The Black Mirror

by Winifred Duke, Johnny Mains (Introduction)

In the 1930s, when a string of pearls is stolen from a wealthy guest at the Wheatsheaf hotel in Derriford, suspicion quickly falls on Ann Bacon, an 18-year-old maid. Though she protests her innocence, she is arrested and hauled up in front of the county court. In 1752, a rich traveller stays at the Cock Inn just outside the town, where she, too, is relieved of her pearls. Everyone is convinced of the guilt of Patience Passey, an 18-year-old serving girl at the inn, and she too is arrested and tried at the local assizes.

Linking the two eras is a marshal of the court who starts to realise he may be the only person able to witness both cases first-hand.

285 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1948

About the author

British author of fiction and Scottish history.

Reviews

[Charlotte Huxtable · Rating 5 out of 5]

Outstanding book, one of my all time favourites from the series. The exploration of injustice through the ages kept me gripped from beginning to end.