Sally Smith

1901. Gabriel Ward KC is hard at work on a thorny libel case involving London's most famous music hall star and its most notorious tabloid newspaper, but the Inner Temple remains as quiet and calm as ever. Quiet, that is, until the mummified hand arrives in the post...

While the hand's recipient, Temple Treasurer Sir William Waring, is rightfully shaken, Gabriel is filled with curiosity. Who would want to send such a thing? And why? But as more parcels arrive - one with fatal consequences - Gabriel realises that it is not Sir William who is the target, but the Temple itself.

Someone is holding a grudge that has led to at least one death. It is up to Gabriel, and Constable Wright of the City of London Police, to find out who before the body count gets any higher. The game's afoot…

Book 2 in the Trials of Gabriel Ward series.

When barrister Gabriel Ward steps out of his rooms one sunny May morning in 1901, his mind is so full of his latest case - the disputed authorship of a bestselling children's book  - that he scarcely registers the body of the Lord Chief Justice of England on his doorstep.

But even he cannot fail to notice the judge's dusty bare feet, in shocking contrast to his flawless evening dress, nor the silver carving knife sticking out of his chest. In the shaded courtyards and ancient buildings of the Inner Temple, the hidden heart of London's legal world, murder has spent centuries confined firmly to the casebooks. Until now.

As the police have no authority in the Temple, who better to investigate than a man who has dedicated his life to the law? But Gabriel soon discovers that murder is much messier outside the courtroom.

Book 1 in the Trials of Gabriel Ward series.