In my review here of Malice Domestic, the second Antony Maitland mystery, I asked

 I was very pleased that Trusted Like the Fox provided an emphatic affirmative answer. This excellent story was set almost entirely in the courtroom, and it was a great read for that reason.  It was also another testament to Ms Woods' skill as a writer, in that she got me invested in a courtroom drama with an utterly unlikeable protagonist.

The accused in the case Antony defended in this story started off as unsympathetic, and went way downhill from there. As the story progressed I lost any shred of sympathy for him, and by the very end actively disliked him. He was on trial for his life and by the time the story finished I'd have been happy to kill him for the crime of being a selfish, thoughtless, spineless prat.  Which is exactly what made the book such a triumph.

As the story progressed, the defendant would do or say something that triggered a rage reflex and I'd think "surely it can't get worse", and then it did - several times.  One stunning revelation toward the end of the trial especially had me channelling my inner Red Queen and shouting "Off with his head!" All of which served the purpose of making it very clear that the hero of the story was Antony and not his (anti)pathetic defendant.  A sign of how well Ms Woods made the accused unlikeable is that grumpy old grouch Uncle Nicholas came across as the voice of sweet reason throughout this story. 


For FINALLY placing her barrister sleuth in  silks and in court, and for making me root for Antony even while being repulsed by his defendant (NOT client, I have to remind myself) , I'm giving this one 4.75/5.  Had the accused NOT been someone who Groundskeeper Willy would have said needed killin' , I might have given it 5/5