A Case of Mice and Murder (The Trials of Gabriel Ward)
This is a beautifully crafted detective story in the classic format, but with a distinctive touch. As with all good detective novels, the murder takes place in a closed setting with a finite number of suspects, from among whom the reader is invited to pick the culprit. In this case the setting is the Inner Temple, the legal chambers in central London, which is apparently exempt from the jurisdiction of the City of London police. This gives our sleuth, barrister Gabriel Ward, KC, a free hand with the initial investigation. The victim is the Lord Chief Justice himself.
The murder investigation is intertwined with a literary mystery concerning the authorship of a best-selling children’s book, Millie the Temple Church Mouse. Sally Smith is a KC, and she uses her familiarity with the legal profession and the world of publishing to create an authentic background for an elaborate and unlikely story.
The setting is 1901, the London of gas lamps and hansom cabs. The writing is lucid and precise, mostly dialogue between characters with a strict Victorian education. This is Smith’s debut novel, and she has created an interesting and quirky protagonist who seems destined to solve many more mysteries to our great delight.
