Frances Fyfield — A Clear Conscience

London, Bantam Press, 1994. First edition. Cloth. A smart first edition of Frances Fyfield's fifth crime novel in her Helen West series. Neatly signed by the author to the title page. Featuring the original illustrated dustwrapper, by Jonathan Ring. Gary J. McCallum noted in the Armchair Detective (1995, 3:28), "The defining feature of Fyfield's novels is their astonishing generosity of spirit, which may seem somewhat incongruous given her subject matter: insanity, incest, violence (often murder), emptiness, suicide -- all at the darkest extreme of human experience. Yet each of her characters is accorded a distinctive voice, that humanises even the most unregenerate of them." In original publishers' cloth binding with original unclipped dustwrapper. Externally, smart. Very minor shelfwear to the boards. Author's signature to the title page. Dustwrapper is bright and sound, with only some light marks to the rear wrap. Internally, firmly bound. Pages are bright and clean throughout. Fine . Ill.: None. Fine/Very Good Indeed.