She Came Back

 She Came Back (The Traveller Returns; 1945) by Patricia Wentworth (Dora Amy Turnbull)

Anne Jocelyn came back alright--back from the dead, apparently. To the shock of her family and especially her husband Sir Philip Jocelyn.  Anne had gone to France to see about claiming a legacy (that Philip had told her not to accept) and was caught in the first German assault on France. Philip had arrived to get his wife, her look-alike cousin, and anyone else in the household he could to safety. Under fire from the Germans, Anne (Philip is certain) was killed and Annie Joyce (the cousin) was lost in the fray--presumed captured. But now someone claiming to be Anne Jocelyn has shown up and she insists that it was Annie who was shot while she survived.

The resemblance between the women was so great that most of the family and even the family lawyer isn't certain where the truth lies. Only Philip insists that Annie is trying to take the family fortune which she had always believed should have been hers and not Anne's. If she has to live as Anne for the rest of her life, then he is sure she'd do so. Philip is prepared to bear public censure and a court case if need be rather than accept an imposter as his wife, but the family lawyer points how unpleasant life could be if the case couldn't be proved. So, Philip agrees to a six-month trial to be sure. But then murder enters the picture and his doubts come back. The murdered woman is an old nanny of Annie's and when Scotland Yard is called in, Sergeant Frank Abbott immediately begins consulting Miss Maud Silver. She's shrewd, but it takes two murders and an attempted third before she can sort things out properly.

The second half of this book is way better than the first. Why? Because Miss Silver finally shows up. The first half where Anne turns up and is trying to get Philip to believe that she really is who she says she is just didn't do it for me. But when the murders start and Miss Silver gets down to cases, well, now we're talking. I don't think anyone will be surprised about the answer to whether Anne is really Anne or Annie, but the real surprise is finding out who the murderer is. The war references and connections are good and Wentworth does an excellent job with all of her characters--even the minor ones. ★★★ and 1/2 (all for the second half)

First line: The air in the Food Office was cold and stuffy.

Last line: She said, "I hope so."
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Deaths = 5 (two natural; two shot; one hit by car)