A Presumption of Death by Jill Paton WalshMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
Its 1940 and Harriet has taken her children to Tallboys, the house where she and Lord Peter Wimsey spent their honeymoon. She is also looking after her nephews and niece while Mary stays in London. The indominable Helen works for one of the officious government bodies and Peter is overseas working on sensitive international assignments.
As always, I love the historical detail, the rules and restrictions, the ways in which the villagers subvert the rules and the sheer joy of childhood secrets. I also love Harriet and Peter at Tallboys, in fact I must go back and re-read the short stories.
But it wouldn't be a Lord Peter Wimsey story without a mystery. In this case, one Saturday night after the village's dance featuring land girls working on the local farms and boys from the local RAF base, the village holds its air raid dry-run but when they emerge from the shelters they find a body lying in the street.
Secret cyphers, black-market goods, clandestine romances, and the ongoing love affair between Peter and Harriet - what more could I ask?
View all my reviews
No comments:
Post a Comment