Good catch, Mitford13. The Protagonists was published by Macmillan in 1955 and Harper in 1956. Here's the Kirkus Review:
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The rather commonplace circumstances of a cheap education and the murder to which it leads have a tripartite presentation here as Olwen Hughes, the victim, Roy Harrison, her lover, and police officer, MacIndoe, reveal what has happened. A fourth commentator is perhaps the author who over and above the rather ordinary aspects of the crime is more concerned with the fundamental struggle between good and evil-and who- as in One Half of the World- amplifies it and elevates it with a stern moral and spiritual judgment. Olwen Hughes, a Welsh girl, lovely to look at and gentle of heart, is easily gulled by Harrison, a nasty type, sexually attractive and predatory, who finds his highest satisfaction in misleading girls- such as Olwen- of ""inhibitions and credulities"". When he learns that she is pregnant- he strangles her- and MacIndoe, aroused beyond the professional performance of his duty, finally identifies and brings the killer to book..... An anatomy of a crime, and if the implications are of a higher nature, the handling is fleshily realistic.
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