Dispensing justice…
😀 😀 😀 😀 😀
Mr Justice Barber is a High Court judge, currently acting as His Majesty’s Judge of Assize in the Southern Circuit of England. He is rather a pompous man, full of pride in his own lofty position, and though he is a good judge on the whole he can be rather harsh on occasions, both in his sentencing and towards the various barristers who appear before him in defence of their clients. So when he receives a threatening anonymous letter he doesn’t think much of it, since threats tend to come with the position and as the King’s representative he is surrounded by police and officials to protect his dignity and, if necessary, his life. However, when he then receives a box of chocolates which turn out to have been poisoned, he begins to take the matter more seriously, as does his wife, Hilda, who sets out to ensure his safety, roping in young Derek Marshall, the coincidentally named Judge’s Marshal who accompanies the Judge on his travels.
This one has rather an odd structure in that it’s mostly about a crime that hasn’t yet been committed, and there’s no certainty that it will be, or that it’s even being seriously contemplated. The various threats against the Judge gradually escalate into odd happenings that may be accidental or may be deliberate, and this creates an air of suspicion and growing tension as the Judge and his entourage move from town to town dispensing justice. Although it’s written in the third person, we see it for the most part from Derek Marshall’s perspective. He’s a young man who has been turned down for service in the army on health grounds, and feels as if he ought to be doing something more useful to help the ongoing war effort. He’s new to the Assizes, and so is the perfect vehicle for Hare to use to describe this rather archaic (and now defunct) system of travelling justice. In his The Story of Classic Crime in 100 Books, Martin Edwards informs us that Cyril Hare was drawing on his personal experience – “Fifteen years spent practising at the Bar, and a spell as a judge’s marshal, meant that he was ideally suited to describing life on a judicial circuit.”
Challenge details:
Book: 66
Subject Heading: The Justice Game
Publication Year: 1942
Despite the mass of detail about the pomp and ceremony surrounding the Assizes and some detours into points of law, this never gives the feeling of a dry information dump. Hare makes the Judge’s life and position a central part of the plot, so that all the detail feels necessary, never redundant. The plot develops quite slowly, but it never feels draggy because the writing and characterisation are so well done, and there’s some gentle humour which stops it from becoming too dark. Hare shows us that justice is not blind – that it tends to come down harder on “the common man” than on those in high social positions, as we see when the Judge himself crosses the criminal line by accident and everyone immediately conspires to hush the matter up, if possible. It may not be possible, though, and this forms a secondary strand, especially when events begin to suggest that the two matters – the threats and the Judge’s misdemeanour – might somehow be connected.

The book is billed as the first “Francis Pettigrew” mystery. Pettigrew is a barrister whose practice takes him round the courts of the Southern Circuit, so that he often finds himself appearing before Judge Barber. But although he does play a significant role in this one and is a very enjoyable character, he doesn’t feel like the main one – maybe Hare developed him as a central character and amateur detective more fully in later books. In this one, it’s young Derek and the Judge’s wife, Hilda, who are most prominent, and the Judge himself, of course. Hilda is a wonderful character, who reminded me not a little of a less caricatured version of that other famous, later, legal Hilda – She Who Must Be Obeyed, from the Rumpole books. This Hilda also bullies and cajoles her husband and is more ambitious for his success than he is himself. However, she’s an intriguing characterisation – a brilliant, qualified lawyer in her own right who, because of her sex, wasn’t taken seriously either by the men in her profession or by clients who wanted to be defended by a ‘real’ lawyer – i.e., a man. Now she acts as a kind of power behind the throne, often arguing points of law with the Judge, and it’s rumoured that his judgements often have more to do with her opinion than his. Hare shows a good deal of sympathy towards women’s exclusion from full participation in the legal profession in this era.
I’ve tried to say very little about the plot because it develops slowly and not knowing what will happen makes it more enjoyable. I thoroughly enjoyed this one, and looking back at the end I could see that Hare had fairly sprinkled all the information needed for the reader to work it out. Needless to say I didn’t! Yet another vintage mystery writer that I will be adding to my growing “must read more” list! Highly recommended.
I downloaded this one from fadedpage.com – here’s the link.
Your review intrigued me and I have downloaded this book. I like the sound of its pace, well embedded interesting historical information and an engaging mystery.
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Ah, now, this one is very good and I think you’ll enjoy it! I learned a lot about the Assizes but in passing – the information doesn’t get in the way of the storytelling, and the characterisation is very good. Hope it works for you!
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Yay! A five star 😁 Onwards and upwards 😉
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Haha, it’s nice to be able to be nice about a book now and then… 😉
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This certainly grabs me. Off to fadedpage… 🏃♀️😁
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Oh good – I think you’ll enjoy it! Don’t spend too much time browsing fadedpage, though – fatal to the TBR! 😉
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Oh, I was hoping you’d like this one, FictionFan! It sounds like a an interesting look at the law of that time and the role of the judge, and that intrigues me. And the ‘will it or won’t it happen’ question about the murder intrigues me, too! There’s a fine line between providing background information, and ‘information dump,’ and I’m glad Hare doesn’t cross it for you. Glad you enjoyed this!
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I felt I learned a lot about how the Assizes worked without it ever overpowering the story, and the characterisation is very good. All in, this was a really enjoyable read, and a good plot. Unfortunately this means I’ll have to add his other books to my wishlist… 😉
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Ooh, sounds intriguing. Thanks for the recommendation and the review, FF. I’ll be interested in seeing how this series develops.
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I’m intrigued to know if Francis Pettigrew does develop as the main character as the series goes on… oh dear, my poor TBR! 😉
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Wow! So glad this one is a keeper. I love a case involving chocolate. 😄 😁
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Haha, yes, but I do wish they wouldn’t keep poisoning the chocolates – that seems like a particularly evil crime… 😉
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An author for my tbr definitely, not being dry and dull about dry and dull procedures is a real skill and I like the sound of HIlda (and his treatment of her)!
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I thought Hilda was great and I was glad Hare clearly felt that women were treated badly by his profession – refreshing for that era! Sadly I’ll have to add more of his books to my wishlist too – there’s no rest for the wicked… 😉
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This writing sounds excellent, but not a big surprise that justice is often more gentle on those with power…unless, of course, they’ve fallen out of favor.
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Very well written, and I was glad he deliberately pointed out the unfairness in class and justice – quite often books from that era suggest these class privileges are perfectly right.
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I think this sounds really good! Thanks for providing the download link. 😃
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It’s a good one, and I think you’d enjoy it! But be careful when you visit fadedpage – it can be fatal to the TBR… 😉
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I only visited long enough to download this. 😉
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Haha, very wise! 😀
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Oooo, I see I need to continue on with reading Cyril Hare!
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This was my first, and I’ll certainly be adding more to the wishlist! Oh dear, my poor TBR… 😉
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I love the idea of the judge’s wife being the brains and power behind his public role.
Thanks for the link, I’ve saved a copy and hope to read this soon.
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I loved Hilda, and was glad that Hare clearly felt that women were treated badly by his profession – refreshing for that era! Hope you enjoy it if you get to it sometime! 😀
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The premise of this one isn’t immediately appealing but I can’t ignore your rating! I will download it now 🙂
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I hope you enjoy it – I think you’ll really appreciate Hilda’s character! 😀
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The fact that you don’t know if the crime is going to happen or not really appeals to me. In my opinion, this is a fair but enticing way of building suspense – not gimmicky at all, and can be very clever if done well. Sounds like you really enjoyed this one – hurrah!
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He maintained the suspense really well too, so that it never dragged even through all the law stuff. Sadly this means I’ll have to add more of his books to the TBR now… 😀
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This sounds pretty fun! The Marshal/Marshall name thing randomly reminded me that when my brother and I were kids we read some crime story where we thought it was a weird coincidence that the judge’s first name was Justice.
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Hahaha, yes, that would have been very forward looking of his parents! Maybe we should all call our children what we aspire for them to become… 😉
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I always have the opposite reaction when I hear of children really named things like that! I heard of a family who named their son Captain and it immediately makes me think he can never actually become a captain because then he’d be Captain Captain!
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The odd things people call their children these days make me laugh! There was a little fashion over here for a while for football fans calling kids after an entire football team – so eleven Christian names plus substitutes… 😂
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Oh man, that seems like you’d have to be a really intense sports fan! What if one of those players turns out to be a not so great person? Or just a not so great athlete??
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Haha, I know! And imagine trying to fit your name into the tiny box on forms! 😂
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