Elizabeth Edmondson, A Man of Some Repute

A Man of Some Repute is the first book in a new series set in 1950s England. Hugo Hawksworth is a young intelligence officer whose lame leg—damaged under mysterious circumstances—means he can't work in the field anymore. Instead, he's sent to work in the Government Statistics Department in the small town of Selchester. The job turns out to be more interesting than Hugo anticipated—the department is not what it seems—as is life at Selchester Castle, where Hugo is put up upon his arrival. It turns out there's a mystery to solve: the earl of the castle went missing seven years earlier, and he wasn't what he seemed either. I enjoyed this book. It's not edge-of-your-seat exciting, but it was a pleasant mystery with characters I'd be interested in reading more about. My one criticism is—SPOILER here—the equus ex machina toward the end of the book: having the damsel in distress saved more by her horse than by our strapping hero somehow diminished things for me. But the next book in the series is due out in a few weeks, and I intend to get my hands on it.