Sheep's Clothing

It was a livelihood which comprised skill, nerve, an understanding and manipulation of human nature, and risk. The risk made Grace Bradby's cold blood run warmer and faster. Grace meets Janice in Holloway Prison. Once both women are released, Janice quickly becomes accomplice to a scheme of Grace's devising: posing as representatives of the Social Services Agency, the duo begin visiting elderly people, falsely promising them increased pensions. The scheme proves watertight, and the women frequent betting shops, libraries, bingo halls, supermarkets, the post office (on pension days) and park benches (in fine weather), marking out their next target. What ensues is a sinister tale of greed and misplaced trust, further complicated by a romantic entanglement gone awry.

Celia Dale's (1912-2011) first novel, The Least of These, was published in 1943, and she went on to write twelve others, among them A Helping Hand.