J. G. Links
For once I am in no doubt as to the 'best' book of the year — for me. It is Easing the Passing by Patrick Devlin. I have always been a murder-trial addict and the second half of my reading life has been impover- ished by the demise of the Notable British Trials series in 1959. Yet never did I hope to find a trial reported by the judge who conducted it, let alone a man of intelli- gence, warmth and sophistication, qualities not always associated with High Court judges. Murder trials don't come as they used to when I was young, but that of Dr John Bodkin Adams was a sizzler by any standards. To have the judge's own thoughts, not only on the case, but on those conducting it, one of them the Attorney General, is a treat that will make all other trial reports seem tame. The book remains in the memory even in a year when Iris Murdoch shows herself at the top of her form in The Good Apprentice.
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