltd. has republished. I am very much hoping that these ones get the readership they deserve and the publisher is able to continue republishing Sara Woods’ books.

While this book falls under the category of traditional detective fiction, it is so much more than that. If a good whodunit was all Bloody Instructions had to offer, it would be a good enough book, but the thing that elevates this book to one I see myself returning to again are the interesting and compelling character dynamics. In my opinion, Sara Woods is a master of mystery and character. I applaud Dean Street Press Ltd. for exercising their good taste by bring this lost author’s incredible books back into print.

While this book starts in June and runs through to the third week of July, I could not help but dress up this beautiful red cover for Christmas. By accident or by design, the first two books in this series have red and green covers and I felt it would have been remiss of me to pass up such an opportunity.

Thank you to Dean Street Press Ltd. for kindly sending me a copy of Bloody Instructions for review. As always, all opinions on the book are my own.

My review of book two, Malice Domestic, will go up tomorrow. Hope to see you then!

*All page numbers are from the ebook and are not likely to correspond to the paperback edition.