The Franchise Affair (1948) by Josephine Tey (Elizabeth MacKintosh 1896-1952) is 1 of 3 novels republished by Penguin in 2022 to mark the occasion of 70 years since Tey died.

Set in the village of Milford, Surrey, two upper class women, Marion Sharpe and her mother, are accused and, eventually, charged with kidnapping, imprisoning in their attic for a month, starving and beating 15-year-old, Betty Kane. Local solicitor, Robert Blair, is asked to represent the Sharpe women and quite early decides they couldn’t possibly have committed the crime.

Betty Kane is a war orphan, an adoptee.