The Return of Captain John Emmett by Elizabeth Speller, a Mysterious Review.

Review: Elizabeth Speller opens her debut novel with a reversed occurrence after the conclusion of a war. Instead of a soldier being lost, the family of Laurence Bartram is gone instead. His wife and son have died while he was on the battlefield. The tragedy of so many families experienced during the Great War had happened to him.

This only adds to his already sad family history and to make matters worse a friend commits suicide. He becomes driven to find what the real answers are to this situation. In his detective journey he discovers that there are other deaths and wonders if this is not a murder compounded by circumstance.

By reconnecting with the family of John Emmett he discovers a winding tale that eventually makes himself deal with his own sad story.

Though this book is long to read, the inclusion of letters and good dialog makes it an comfortable read. There is little surprise during the unfolding of a story that returns to the beginning.

Laurence has gone full circle with his life and discovers a way to carry on.

Elizabeth Speller has written a story using dialog and written letters that allows the reader to feel as if they could be included in the journey.

Special thanks to Lynne Gordon for contributing her review of The Return of Captain John Emmett.

Acknowledgment: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt provided an ARC of The Return of Captain John Emmett for this review.

The Return of Captain John Emmett

A Laurence Bartram Mystery by Elizabeth Speller