Just a few months after Ward solved the Case of Mice and Murder, he is called on once again to investigate mysterious happenings at Inner Temple. As December snows soften the clatter of cobblestones and edges of brickworks, select members of the bar are the unlucky recipients of horrendous gifts.
Vernon uses the parapsychological topics–haunted houses, séances, poltergeists, ghost labs–to explore their place in the realm of spirit studies and how they contribute to (or degrade) to discourse of ghost hunting.
Many of Christie’s devotees are aware that she worked in a chemist’s shop during WWI. They might not realize she was a quick study and learned a great deal about the chemistry and compounding of different medicines.
Owing to its ancient rules, and the fact that Inner Temple is even older than London itself, police authorities need permission to enter the grounds. Gabriel’s superiors decide he is the man for the job and give him the task of investigating the mysterious death of the Lord Chief Justice.
Natasha Pulley is one of the best and most consistently stunning novelists of our time. Just as The Iliad isn’t (really) about the Trojan war, The Hymn to Dionysus is not about an endangered kingdom. It’s about looking at oneself and finding the divine heroism within.