Looking for a good read? Here is a recommendation. I have an unusual approach to reviewing books. I review books I feel merit a review. Each review is an opportunity to recommend a book. If I do not think a book is worth reading, I find another book to review. You do not have to agree with everything every author has written (I do not), but the fiction I review is entertaining (and often thought-provoking) and the non-fiction contain ideas worth reading.
Book Review
Odd Doings at the Inner Temple
Reviewed by Mark Lardas
June 22, 2025
“A Case of Mice and Murder: The Trials of Gabriel Ward,” by Sally Smith, Raven Books, June 2025, 336 pages, $28.99 (Hardcover), $18.97 (Paperback), $14.99 (E-book), $19.62 (Audiobook)
Sir Gabriel Ward, KC is a barrister. Considered one of Britain’s finest legal minds, he practices law at the Inner Temple, one of London’s Inns of Court. A man of rigid routine, he leads a bachelor existence from rooms there. He wakens at 6:58, leaves his rooms at King’s Bench Walk, and walks to his professional chambers, daily except Sunday.
In “A Case of Mice and Murder: The Trials of Gabriel Ward,” by Sally Smith, on the morning of 20 May 1901, his normal routine is disturbed. He literally stumbles across the body of Norman Dunning, the Lord Chief Justice of England, at his chambers’ doorstep.
Dunning is stone dead across the threshold, with a silver-handled carving knife from the Temple’s kitchen in his chest. He is wearing evening dress, but is barefoot. The police are called. Ward spends the morning them what he saw.
Dunning was a long-time acquaintance of Ward. They went to school and college together. While Dunning’s death distresses Ward, he is more distressed by the time it takes from preparation of his new case, a disputed authorship of a bestselling children’s book “Millie the Temple Church Mouse.” The police, soon done with him, let him return to studying the case that afternoon.
His routine is more thoroughly shattered next day. He appears to be the only one at the Inner Temple with an ironclad alibi near the time of death. The Inner Temple, an enclave within London, is independent of the city and its jurisdiction. The last thing William Waring, head of the Inner Temple wants is London police trampling about the Inner Temple unsupervised. Informing police the Temple will conduct its own investigation, Waring puts Ward in charge.
Ward may use assistance from the Metropolitan Police. Assistance proves to be Constable Maurice Wright, who initially investigated the report. With Ward an unwilling Homes and Wright a Watson eager for the opportunity to work with a KC, the two begin their investigation.
The two make an odd match, one that is remarkably complimentary. Together they find clues either would have missed independently. Ward finds the murder and his current case seem to be tied together. The ties are initially nebulous, but increasingly become stronger.
“A Case of Mice and Murder,” is an amusing and satisfying tale. It perfectly evokes the traditions of the Inner Temple and captures the feel of 1901 London perfectly. A worthwhile read.
Mark Lardas, an engineer, freelance writer, historian, and model-maker, lives in League City. His website is marklardas.com.