A mystery set in WW1

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RABCK to mmeclinton. Sent media mail... tracking number: 9102805213907647882927.

This is the first of a series I really wanted to read, and I knew it was on the way.... but I didn't know I was going to get the whole series and an extra Anne Perry to boot.... what RABCK generosity, Collegelady!!! I am thrilled and will have to rearrange my TBR summer pile! In absolutely beautiful condition! Happy summer!

Well, the problem with loving books is that one rarely resists acquisitions... and here we are four years later with this book finally at the top of my TBR pile. I have fingered it a million times and finally decided I needed to read this series of three. I am delighted with it (and have already started the second one, so clearly this series will be done before end of summer!). I have become quite interested in reading more from the WWI era (seeing Downtown Abbey encouraged this, but I also remember reading Birdsong and adoring it,...). This first book happens just before England enters the war, thus the title. It takes a bit to get into the language, but it is well worth it. Joseph, a former minister and current teacher in Cambridge, has his world turned upside down when his parents die together in an auto accident (think how rare cars still were in 1913....), and his younger brother Matthew, who works for the Secret Service, knows his father was on the way to him with a document he had mysteriously acquired and which threatens the stability of the world and the honor of England. Another death occurs, this time Joseph's favorite student. Matthew and Joseph determine that their parents were in fact murdered. How all these threads come together is the suspense in this many-layered novel. And although some of the connections are cleared up in this first tome, we still don't know the identity of the head honcho, only named as the shadowy Peacemaker, who is able to commandeer idealistic pacifists to commit crimes whose horror destroys them in the process. Anne Perry manages to elucidate the problematic reality of war not necessarily being the worst outcome of a conflict, however horrific and pointless it may seem, as well as make one pause at possible unintended consequences when one blindly follows any particular idealism, no matter how noble. I look forward to seeing the characters (including energetic younger sister Judith, headstrong early symbol of women's liberation) develop over the next two novels.

Sending off in the mail to my wonderful sister in law Orchidgrower so she can enjoy the series!

in the package to Gullinaarr

Just received this from MmeClinton, am looking forward to reading it!