OK I have to share. This story is a really good read or in my case it was a really good listen . I listened to an unabridged audio of the book. I am generally wary of 'follow on' books ..or books written ' in the style of' and shy away ..but occasionally it works and this is one of those cases.
The characters are those created by D.L.Sayers ..Lord Peter Wimsey, his wife Harriet Vane, his nephew and his children and of course Bunter. The setting , which is very familiar to those who have read Sayers 'Busman's Honeymoon' is the Wimsey's country home Tallboys.
The mystery involves discovering who was responsible for the death of a Land Girl with a rather wild reputation. She was brutally killed by someone's bare hands....but whose?
The field in War time was rather greater.... as who hadn't received instructions on unarmed combat and how to kill quickly ?. The War setting permeates the whole novel and the gossip and behaviors ring true. The unexpected expectation of taking in evacuees reminded me of my Grandfather who was farming at that time..he collected two evacuees from the railway station and chose them "because they were wearing Wellington boots"..probably as good a reason as any.
Jill Paton Walsh makes an excellent job of writing with DL Sayers Characters and in her style..I thought when listening that this was the book DL Sayers didn't finish and that Ms Paton Walsh was asked to complete and I didn't notice the join...but it turned out that I was wrong and that was another book entirely. This was all her own work and jolly good at that! A really pleasing read/listen.
Well now I'm off to search out The Late Scholar another outing with DL Sayers characters via Ms Paton Walsh's imagination . ...and I'm looking forward to it!
But first real life intrudes and I better get the girls their tea :0)
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