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The Attenbury Emeralds
On sale
5th June 2014
Price: £9.99
‘A delight.’ – Irish Times
‘A pitch-perfect Golden Age mystery . . . a gem of a period puzzle’ – Financial Times
Thirty years ago, Lord Peter Wimsey encountered the Attenbury emeralds. The recovery of Lord Attenbury’s magnificent gem made headlines – and launched the shell-shocked young aristocrat on his career as a detective.
Now it is 1951: a happily married Lord Peter has just shared the secrets of that mystery with his wife, the detective novelist Harriet Vane. Then the new Lord Attenbury – the grandson of Lord Peter’s first client – seeks his help again, this time to prove who owns the gigantic emerald that Wimsey last saw in 1921.
It will be the most intricate and challenging mystery he has ever faced . . .
‘A pitch-perfect Golden Age mystery . . . a gem of a period puzzle’ – Financial Times
Thirty years ago, Lord Peter Wimsey encountered the Attenbury emeralds. The recovery of Lord Attenbury’s magnificent gem made headlines – and launched the shell-shocked young aristocrat on his career as a detective.
Now it is 1951: a happily married Lord Peter has just shared the secrets of that mystery with his wife, the detective novelist Harriet Vane. Then the new Lord Attenbury – the grandson of Lord Peter’s first client – seeks his help again, this time to prove who owns the gigantic emerald that Wimsey last saw in 1921.
It will be the most intricate and challenging mystery he has ever faced . . .
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Reviews
Walsh's writing meets the standards of excellence set by Sayers, using the mystery novel as a means to demonstrate that traits of endurance, honestly, and loyalty are always appealing. Wit matched with intelligence marks the soul not only of a good sleuth, but also of the very best mysteries. Watched over by the ghost of Dorothy L. Sayers, The Attenbury Emeralds has soul.
Walsh does a seamless job of carrying on original author Dorothy L. Sayers' sparkling mix of prose and people (and this from a critic who usually hates this sort of thing).
Walsh successfully recreates the tone and personalities of the originals and plausibly depicts the main characters later in life. Fans of literate period mysteries will clamour for more.
We must admit - heretical as it may be - that we quite prefer the continuations to the originals.
Jill Paton Walsh, assuming the mantle of Dorothy L. Sayers, convinces on all counts . . . Sayers would not have recognised that it wasn't her own work.
A pitch-perfect Golden Age mystery; not a pastiche but a gem of a period puzzle that belongs on the shelf beside the Wimsey originals.
Channelling the authority Sayers employed right up to her final book, Walsh shows that she has the full measure of the imperishable Lord Peter and the hyper-intelligent Harriet Vane
A delight. The mystery is intriguing - and, more crucially, Paton Walsh perfectly captures Sayers's voice.
A great deal of fun
An absolute treat: civilised, intelligent and spellbinding
A crime puzzle with deeper layers which makes for an entertaining and satisfying read
Sayers's fans won't be disappointed, and newcomers are in for a treat