Monday, May 30, 2011

The Aftermath of World War I

The Return of Captain John Emmett by Elizabeth Speller is both an engrossing mystery and a look at the aftermath of WWI in England that "grabbed" me at the beginning and kept me guessing until the end.

Laurence Bartram has returned to England, having lost both wife and child in childbirth while he was away fighting in the trenches of France. Most of his contemporaries have either been killed in battle or irrevocably changed. Lawrence himself is adrift and aimless, alienated from everyone except his bluff old school friend, Charles. Another old school friend's sister, Mary Emmett, writes to him in the hope that he can help her understand the purported suicide of her brother John. Captain John Emmett was AWOL from a convalescent hospital specializing in the treatment of shell-shocked veterans. While Laurence doesn't think he can help Mary, he is interested enough in Mary, as well as John's suicide to start asking questions. With Charles' help the investigation proceeds, revolving around a military execution that Captain Emmett was forced to lead. Almost all the surviving participants in the firing squad have met violent ends after the war.

The mystery of Captain Emmett's death is very well plotted with enough red herrings to satisfy "who done it" fans. However, I found the evocation of the period most compelling, as well as the illumination of that most bankrupt of British Army practices, the execution of traumatized soldiers for cowardice.

I would highly recommend The Return of Captain John Emmett to fans of Charles Todd's Ian Rutledge series and Jacqueline Winspear's Maizie Dobbs series. 

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