The Counsel for the Defense in question is one David Adams, an attorney not doing so well in his field. He is called upon to defend three men who are unquestionably the criminals in a robbery of 15,000 pounds; he knows it and one of the defendants admits it freely. Under the law, he cannot take their case once he has heard it from the defendant that he is, in fact, guilty, but there's a snag. His wife receives a telephone call from someone who says that they have Adams' daughter, and unless he not only takes the case, and gets all three acquitted, she will be horribly violated. So Adams has no choice, and only has an uphill battle ahead of him in a case which should be a slam-dunk.

The book was just okay; it is the first novel written by Ashford so perhaps he hadn't quite hit his stride here. I would recommend it if you've read other books by this author, or if you're really into British crime fiction and are looking for a new author. ( )