Author interview: Sally Smith to discuss her new book at Waterstones in Morpeth
After a long and successful career working first as a barrister then a QC, in the hallowed grounds of The Inner Temple at the heart of London’s legal establishment, Sally Smith turned her hand to crime fiction. Her debut novel, A Case of Mice and Murder, featuring barrister turned amateur detective Gabriel Ward and also set in the Inner Temple, was published to great acclaim and has won her a legion of fans. Her latest novel is called A Case of Life and Limb and she will be coming to Waterstones in Morpeth on Thursday, May 21 to talk about her work. Ahead of Sally’s visit, Caroline Dominey talked to her about her book and her experience of being a QC.
You’ve had a long and illustrious career as a barrister and a QC. What led you to turn your hand to writing crime fiction?
In a word, lockdown. Having some enforced time off made me look around for something I could just sit and do with no need for the outside world at all and I discovered I really loved telling stories.
The Inner Temple, both its institution and its buildings, has a long, rich and fascinating history. When you were researching your novels, did anything that you learned about it particularly stand out for you?
I think the rhythms and rituals and traditions, carried on over hundreds of years by the Knights Templar who first lived there and then, since the 1300s, by the legal community, have given it a very special atmosphere.
Your much-loved series featuring Gabriel Ward, a shy and retiring barrister turned reluctant detective, has captured the heart of many readers. What do you think it is about Gabriel that makes him such a popular and lovable character?
Well, I think principally his kindness.
Your latest novel involves a grisly situation where members of The Inner Temple are being sent parcels containing body parts and Gabriel is set with the task of investigating why this is happening. Tell us a little about why this is deemed a matter for the Inner Temple to solve rather than the police.
The Temple (Inner and Middle) holds a very special status as one of the ancient so-called Liberties. The area is free from all civil and ecclesiastical jurisdictions and is self-governing. Amazingly, to this day the City of London Police can only police it with the consent of the Temple and in conjunction with its own porters. So it really lends itself to a story about an amateur detective taking charge!
Your books, set around 1901-1902, paint a vivid picture of a bustling Edwardian legal institution with rigid social rules and hierarchies. Could you tell us a little more about what life would have been like in The Inner Temple at that time?
They would not have had me there for a start! There were no women barristers at that time and it was predominantly a profession of men educated at public school and Oxbridge. Many of them had grown up together and it was a very cloistered, far too privileged little world.
How would this compare with The Inner Temple as you experience it today?
Nowadays the profession is far larger, far more diverse and, I suspect, a lot more fun.
Did you find there were any particular challenges to writing period crime fiction?
Yes, I think it is very hard to write about what after all is a very big subject – murder and its detection from the point of view of a previous generation. You have to use some conjecture, although steeping yourself in the literature of the time, as I did, does help.
Gabriel is extremely well-read and has a wealth of literature in his house which he turns to for inspiration. Which writers do you most admire?
Like Gabriel, I read pretty much anything and everything that comes to hand; though I am certainly not as well read as he is – too many books and too little time!
Have you plans for Gabriel’s next adventure?
Gabriel is the one who has the plans. Very reluctantly, since he would far rather be getting on with his legal work, he finds himself called in to solve another mystery in the Inner Temple.
Sally Smith will be coming to Waterstones in Morpeth on Thursday, May 21 at 6pm to talk about her books. Tickets are £5 and can be purchased online at Waterstones.com or in the store. Please contact a bookseller on 01670 510491 for further details.