Hachette India

Tragedy at Law

Cyril Hare

Is even a judge safe from an unknown executioner?

When an anonymous letter arrives for Mr Justice Barber, the high court judge, warning of imminent revenge, he dismisses it as the work of a harmless lunatic or a prankster. But then a second letter appears, followed by a poisoned box of the judge's favourite chocolates. As the attempts keep adding up, he begins to fear for his life.

In this best-known novel, Hare draws from his legal expertise and introduces Francis Pettigrew, a not very successful barrister who repeatedly solves cases while constantly clashing with his partner Inspector Mallet of Scotland Yard. Full of fascinating legal details, this classic holds to the suspense until the end.

" generally acknowledged to be the best detective story set in that fascinating world." P.D. James

Cyril Hare

Cyril Hare was the pseudonym used by Alfred Alexander Gordon Clark which he devised as a portmanteau of Hare Court, where he worked and Cyril Mansions, Battersea, where he lived after marrying Mary Barbara Lawrence in 1933. As a young man and during the early days of the World War II, Gordon Clark toured as a judge's marshal, an experience he used in Tragedy at Law. Between 1942 and 1945, he worked at the office of the Director of Public Prosecutions. At the beginning of the war, he served a short time at the Ministry of Economic Warfare. In 1950, he was appointed county court judge in Surrey.