A CASE OF MICE AND MURDER - Sally Smith
The Trials of Gabriel Ward #1
Raven Books
ISBN: 9781639736928
ISBN10: 1639736921
June 2025
Mystery

London - 1901

Gabriel Ward KC is one of the solicitors or barristers living in the very private, very sanctified environs of the Inner Temple in London. It is London's legal environment, exclusive to her judges, lawyers, and those serving them. Even the police must be invited. Gabriel has lived his entire working life within the walls of the Inner Temple. His eccentric, meticulous lifestyle may seem odd to others living there, but he is also considered one of the most articulate and precise barristers in the Temple. So, it comes as a shock when it is Gabriel who finds the body of the Lord Chief Justice lying across his threshold, clad in his dress clothes, but not wearing his shoes and socks. And, not to mention, one of the knives from the Temple kitchen embedded in his chest. 

To Gabriel's dismay, he is charged with trying to find answers to the murder. Assigned a young police constable, Wright, to assist him, Gabriel reluctantly sets out to gather what clues he can, and to interview the very people he works with in the Temple who attended the private dinner with the Chief Justice. This is also as Gabriel prepares for a court case to defend a book publisher responsible for publishing a children's tale set in the Temple Church within the Inner Temple. The author has always been a mystery, and now someone claiming to have written the book has come forward and wants what the book has reaped for the publishing company. 

Meticulous, Gabriel, with Wright's help, questions each individual who was within the Inner Temple that fateful night. But is he on the right track? There were plenty of people who had a reason to dislike the Lord Chief Justice, however, were any of them really wanting him dead? The security of the Inner Temple makes it difficult to think that someone outside the walls could have done the deed. There are plenty of possibilities, it seems, but none that are very obvious. 

A CASE OF MICE AND MURDER is book one in the new Trials of Gabriel Ward series. Gabriel has his idiosyncrasies, but he is the perfect non-detective for this job. Readers will be surprised, as this reviewer was, by the outcome. Don't miss this terrific tale.

Jani Brooks