The Attenbury Emeralds: Lord Peter Wimsey's First Case

Walsh's interpretation of the classic characters of Dorothy L. Sayers labors under a somewhat lukewarm performance from narrator Edward Petherbridge. Decades after the fact, legendary sleuth Lord Peter Wimsey—along with his wife, novelist Harriet Vane, and his faithful manservant Bunter—looks back on his first case: retrieving missing emeralds belonging to the Attenbury family while recovering from shell shock after WWI. Petherbridge's narration is steady and clear but tends to plod. While he provides excellent voices for Wimsey (soft-spoken, aristocratic, playful, and genteel) and Bunter (slightly twangy, dignified, and the very soul of deference) and cultivates an enjoyable chemistry between the married Wimsey and Vane, Petherbridge could better distinguish the book's other characters, many of which sound vaguely familiar and blend into each other. A Minotaur hardcover. (Mar.)