A Presumption of Death: Lord Peter Wimsey/Harriet Vane Series, Book 2
(Libby/OverDrive eBook, Kindle)

In 1939–40, a series of letters, ostensibly written by Dorothy L. Sayers' beloved characters, were published in The Spectator. Walsh has taken these letters and transformed them into an absolutely top-notch tale of what Lord Peter, Lady Harriet, and their extended families were doing at that time. Walsh captures voice and spirit and locale with vividness and pathos: Harriet is at Talboys with her two boys and three nieces and nephews; Peter and his gentleman's gentleman Bunter are abroad on a secret mission; war work, rationing, and billeting of children and soldiers mingle with the quotidian countryside life. How Harriet handles the incredible task of managing life, children, and estate in wartime is gracefully portrayed and fascinating. How much she misses Peter catches the heart, especially when a cipher is brought to her, upon which his safety depends, that only she can unravel. There is a murder during a practice air raid. Bunter returns, exhausted and alone. The older children struggle with a crystal radio set. Harriet focuses her fierce intelligence on writing up, for Peter, the myriad clues about the murdered woman, and when he returns, they find resolution in a most unexpected series of ways. The details about life in wartime Britain are fascinating and rich with the warmth of reality. Longtime Sayers devotees will find references to many earlier cases expertly woven through the text. Copyright 2010 Booklist Reviews.

This successor to Thrones, Dominations, the novel Walsh completed from a manuscript left behind by fabled mystery writer Sayers, features Harriet Vane (now Lady Wimsey). After the village of Paggleham stages its first air-raid drill, in 1940, villagers discover the dead body of a "land-girl." The local police superintendent, citing staff shortages due to the war-and cognizant of Lord Peter Wimsey's absence abroad-asks for Harriet's assistance. Despite being short-staffed herself and caring for five children, Harriet begins investigating, interrogating village characters, gossips, and suspects with equal success. A charmingly traditional British cozy, filled with rustic domesticity and equable prose, this is strongly recommended, especially for Sayers fans. Copyright 2003 Cahners Business Information.

In her second Lord Peter Wimsey/Harriet Vane whodunit, Booker Prize finalist Walsh (Knowledge of Angels) does a far better job of honoring Sayers than she did in their first posthumous collaboration, Thrones, Dominations (1998). Walsh's starting point here is "The Wimsey Papers," a series of letters on home front conditions, ostensibly written by various members of the Wimsey family, which ran in the Spectator at the outset of WWII. Lord Peter himself is offstage for most of the novel, involved in some covert mission in Europe, leaving his wife to take care of their household. When a young Land Girl is found murdered during an air raid, the local superintendent enlists Harriet's aid. Harriet's traditional line of inquiry into possible spurned suitors is diverted when an eccentric and seemingly paranoid dentist discloses that the quiet, ordinary village of Paggleham is actually a nest of German spies. Despite Peter's diminished role, he remains a vital presence throughout, thanks to his place at the center of Harriet's thoughts. Should Walsh have no further original Sayers material to draw on, she seems perfectly suited to continue the series entirely on her own. (Mar. 27) Forecast: Though praised by the likes of Ruth Rendell and Joyce Carol Oates, Thrones, Dominations received mixed notices from Sayers purists. The favorable buzz on this one from the U.K.'s Dorothy L. Sayers Society augurs well for strong sales.