This one concerns the murder of Venetia Aldridge QC in her Middle Temple chambers. Plenty of suspects, for Venetia was not exactly well-liked. Unscrupulous in her ambition to get on, she has been ostracised by most of her colleagues. Also, her daughter, Octavia, hates her, and, to cause her pain and embarrassment, has taken up with one Garry Ashe, a nefarious character whom Venetia has lately defended and who was acquitted of the murder of his aunt. Commander Dalgliesh, Ms James's series detective, only appears halfway through the story, but as always eases his even-tempered way through to a more or less satisfactory conclusion. Slow, discursive and apt to digress into all kinds of byways, A Certain Justice is up to its author's usual standards.
Vincent Banville