A Case of Mice & Murder

 A Case of Mice & Murder (2024) by Sally Smith

From the book flap:

When barrister Gabriel Ward steps out of his rooms at exactly two minutes to seven on a sunny May morning in 1901, his mind is so full of his latest case—the disputed authorship of bestselling children’s book Millie the Temple Church Mouse—that he scarcely registers the body of the Lord Chief Justice of England on his doorstep.

But even he cannot fail to notice the judge’s dusty bare feet, in shocking contrast to his flawless evening dress, nor the silver carving knife sticking out of his chest. In the shaded courtyards and ancient buildings of the Inner Temple, the hidden heart of London’s legal world, murder has spent centuries confined firmly to the casebooks. Until now . . .

The police can enter the Temple only by consent, so who better to investigate this tragic breach of law and order than a man who prizes both above all things? But murder doesn’t answer to logic or reasoned argument, and Gabriel soon discovers that the Temple’s heavy oak doors are hiding more surprising secrets than he’d ever imagined . . .

My take: This is a fun first mystery from a King's Counsel turned novelist. Smith brings the Temple of the early 1900s to life and peoples it with extraordinary characters from our amateur sleuth Gabriel Ward to Constable Wright, the officer assigned to assist him, to young Percival Dunning, the son of the murdered man, Gabriel Ward is a man after Hercule Poirot's heart--making sure his inkwell and gold pencil are positioned "just so" on his desk and looking for method and order and connections where others might miss them. He also brings a warmth and humanity to the legal field that is in sharp contrast to some of his colleagues. 

Many of the barristers and judges who live in the Temple are looking how best to position themselves to climb the judicial ladder, if they get justice for their clients or those who appear before them then that's all well and good too. But that may not be their primary goal. This gives them a mighty good motive for doing away with the Lord Chief Justice, because some of them would love to step into his robes. But it's also possible that he was killed for his shoes...after all, his shoes are missing. And then there's the rumor that there have been some odd goings-on in the Temple Church. Maybe Lord Dunning came upon something that someone would rather not have know and paid the price. Though Ward's brief is only to interview the Temple inhabitants and report to the police (with a mandate from the Treasurer to find evidence that some miscreant from outside the Temple walls awas responsible), he keeps investigating long after the last interview. And he's amazed to find that there may be a connection between his important case and murder.

I thoroughly enjoyed Gabriel Ward's first venture into detection--even though I did spot the suspect about midway through. It was still great fun to watch Ward and Wright work their way toward the solution. I hope that Wright will get the recognition due him and his inspector won't steal all the glory.... ★★★★

First line: It is anybody's guess what went through the mind of Lord Norman Dunning, Lord Chief Justice of England, on the evening of 20 May 1901, in those frantic seconds when he knew that his death was inevitable.

Last line: He always went home at nearly six o'clock.
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Deaths =  3 (one stabbed; one natural; one poisoned)