Trusted Like the Fox by Sara Woods

 

5 Days of Sara Woods — Day 5

Trusted Like the Fox is the fifth book in Sara Woods’ 48-book Antony Maitland series. This one made me feel a lot of emotions. I know by now you must be sick of hearing me say, ‘this one really is my favourite one in the series’. But, umm… This one really is! 

Dean Street Press Ltd. are republishing the first five books in this series tomorrow, 2 December 2024! To celebrate, I’m posting a review of one book per day leading up to the big day. I’ve already posted reviews of the first four books, Bloody Instructions, Malice Domestic, The Third Encounter, and Error of the Moon. If you haven’t read those posts, you may want to read them first and then come back to this one. In the review for Bloody Instructions, I talk about the author and provide a more in-depth overview of the main series characters.

To give you a bit of background… In the first four books, Antony Maitland was junior barrister to his uncle, Sir Nicholas Harding, Queen’s Counsel of the Inner Temple, London. As well as working alongside his uncle, Antony, and his dependable wife, Jenny, live in a mostly self-contained apartment on the top two floors of Sir Nicholas’s house at Kempenfeldt Square.

In this one, Antony is defending his first big case since taking silk, a few months ago. His client is Michael Godson, who is charged with being Guy Harland, a man who was arrested for the attempted murder of distinguished biologist, Doctor Ronald Fraser, but Harland slipped his fetters while he was being taken into custody. Meaning, he knocked out the arresting officer and hoofed it across country. Godson will also be charged with treason if he is found to be Harland. It is believed Harland is responsible for the deaths of four thousand civilians of a town in occupied Poland when a biological weapon in the form of an untreatable disease was released into the community’s water supply during the Second World War.

As Harland is assumed guilty for both attempted murder, and treason, Antony would have his work cut out for him if he was defending Godson against those charges. But he isn’t. All that Antony is trying to prove is that Godson is not Harland, and this is all simply a case of mistaken identity. That isn’t to say Antony has any very convincing evidence to prove Godson is who he says he is. In fact, Antony’s lack of evidence becomes a bit of theme in this one. So why did Antony accept the brief in the first place? Simply because he believes Godson is telling the truth, when no one else does. The thing is… as the case progresses, Antony begins to wonder if his client is lying to him.

The shafts of dusty sunlight that slanted into the room tantalised with the thought of a different world outside: of a mellow October day gilding St. Paul's dome and the buildings on the north side of Ludgate Hill; striking—more pertinently—an answering gleam from Justice's scales above the Old Bailey. (1)*

This one starts on a Tuesday in October 1962, the first day of the trial. The trial lasts for eight days with a two-day weekend recess on Saturday and Sunday, ending on the day after the verdict. Most of the action takes place in the courtroom, but if that sounds a bit dry to you, I assure you, it isn’t. The case progresses quickly, and you will not find long monologues full of legalese in this book. And if you are not familiar with the British legal system, Sara Woods does a very good job of explaining the progress of the case, without making it appear she is doing so. 

Stringer pushed a note in front of him, “pity we're not defending Harland . . . there's a point there.” He hadn't heard the point, but it roused him to temporary interest in the course of the examination. (71)

There was a certain tedium about a case whose conduct was so circumscribed; there would have been more amusement in really defending the prisoner than in this Harland-Godson quibble. (71)

Antony is clearly bored with the case as it stands and would prefer to have a bit more of a challenge. At the outset, Godson’s witness testimony is the basis of the case for the defence. The jury will either believe Godson’s account of what he was doing in 1942 and the years during the war, or they won’t. He lets his mind wander while the prosecutor is questioning his witnesses and he has the habit of sketching on bits of paper, such as on the back of the note his junior barrister, Derek Stringer, pushed across to him. 

But things do heat up and soon Antony has his work cut out for him.

“It’s going to be a busy week-end, Jenny, I’m afraid. You’ll sit in on our discussions, won’t you, Uncle Nick? I hope you will.”

“Nothing,” said Sir Nicholas, with a sudden reversal of mood, “would keep me away.” But he added, with a sting in his tone that made his nephew grimace at his empty plate: “It will be interesting to watch you dealing with an impossible situation. Interesting and—I am sure, my dear boy!—instructive.” (122-23)

I really enjoyed seeing Antony in the role of junior barrister to his uncle, in the first four books, but it is such a joy to see Antony running the case. You know you have grown attached to characters when you hear they have gotten a promotion and you think, ‘Good for you, Antony! You’ve really earned it.’ Still, it’s lovely that we still get these moments between Antony and Sir Nicholas where they talk shop, butt heads, and bounce ideas off of each other. (All phrases that Sir Nicholas would have some choice words for, I’m sure! Haha!)

But the cosy domestic scenes with Jenny are some of my favourites.

Antony got up, and moved a little stiffly across the room. As always when he was weary, the dull ache in his shoulder added its own burden. He was so used to it by this time that he no longer troubled to tell himself that he was lucky to have come so easily out of the war; in fact, he barely noticed the pain at all until he saw the quick flare of anxiety in Jenny's eyes, and read there the question she would never put into words. He seated himself beside her, and stretched his legs across the hearthrug, and reached out, as though absent-mindedly, for her hand. (149)

There is so much of the plot I had to leave out of this review, because I didn’t want to spoil anything. But I will say that this one keeps you guessing. Is Godson telling the truth? Will Antony be able to pull it off and win the case? Well, you’ll have to read it to find out. 

And I’m telling you, you want to read this one! I mean, read the first four books because they are wonderful. And because I think this is a series that should be read in chronological order so that you can have the context to be able to fully appreciate the characters. Did I mention that all of these books are wonderful?! I cannot wait to reread them. 

I’ve fallen a little bit in love with Antony. He is a good man with ideals that he upholds, no matter the cost. This is probably his fatal flaw, along with his temper, which—by the way—he only seems to loose in circumstances that warrant it. Jenny is a dear woman with a sense of humour and a love of matchmaking. She makes being dependable look like the most precious of traits to have in a partner. And Sir Nicholas is the prickly bachelor who is going to tell you what is what, for your own good. He is awesome. There are also many fully fleshed secondary characters in these books that I haven’t talked about. My lack of attention to them was only for brevity’s sake, I assure you. 

There are so many more things I want to say about these books! I want to convince you that you need this series in your life. That you’re going to love it. That it will be your new favourite. (Because we need a new favourite series now that Elly Griffiths has published the last Dr. Ruth Galloway book!) My only regret is that I didn’t know about the Antony Maitland series sooner. I had not heard of Sara Woods before I found out that Dean Street Press Ltd. was republishing her books. I am so incredibly grateful to them for introducing me to Antony, Jenny, Sir Nicholas, and the wonderful world Sara Woods created in these books.

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

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