The return of Captain John Emmett by Elizabeth Speller

In 1920 Britain was still trying to recover from the trauma of what was spoken of as The Great War. Millions had died, more had been maimed and many who had returned ostensibly uninjured suffered damage that neither the medical profession or society knew how to cure or come to terms with. His experiences on the Western Front followed by the death of his wife and baby have turned Laurence Bartram into a semi-recluse but then the sister of an old school friend asks him to enquire into the circumstances of his suicide. Aided by his friend Charles Carfax he pieces together a story that takes us through the horrors of the trenches via a traumatic execution to the point where Captain Emmett sees death as his only course. Miss Speller weaves a complex and convoluted tale peopled by beleivable characters with their feuds and friendships exaggerated by the horrors they have experienced and which some try to expunge by writing the poetry that became one of the legacies of the era. Robert Goddard is reckoned to be the master of this kind of novel but he has a serious challenger in Elizabeth Speller.