Few have given more for the Empire than Colonel Hadrian Russell. Robbed of his four sons by the Great War, he now holds court as the acting president of the Britannia, a prestigious soldiers-only club in London. But when the Colonel is shot and thrown out the club’s front window, it seems the shadows of the Great War may extend further than previously thought.
Lieutenant Eric Peterkin, newly installed secretary at the Britannia, finds himself thrust into the role of detective after Scotland Yard points fingers at friends he knows are innocent. But is the true murderer an unknown spy? Or a recently resurfaced friend of the Colonel’s dead sons? Or is it one of the Colonel’s four widowed daughters-in-law, who by all appearances paid him complete devotion?
Accusations from personal betrayal to wartime espionage mount among the suspects as Eric's investigation draws him back to scenes and sites of a war he’s sought to leave behind. From the greening fields of Flanders and the springtime streets of Paris to the sterile wards of a Swiss sanatorium, and back to the Britannia itself, Eric finds that even myths leave behind bones.
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Having read the first in the series - A Gentleman's Murder - I was eagerly awaiting the second, so was glad of an opportunity to finally read this.
This second book, follows on from the first - and there are a number of references made throughout this one so I do suggest reading "A Genteman's Murder" first.
Set in the years immediately following WWI, the scene is again set in the Britannia Club, a club for returned soldiers only in London, where we find Peterkin is now Secretary. Against a backdrop of post traumatic stress and the horrors of the Great War", social change, identity and the emancipation of women, murder is once again committed within these hallowed walls.
Returning from Hong Kong and now seconded to Scotland Yard, Inspector Benedict Crane investigates - whilst Peterkin himself conducts his own postmortem of events and interviews those close to the victim, many of who are hiding their own secrets.
As an exploration into the effects of war on those who survived and returned, this is very empathically done - in addition to taking into account the impact of those who remained at the home front and suffered trauma and loss of a different kind.
The mystery of who and why the Colonel was killed was well-crafted, with witnesses and suspects alike coming under the scrutiny of both Peterkin and the Inspector - with both gaining a little more than their counterpart based on the interpersonal relationships. Peterkin is aided in his investigation by his sister Penny and best friend Avery, with a host of other characters providing their perspective (at times I found myself questioning their relevance).
But the past has a way of rearing its head, old secrets long forgotten or buried are coming to the fore ... but at what cost?
"... you do not want to be so lost in the past that you lose your present ..."
Where this lost me a little bit was the need to go "off site" - that is to France and Switzerland" where answers were not forthcoming - and to me this was really was merely an unnecessary diversion for the reader. In addition, in order to portray the societal changes and struggles, I felt the narrative went on a bit too long as there are a number of different elements to be explored before all are brought together.
All in all, another decent novel from Huang.
