Book Review | ‘A Case of Mice and Murder’ by Sally Smith

A Murder Mystery Well Told

In A Case of Mice and Murder, Sally Smith introduces Sir Gabriel Ward KC, a King’s Counsel who lives and works in the Temple, 15 acres of cloistered sanctuary in the heart of London where lawyers and judges have plied their trade since the 14th century. A sealed world with its own rules, customs, protocols, and hierarchy, life in the Temple suits the fastidious and obsessive compulsive Ward, providing the boundaries of his disciplined and predictable existence. Every morning at two minutes to seven, he leaves his comfortable lodgings at King’s Bench Walk, and returns home at nearly six o’clock; he spends every evening reading. His encyclopedic knowledge of the law and legal procedure are universally known. Gabriel lives almost entirely in his mind and finds it unnecessary to venture beyond the confines of the Temple; everything he needs and enjoys lies inside the walls. When one has books and a garden, what more is required?

But Gabriel’s predictable routine is upended on a May morning in 1901 when he arrives at his offices and almost steps on a body lying on the threshold. Finding a corpse in the Temple is unfathomable, and when the corpse is identified as the Lord Chief Justice, it sends shock waves through the Law Courts, shattering the belief that the Temple is a place immune to the calamities that happen in bustling London. Murder simply doesn’t happen here, yet there’s a corpse on Gabriel’s doorstep, barefoot, and the carving knife protruding from it is real. Under coercion from the Master Treasurer, Gabriel reluctantly accepts the task of investigating the murder of the Lord Chief Justice, though he realizes that what he’s really being asked to do is keep outsiders and the Fleet Street newspapers from upsetting the sanctity of the Temple.

Given a single week to accomplish this task, Gabriel begins making inquiries and discovers an undercurrent of ambition, jealousy, and rivalry that gives several people motive. The carving knife is from the Temple’s own kitchen, indicating an inside job. Is it possible that a barrister or an august judge is a murderer? Has a member of the staff run amok? That the Lord Chief Justice was barefoot at the time of his murder is seen as a terrible breach of decorum for a judge and a gentleman. No shoes or socks? Intolerable!

As with all good detective stories, there’s more than one plotline for Gabriel to sort out. A children’s book, Millie the Temple Church Mouse, has acquired an astounding renown and following among children and made a fortune for the publisher. But the identity of the author is unknown and speculation about who she might be is rampant. Naturally, this mystery is connected to the murder, and as Gabriel follows the clues the connection becomes more apparent.

I found A Case of Mice and Murder a delightful read, well-paced, and full of interesting details. There’s something satisfying about a murder mystery well told. No doubt this is one reason why Sherlock Holmes, Hercule Poirot, and Miss Marple remain popular. When the ingredients of setting, plot, suspects, and an astute detective come together in the right proportions, we simply must find out whodunnit. As a sleuth, Sir Gabriel Ward is quirky and enigmatic, and his years in the Temple make quotidian things like public transportation a mystery. Smith allows only fleeting glimpses into Gabriel’s inner life, though perhaps we will learn more about him in future adventures. Hopefully, Sir Gabriel’s career as a detective is just getting started.

This review originally appeared in the California Review of Books.