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 bestselling children’s book Millie the Temple Church Mouse – 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 – and that behind the Temple’s heavy oak doors are stranger secrets than he could ever imagine.