Presumption of Death
'Whoever, for example, Lady Peter,' said Miss Agnes Twitterton, 'is that?"
'You do have a point, my dear,' said Mrs. Goodacre, the vicar's wife, who was standing with the two women behind a trestle table at one end of the Village Hall, pouring out Miss Twitterton's parsnip wine into rows of assorted sherry glasses. 'There was a time, as you say, and not so long ago, when we would have known everybody we could possibly meet here--when any stranger was a seven-day-wonder--and now here we are organizing a village hop, and we don't know half the people here. They could be anybody, indeed I expect they are.'
A Presumption of Death is set in 1940. Lord Peter and Bunter are in Europe on a secret-mission. Lady Harriet is in the country at Talboys with the children. Her and Peter have two small sons, Bredon and Paul, and she's also taken Charles and Mary's three children, Charlie, Mary, and Harriet. Harriet is not the only woman thinking of the safety of her children, no, many families are trying to send their children to the country for safety. The villagers are opening their homes, and, are willing to their duty for the war. The village IS preparing for war. They've been working on air raid shelters and organizing themselves to prepare for the worst. It is during the rehearsal of an air raid that a murder is committed! A woman is found dead. Almost everyone was accounted for in one of the two shelters. But someone murdered the young woman...can the local police with a little aid from Lady Harriet solve this crime?
I liked this one. I can't really say too much about it. It is a mystery after all. And the less you know, the better it will be! But I enjoyed it. I think Jill Paton Walsh has done a good job with the characters, keeping them true to the originals, yet giving readers more of what they love.
© 2011 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews
Category Article 2002, adult fiction, adult mystery, library book, Lord Peter Wimsey, mystery
