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3.9 AVERAGE
3.9 AVERAGE
I read this many years ago and had forgotten how it ended, a good read on a dreary winter evening!
3.5 stars. I was absolutely charmed by the setting of this book--in the East Anglian fens not far from where I've lived for the last four years, and lovingly grounded in that rural, water-threaded landscape. On top of this, I dabbled in change-ringing while living here and Sayers' depiction of that cultish pastime is very accurate (to my limited knowledge), and it was fun to see something so niche--obscure yet culturally significant--woven into the narrative in such creative ways. Generally I found the narrative a bit overly detailed and sometimes difficult to follow; the characters that piled on at the beginning weren't developed enough for me to keep track of them easily and there was a lot of monologuing about the clues so far at any given time. But the writing itself was good--the bells are especially poetic--and the story was quite original.
My second read (the other pre-GoodReads). I'm still baffled by the bell-ringing nerdiness. I more-or-less decided to revisit this because I'm getting ready to sign up for a handbell festival in June. In the book, they do change ringing, they don't play songs. We generally play songs on our handbells. Maybe I can find a change-ringing class at the festival so that I can get a better handle on the process. My spouse, who doesn't ring handbells, was rather fascinated by the ringing in this book. She even tried writing out some of the changes and playing them on the piano to see how the changes "went round".
Anyway, it was a fun Lord Peter Whimsey mystery, well worth the time to read it. Probably a 3*+ rather than a mere 3*.
Anyway, it was a fun Lord Peter Whimsey mystery, well worth the time to read it. Probably a 3*+ rather than a mere 3*.
Written in the 1930's, this book has rich vocabulary, propriety, and a style that you don't find in contemporary mysteries.
A very enjoyable read, that I took my time with over the course of several days and felt as if I got a richer experience as a result. Taking a break gives you time to ponder the mystery and come up with your own theories and which is rewarding if they turn out to be true, and impressive if they don't. It also allowed me to appreciate how precisely everything was set up. The things that were brought to your attention at the start were the things that were important at the end (aka Chekhov's gun done well) and that is very satisfying for any novel, but especially for a detective story.
The mystery was well done for the most part. The only character that felt out of place had been subsumed into the rest by the end, and the only part that didn't quite ring true was the method of murder.
I loved the setting, especially since I have just visited the fens, and enjoyed the bells as something completely outside of my knowledge base. I also enjoyed the many moments of wit, and some genuinely funny scenes (the one where he notices an elaborate tribute to the dead and turns over the card wondering who had sent such an ostentatious bunch only to find out it was himself made me laugh out loud). In general, I am getting very fond of Wimsey & Bunter and enjoy this book as much for the characters as the mystery.
The mystery was well done for the most part. The only character that felt out of place had been subsumed into the rest by the end, and the only part that didn't quite ring true was the method of murder.
I loved the setting, especially since I have just visited the fens, and enjoyed the bells as something completely outside of my knowledge base. I also enjoyed the many moments of wit, and some genuinely funny scenes (the one where he notices an elaborate tribute to the dead and turns over the card wondering who had sent such an ostentatious bunch only to find out it was himself made me laugh out loud). In general, I am getting very fond of Wimsey & Bunter and enjoy this book as much for the characters as the mystery.
Okay, so after two bad experiences (Five Red Herrings and a short story) I nearly gave up on DLS, but I decided to give one of the much admired ones a go. This was a big improvement. Still a lot of minutiae about bell tolling technicalities (who would have thought it from this modern age??), but I grudgingly admit she's damned clever about making it part of her solution. She does go for complexity, it seems. And quite a dramatic ending. Okay, alright... I'll try another one!
Well THAT was ingenious! I figured out several twists along the way (much to my own satisfaction) but I didn't see the final one coming at all. Bravo!
This is in competition with Gaudy Night as Sayers' best novel, and sometimes appears in lists as the best murder mystery novel of all time (even ahead of Agatha Christie's novels).
That said, a couple of warnings:
1. Do *not* read the Wimsey novels out of order; it won't work (unlike with Christie's novels). You'll have to read the others, first.
2. Like Gaudy Night, this one goes into a lot of technical information (in this case, around water management in the Fenlands and the English practice of change ringing).
Christie includes just the minimum technical information needed to keep her plots moving, but Sayers absolutely revels in it. If you don't enjoy that kind of thing, you might not like this novel. Obviously, however, many people have enjoyed it. As far as mood and atmosphere go, it's unsurpassed in mystery writing.
That said, a couple of warnings:
1. Do *not* read the Wimsey novels out of order; it won't work (unlike with Christie's novels). You'll have to read the others, first.
2. Like Gaudy Night, this one goes into a lot of technical information (in this case, around water management in the Fenlands and the English practice of change ringing).
Christie includes just the minimum technical information needed to keep her plots moving, but Sayers absolutely revels in it. If you don't enjoy that kind of thing, you might not like this novel. Obviously, however, many people have enjoyed it. As far as mood and atmosphere go, it's unsurpassed in mystery writing.
This is a traditional 1930's murder mystery novel, taken from the `Golden Age’ of crime fiction as they call it. It features Lord Peter Wimsey and a remote Fenlands Village, Fenchurch St Paul where Lord Peter fetches up one New Years Eve (with butler in tow of course). They’re just about to ring the New Year in with an extended peal of bells and the bells do take on their own personality in the book, it’s a classic book if you happen to like bell ringing – and even if you don’t actually. I've always thought the bells on New Years Eve have a timeless antiquity about them, particularly as its midnight at the darkest time of the year and you know people have listened to those same peals for centuries. It really does bring a tingle to the spine and Sayers brings that part of the story to life very well.
Anyway then comes the body in the churchyard and the hunt for his killer. The story is tied up with the mysterious theft of some emeralds twenty years before. The book flounders a little at this point I thought, the character of Lord Peter doesn’t do anything for me, good socialist that I am. All that doffing of caps and yes m’Lord and no m’Lord, and smug superiority…I half expected the criminals to say `It’s a fair cop guv….I’m just a common oik!.. .I’d always avoided Dorothy Sayers books for that reason but I know it’s very much of its time and you can hardly criticise her for being stranded when the national zeitgeist moves on. Its better written than Agatha Christie say, although Christie at her best has more pizzazz than Sayers.
The book has an excellent ending when its connection with the bells is wrapped up neatly. It’s a good description of the desolate fens too, and so timeless it seems that Cromwell’s and the Dutchmen's efforts to drain the fens was almost just round the corner instead of three hundred years previously. Not an area of the country I know at all, should visit one day….
Anyway then comes the body in the churchyard and the hunt for his killer. The story is tied up with the mysterious theft of some emeralds twenty years before. The book flounders a little at this point I thought, the character of Lord Peter doesn’t do anything for me, good socialist that I am. All that doffing of caps and yes m’Lord and no m’Lord, and smug superiority…I half expected the criminals to say `It’s a fair cop guv….I’m just a common oik!.. .I’d always avoided Dorothy Sayers books for that reason but I know it’s very much of its time and you can hardly criticise her for being stranded when the national zeitgeist moves on. Its better written than Agatha Christie say, although Christie at her best has more pizzazz than Sayers.
The book has an excellent ending when its connection with the bells is wrapped up neatly. It’s a good description of the desolate fens too, and so timeless it seems that Cromwell’s and the Dutchmen's efforts to drain the fens was almost just round the corner instead of three hundred years previously. Not an area of the country I know at all, should visit one day….
I think this is one of the better Lord Peter Wimsey mysteries. The cast of characters was interesting and very differentiated, and the topic of bell-ringing was entirely new to me. I found the solution to the mystery genuinely surprising, in a good way. I had suspected a piece of it from the beginning, but the way in which the pieces fit together was new and worked very well. I also really liked the descriptions of community togetherness during the flood. It was nice to read about for obvious current-events reasons.