Death at Friar's Inn by Rob Keeley

Nat Webber and Tom Barton were in the finals of the Moots to take place at The Honourable Society of Friar’s Inn. For aspiring barristers, moots test the participants’ knowledge of several areas of law as well as their advocacy skills: it’s a great way of getting invaluable practice and of getting yourself noticed. Tom and Nat are from ‘a provincial university’ and they’re ‘’almost’’ looked down on because of this. The other contestants - Becca Decker-Hamilton and Lucia ‘Mouse’ Dawes have no such disadvantage and Becca has an abundance of confidence. Tom’s £30 supermarket suit doesn’t make him feel any better.

Nat and Tom were late getting to Friar’s Inn Walk and they didn’t have gowns and wigs. It was all downhill and it didn’t come as a surprise to anyone when they lost. Then there was the dinner and the presentation of the trophy - but a body fell from the minstrel’s gallery. Lewes, the porter, had been murdered. He had been going to reveal some secrets after the dinner but it seems that someone has stepped in to stop him before he had the opportunity.

Rob Keeley trained as a barrister in another life so the story is based on very solid foundations. You’re going to feel that you’re there in the Inns of Court. I loved the description of a Lord Chief Justice:

‘’Langbourne’s voice sounded as if it had been maturing in a very good wine cellar for several decades.’’

You know the man, don't you? Without any description, you have a picture in your mind. Then there’s Giles Hyde-Ridley who has done much to advance the careers of many young women in his chambers. Not that this was anything other than altruism, obviously. He took an interest in Becca Decker-Hamilton. So did Tom Barton and I couldn’t help but worry that she could eat him for breakfast. Tom’s the sort of man whom I often thought of as ‘’poor Tom’’: he’s a splendid creation of Keeley’s. I worried that he was getting into dangerous situations and he’s stayed with me long after I turned the final page.

The location is perfectly evoked: it felt very real but it’s the plot you’d like to know about, isn't it? Well, I had someone pencilled in as the murdered and I was about to complain that the case had been made far too easy for me. Then everything changed and made perfect sense. All the clues were there.

It’s a short read: I finished ‘’Death at Friar’s Inn’’ in one sitting. It would be perfect for a train journey or an indulgent evening at home and I’d like to thank the publishers for sending a copy to the Bookbag.

As I read, I was pleasantly put in mind of Death at the President's Lodging by Michael Innes.