A CASE OF MICE AND MURDER

Sir Gabriel Ward’s daily movements are so predictable that his fellow King’s Counsels can set their watches by them. So it’s quite a shock when he emerges from his lodgings to find the body of Lord Norman Dunning, the Lord Chief Justice of England, on his doorstep. Constable Maurice Wright, who responds to a call for help, is able and alert, but his supervising officer, Sgt. Rayner, is so cavalier about fingerprints and other forensic traces that Wright fears the fatal stabbing will never be solved. So he’s both gratified and relieved when Sir William Waring, Master Treasurer and head of the Inner Temple, appoints Gabriel to conduct his own investigation. Gabriel has no experience with matters of this sort and would very much prefer to be left alone to defend publisher Herbert Moore against charges brought by Susan Hatchings that he stole the pseudonymous manuscript for Millie the Temple Church Mouse that she accidentally left in his office one day, published it without her permission, and made a fortune. But Waring insists, Gabriel reluctantly agrees, and Wright improbably attaches himself as the novice sleuth’s sidekick and even more improbably comes to appreciate Gabriel’s talent for the job as the two bond ever more closely. Smith’s first novel provides abundant red herrings, courtroom maneuvers, legal aphorisms (“Nothing is unarguable to a good lawyer”), and an appealing atmosphere of stuffy proprieties upended by murder most foul before knitting the two cases together with professional dexterity.

Jun 17, 2025 - 05:52

Sir Gabriel Ward’s daily movements are so predictable that his fellow King’s Counsels can set their watches by them. So it’s quite a shock when he emerges from his lodgings to find the body of Lord Norman Dunning, the Lord Chief Justice of England, on his doorstep. Constable Maurice Wright, who responds to a call for help, is able and alert, but his supervising officer, Sgt. Rayner, is so cavalier about fingerprints and other forensic traces that Wright fears the fatal stabbing will never be solved. So he’s both gratified and relieved when Sir William Waring, Master Treasurer and head of the Inner Temple, appoints Gabriel to conduct his own investigation. Gabriel has no experience with matters of this sort and would very much prefer to be left alone to defend publisher Herbert Moore against charges brought by Susan Hatchings that he stole the pseudonymous manuscript for Millie the Temple Church Mouse that she accidentally left in his office one day, published it without her permission, and made a fortune. But Waring insists, Gabriel reluctantly agrees, and Wright improbably attaches himself as the novice sleuth’s sidekick and even more improbably comes to appreciate Gabriel’s talent for the job as the two bond ever more closely. Smith’s first novel provides abundant red herrings, courtroom maneuvers, legal aphorisms (“Nothing is unarguable to a good lawyer”), and an appealing atmosphere of stuffy proprieties upended by murder most foul before knitting the two cases together with professional dexterity.