Frances Fyfield's latest novel A Clear Conscience features London criminal lawyer Helen West and her policeman lover, Geoffrey Bailey. It is a chilling portrayal of domestic violence that encompasses the Bailey-West relationship, the frustrations and dead ends of police investigations, and the murder of a battered wife's brother. But for all the intricacies and twists of the slickly crafted plot, the overriding element of this mystery is the creepiness of its characters: a small-time thief, a husband who tends bar by day and beats his wife by night, and a woman named Cath who cleans houses for a living but is a perfect example of the living dead. With a similar raw quality as the emotionally graphic television series Prime Suspect, Fyfield's psychological thriller terrifies and disturbs well beyond its 220 pages. B+
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