It has been a long while since I've been able to sit down and enjoy a book, I must admit I've missed the ritual of it all. What with the adventuring, plus the adventure/history blog, the cinema visits, then the reviews, plus gym, work, and meal prepping, I've scaresly found time to enjoy a good book like I used to. However, I've found the odd moment here or there to poke in a few chapters and this was the book at the top of the TBR pile in the corner of my home library.
It was pure chance this book was selected, I hadn't any notion of what I wanted to read, I just wanted a book. However, it seems that a good 65% of my selections have wavered into the cosy crime genre and so it was unsurprising that this was a murder mystery.
A Case of Mice and Murder follows a lawyer as he is unexpectedly thrown into investigating the death of the Lord Chief Justice so that the inner sanctum of the Temple can stay guarded from the police and public. With help from Constable Wright, a young ambitious policeman who comes to respect Sir Gabriel Ward KC's way of thinking, Gabriel solves the murder as well as the origin of the mouse. The mouse comes into the story as she is the star of a story, Millie the Temple Church Mouse, whom has been unclaimed by an author until one steps forward to sue the publisher. Gabriel must juggle his client and solving this minor mystery while also solving the major one he literally found on his doorstep.
Now I wont give spoilers, not for a good book. What I will say is that you really have to stick with it. We follow many a different character and their perspective within this short book, and during some of it, it does seem too much like there is too many people and too much going on. However, it all ties up neatly in the end so it does end up relevant, you just have to remember a lot of character names.
When I first started reading I was already growing tired of the court jargon as I have no knowledge or interest of the Temple, the people who have taken the bar, nor the inner workings of courts and everything associated with them. I have only ever been in one court of law and that is because it was turned into a lovely little pub, aptly called The Courthouse in Cheltenham and the upstairs room is still set up like the court it once was. A few gins and a little photo op in the defendant box was as close as (hopefully) I'll ever need to be.
Despite this, I continued. The technical words and things I did not understand soon subsided and I became used to it and actually interested in the world in which I know nothing of. Sally Smith has a way of romanticising the Temple and her old employ as this was the world she was established in before she turned her hand at writing. It is a gentle dumping of information for those who dont know much about lawyers and the like and I found myself learning about law practises in 1901 as well as being engrossed in the story. As a history buff this became irresistible to me and I devoured the book within 2 days.
While engrossed in the story I found myself hoping that Gabriel and Miss Dunning would end up together. Their intellect was perfect for each other, however sadly this could never be. I did so like her too, much as I grew fond for Wright and Gabriel's friendship. I liked the fact that Gabriel grew so subtly throughout the story, but his arc was paramount. From a sheepish man with OCD who hides within his rooms and head, to a strong individual who exercises his strong belief in justice and wont stop until he gets it. We notice the shift, but it is done so quietly that it doesn't overpower the great many other things going on. There is a lot. Lots of twists and turns in this book, but all make sense and are all answered.
I think I would have enjoyed this book the most in a cosy armchair, with a hot chocolate, dim lights, and the rain pattering against my window. I had one thing out of that list down, the rain was pouring when I snuck in chapters between customers at my reception desk. I would however read this again and am eagerly awaiting the paperback for Smith's second novel A Case of Life and Limb. The first chapter was included in my edition of her first novel and I am already hooked and chomping at the bit, but I need a paperback so that it matches the first book or else my bookshelf will look wrong and that will upset me...
I do so love a paperback. Compact, able to travel better, able to show love more with their battered pages. While I own a great many hardbacks the dust covers annoy me when I'm trying to read so unless it is a very special edition I try to steer clear. But that is irrelevant to this review so I shall move on.
Overall, I'm giving A Case of Mice and Murder by Sally Smith a 7/10. I know this seems to be my favourite number to give out at the minute, but I think it's a fair middle ground for those things I enjoyed but didn't quite make me go 'wow'. This book was so very nearly an 8, but I did think that perhaps there was one too many characters and being hit from the get go with courthouse knowledge that I had to learn more about in order to get enjoyment took a bit from me.
I would wholeheartedly recommend this book though, the theme is light, there is plenty of history and I feel enlightened on the post Victorian era (only just, Victoria had just died when this book was set). The story was intelligent but also comforting and I really did come to like our main man Sir Gabriel. I think he is worth knowing, and this book would appeal to those specifically with an interest in history, law, and cosy crime.
Please leave a comment on my socials with your thoughts and future recommendations!
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