''A delight.'' - Irish Times
''A pitch-perfect Golden Age mystery . . . a gem of a period puzzle'' - Financial Times

Thirty years ago, Lord Peter Wimsey encountered the Attenbury emeralds. The recovery of Lord Attenbury''s magnificent gem made headlines - and launched the shell-shocked young aristocrat on his career as a detective.

Now it is 1951: a happily married Lord Peter has just shared the secrets of that mystery with his wife, the detective novelist Harriet Vane. Then the new Lord Attenbury - the grandson of Lord Peter''s first client - seeks his help again, this time to prove who owns the gigantic emerald that Wimsey last saw in 1921.

It will be the most intricate and challenging mystery he has ever faced . . .