It seems fitting that with Remembrance Day coming up on Friday this should be the week I found time to read The Return of Captain John Emmett by Elizabeth Speller.  Set in the aftermath of the first World War, the novel follows Laurence Bartram as he attempts to track down what exactly contributed to the seeming suicide of his school chum, and fellow war survivor, John Emmett.  It's a mystery that is personality driven more than anything else, but if you sympathize with Bartram or Emmett at all, you're hooked early on.  

A bit of an excerpt:


Until John Emmett rose from the dead into his life, Laurence had almost convinced himself the war was history but now he saw that its aftershocks rumbled on and on, and that peace had nothing to do with signatures and seals on paper.


What I liked about this novel was its clear-eyed look at the psychological toll of WWI, what the men had to face within themselves to go on with 'normal' life after their perception of what 'normal' was had been irreparably shattered.  And Speller manages to highlight this problem within the framework of a fascinating mystery.    


There were a few plot hiccups that caught me up, but overall I thought this was a solid mystery, written splendidly.  Makes me want to read more Speller.