Tragedy at Law

By: Cyril Hare

Narrated by: Chris MacDonnell

Tragedy at Law follows a rather self-important High Court judge, Mr. Justice Barber, as he moves from town to town presiding over cases in the Southern England circuit. When an anonymous letter arrives for Barber, warning of imminent revenge, he dismisses it as the work of a harmless lunatic. But then a second letter appears, followed by a poisoned box of the judge's favorite chocolates, and he begins to fear for his life. Enter barrister and amateur detective Francis Pettigrew, a man who was once in love with Barber's wife and has never quite succeeded in his profession. Can he find out who is threatening Barber before it is too late?

©1942 Cyril Hare (Alfred Alexander Gordon Clark) (P)2019 Tantor

Definitely not Rumpole!

This is a mildly interesting relic from the 1940’s. The many statutory details are somewhat tedious, and the composition long and arduous. Worst of all is the narration. I guess this person was trying to sound authentic by delivering the story as if it were a colorless law tome. They (singular) succeeded.

A little boring until denouement

The ironic absurdity of many of the people and the “goings-ons”).
I prefer that style of humor and acquired a great deal of satisfaction from these absurdities as they occurred. I forgot this was a murder mystery though, and was a little tired of it seeming to be ending, with no real ending, per se. But then the brilliance of the police came forward, with some humorous referencing of “if this occurs then it means this” with very little clarity (at least to me). So, the explication was of use to me, and perhaps added some humor, including the last line. (There, have I used enough obfuscatory vocabulary to add some humor, or not?). I said I enjoyed irony and satire, I did not say that I possessed any skill at it.

Starts out slow but worth sticking with.

I’ve never met a motive quite like that one. It was quite twisted and would take an old English lawyer to figure out.

A neat point of law and an interesting setting

I enjoy reading books set between the world wars. They show a life that’s become ever more foreign and thus fascinating. This one is full of the details of English circuit courts in the first years of WWII. Terrible lodgings, peculiar customs, wigs, a mix of personalities jammed together, and a judge who collects enemies results in an interesting mystery. The perpetrator was a real surprise. Unfortunately the narrator drones and makes the book feel tedious instead of leisurely and dryly funny. It helps to speed up the audio.

What fun!

I recently listened to Sally Smith’s A Case of Mice and Murder (2024). A online interview of Sally Smith mentioned a forerunner in the same genre, Cyril Hare’s Tragedy at Law. Both books have historical settings, both authors were barristers, the protagonist of each was a woman trained or knowledgeable in law but due to prejudice unable to practice law, and both books have a murder (I will say no more of the similarities due to fear of giving away the mystery). It took me a little while to get into A Tragedy but I listened to it twice and found it almost as charming as the 2024 contribution.