The Attenbury Emeralds by Jill Paton Walsh

I approached “The Attenbury Emeralds” by Jill Paton Walsh with a great sense of anticipation and eagerness, for I have always shared an affinity with all things “whodunit” and the 1920’s angle further whetted my appetite. I began with a cautious optimism but soon realised I would not be disappointed.

Lord Peter Wimsey was an intelligence officer in the Great War. He returned home shell-shocked, struggling to come to terms with ordering soldiers under his command over the top to a certain death, such was the brutality of World War 1. Such was his condition it would take years before he would be introduced to society.

The aristocratic Wimsey was introduced to us by Dorothy L Sayers in 1923 when she wrote “Whose Body”, Lord Peter investigating a naked body and a financier who appears to be missing under strange circumstances.

In 1998 Jill Paton Walsh, who by now is no stranger to Wimsey’s adventures, won critical acclaim for her completion of Sayers’s unfinished “Thrones, Dominations”. “A Presumption of Death” followed four years later and “The Attenbury Emeralds” is her third novel featuring the amateur sleuth, Walsh taking us back to his very first case in 1921.

Sitting at home in the library Lord Peter, together with his wife (the novelist Harriet Vane) and their trusty servant Bunter, reminisce over his very first case of the missing Emeralds.

When Lord Attenbury held an engagement party for his daughter Charlotte, it was decided that she would wear the emeralds to the celebration. A cautious Attenbury, hired local police to ensure the safe return of the emeralds, unfortunately their presence failed to avoid the inevitable. The “King Stone”, the largest gem in the collection, went missing minutes before the party began; it heralded a complete house lock down as Inspector Sugg from Scotland Yard began questioning the servants and guests.

With his background in intelligence, and Sugg’s ineptitude in investigation techniques Wimsey set about investigating the disappearance, an investigation that launched his sleuthing career and brought a certain self confidence back into an aristocrat still reeling from the devastating war.

The book flows effortlessly and Walsh somehow manages to squeeze every last drop of soul from the characters. The characters interact well and the distinction between classes is handled with great care and affection. Bunter, a long time manservant of Lord Wimsey, is held in great regard and is considered, along with his wife, a huge part of the family.

Despite the obvious main billing afforded to Lord Peter, Bunter stole the show for me. He showed a great deal of compassion, intelligence and loyalty to his master and friend and brought a great deal of colour to the story. Bunter it appeared was always one step ahead of his master. Their relationship is a curious one, part servant part friend, the boundaries more often than not overlapping despite the gulf in class but just when you think it goes too far Walsh reins them in!

The Attenbury Emeralds is an engaging and intelligent read. Walsh delivers a terrific mystery not once, not twice but three times! Charmed, I was!

The book published by Hodder & Stoughton is available at Amazon.