Q&A: Sally Smith, Author of ‘A Case of Life and Limb’

We chat with author Sally Smith about A Case of Life and Limb, which is the delightful second mystery in the Trials of Gabriel Ward series and follows perceptive sleuth Sir Gabriel Ward KC as he unwraps the happenings of yet another grisly murder in the Inner Temple in historic London, 1901.

Hi, Sally! Can you tell our readers a bit about yourself?

Hello and thank you for all these interesting questions.

I am a barrister and KC, now retired and writing full time. I live in London with my husband a doctor; a useful profession to marry into if you plan to write detective stories abounding in dead bodies!

I wrote a biography of a famous Edwardian lawyer some years ago and when COVID hit and I was stuck at home, decided to try to write a novel, using all the research I had already done on the Edwardian period. I have set my novel in the very early years of the 1900s, just after the death of Queen Victoria. I found fiction after the careful accuracy of biography very liberating and have continued down that path; two detective novels now out, two in the same series in the pipeline.

When did you first discover your love for writing and stories?

I have loved stories, true or fictional all my life; I just like the satisfaction of beginnings and middles and ends. Writing them is a short step from reading them. Many years as a lawyer drafting legal documents helps you learn clarity and concision and accuracy, and I hope all those characteristics reflect in the way I write stories. And I find them really fun to write so hopefully that reflects too.

Quick lightning round! Tell us:

• The first book you ever remember reading: The Little Grey Rabbit books by Alison Uttley
• The one that made you want to become an author: See above!
• The one that you can’t stop thinking about: Donna Tartt ‘The Secret History’.

A Case of Life and Limb is the second instalment in your The Trials of Gabriel Ward series and it’s out now! If you could only describe it in five words, what would they be?

Mysterious murder and sensational trial.

For those who haven’t picked up the first book, A Case of Mice and Murder, what can readers expect?

Both my novels are set in the Inner Temple, an historic 15-acre site in London occupied by lawyers since the 1300s. My detective is a brilliant reclusive barrister who both lives and works there and who becomes a reluctant sleuth in this closed little community which is hedged around by arcane rules and traditions.

A body is found, with a knife through its chest in full evening dress with bare feet. Gabriel is instructed to investigate. Who is the murderer?

Meanwhile, he is conducting a mysterious copyright case involving a children’s book published anonymously; a woman has come forward claiming to be the author. But is she?

Gabriels grapples with these two cases, seemingly unrelated. But are they?

And for readers who have, what’s to come in A Case of Life and Limb?

Gabriel is back again, still reluctant to leave the closed little world of the Temple, still wanting only to be left alone with his work.

But then body parts start arriving in parcels, sent to senior members of the Temple accompanied by witty little messages (‘Can I give you a hand?’) In the end one of these parcels has fatal consequences. Who could be doing such a thing and why? And where is the body? Gabriel is drawn into a hunt for the sender of the parcels and for the body.

Meanwhile he is fully engaged in a sensational case. London’s favourite music hall star is suing its most famous tabloid newspaper for defamation.

Again two mysteries, a lot of twists, some very surprising events and some even more surprising conclusions!

Were there any moments or characters you really enjoyed writing or exploring further?

Gabriel Ward KC and his sidekick a young policeman in the City of London Police. They navigate what becomes a friendship across the unimaginably deep chasm of class and education that divides them in the structured world of Edwardian London.

Did you face any challenges whilst writing? How did you overcome them?

All the seemingly constant demands of domestic life! I find it very hard to get back to the Temple in 1901 when I have just dived in and then the sink blocks/ the postman calls/we have run out of coffee. Have not yet overcome them; maybe finding a cave to retreat to?

What’s next for you?

The third Gabriel Ward novel, as yet unnamed but nearing completion; and then a fourth which my publishers Bloomsbury have kindly asked me to do.

Lastly, what books have you enjoyed reading this year? Are there any you’re looking forward to picking up in 2026?

I have just finished ‘Miss Winter in the Library with a knife’ by Martin Edwards which I loved. Part spoof, part homage to the era of golden crime in the ‘30s. Built in puzzles and codes to solve. Highly recommended.

No plans for 2026; I just read serendipitously, though I am featuring on non-fiction and fiction written around the 1890s-1910s. There is nothing like contemporaneous reading to steep you in the period you are yourself writing about!

Will you be picking up A Case of Life and Limb? Tell us in the comments below!