SilverFin by Charlie Higson

Two years after the climbing accident that killed his parents, 13-year-old James Bond begins his schooling at Eton. The first half of Higson's novel is contemplative, getting into the thought processes and emotions of a boy who would later learn to block most of them out.

In the second half of the book, while on the train to Scotland to visit his aunt and uncle, James befriends an Irish boy named Red Kelly, and the two of them look into the disappearance of Red's cousin near Loch Silverfin, which is owned by Randolph Hellebore, American arms dealer and father of James's nemesis at Eton.

A well-executed foray into Bond's past, colored with authentic 1930s history.