For this level of digging to the truth and clear explanation of the legal processes, I cannot justifiably give this book anything less than 5 stars.

Sad, unbelievable, maddening, astounding... I could come up with a whole host of adjectives to describe how I feel after reading each scene about the prosecution and trial of this matter, and it still wouldn't be enough to describe the sheer injustice that Clark has recounted in this book.

The lengths that the prosecution went to pin the murder on Barbara is digusting on so many levels:

1. They arranged for an undercover cop to be her cell mate.
2. They bribed a fellow inmate to befriend and flirt with Barbara and gain her trust.
3. They got the above friend to repeatedly push a desperate Barbara into getting a fake alibi from a witness, who turned out to be another cop.
Oh, and:
4. The prosecution's star witness, John True, was most likely the actual murderer.
5. True and another witness had given prior statements to the police which were wholly inconsistent with True's testimony at trial. At law, all statements obtained by prosecution were required to be provided to the defence, but none of these were.

There were so many things wrong with the the courts and journalism back in those days too, and whilst I am glad that the system has improved over the years, the bias for the police and prosecution is a sad truth that still exists, albeit to a lesser degree.

This may be a historical case, but the lessons from it are still applicable and worth reading today.