The Attenbury Emeralds

Critics Review

• A pitch-perfect Golden Age mystery; not a pastiche but a gem of a period puzzle that belongs on the shelf beside the Wimsey originals.

  Financial Times

• A delight. The mystery is intriguing – and, more crucially, Paton Walsh perfectly captures Sayers’s voice.

  Irish Times

• Jill Paton Walsh, assuming the mantle of Dorothy L. Sayers, convinces on all counts . . . Sayers would not have recognised that it wasn’t her own work.

  London Times

• An absolute treat: civilised, intelligent and spellbinding

  Daily Express

• A great deal of fun

  Times Literary Supplement

• Sayers’s fans won’t be disappointed, and newcomers are in for a treat

  Guardian

• Walsh’s writing meets the standards of excellence set by Sayers, using the mystery novel as a means to demonstrate that traits of endurance, honestly, and loyalty are always appealing. Wit matched with intelligence marks the soul not only of a good sleuth, but also of the very best mysteries. Watched over by the ghost of Dorothy L. Sayers, The Attenbury Emeralds has soul.

  Huffington Post

• Walsh does a seamless job of carrying on original author Dorothy L. Sayers’ sparkling mix of prose and people (and this from a critic who usually hates this sort of thing).

  Cleveland Plain Dealer

• Walsh successfully recreates the tone and personalities of the originals and plausibly depicts the main characters later in life. Fans of literate period mysteries will clamour for more.

  Publishers Weekly

• We must admit – heretical as it may be – that we quite prefer the continuations to the originals.

  Denver Post

• Channelling the authority Sayers employed right up to her final book, Walsh shows that she has the full measure of the imperishable Lord Peter and the hyper-intelligent Harriet Vane

  Express

• A crime puzzle with deeper layers which makes for an entertaining and satisfying read

  Historical Novels Review