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3.9 AVERAGE
3.9 AVERAGE
The Nine Tailors is not my favorite Wimsey mystery, but it's a very good one. Sayers clearly studied up on change ringing; because I know very little about the practice, the chapter titles didn't really mean much for me (Sayers uses change-ringing terminology for clever plays on words). This mystery is set in the Fens, in a small parish with a charming, Bells-obsessed vicar and his more practical wife. Sayers was obviously much struck by this part of the country; the landscape takes on a character all its own, the first time in any of the Wimsey mysteries.
The mystery itself is interesting and heart-breaking in its own way. Once again, Sayers paints a sympathetic picture of her chief suspects. She is fond of letting decent people who bear responsibility for others' deaths find a way out that doesn't include prison. I do sometimes get tired of this, as it feels like its designed to give Peter a way out. Yes, he investigates crimes for fun, and he will agonize over the consequences to the murderers (the usual punishment was hanging), but, so often, he's spared having to confront the unpleasant results of his investigations. Still, there's a lot of good characterization, and some really enjoyable Bunter scenes. Also, I appreciate that, except for Clouds of Witness, when Peter investigates a death outside London, the local police are competent and good to work with.
The mystery itself is interesting and heart-breaking in its own way. Once again, Sayers paints a sympathetic picture of her chief suspects. She is fond of letting decent people who bear responsibility for others' deaths find a way out that doesn't include prison. I do sometimes get tired of this, as it feels like its designed to give Peter a way out. Yes, he investigates crimes for fun, and he will agonize over the consequences to the murderers (the usual punishment was hanging), but, so often, he's spared having to confront the unpleasant results of his investigations. Still, there's a lot of good characterization, and some really enjoyable Bunter scenes. Also, I appreciate that, except for Clouds of Witness, when Peter investigates a death outside London, the local police are competent and good to work with.
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Diverse cast of characters:
No
I liked the bells and the small town cathedral, and even though the story was a bit slow the audiobook reader was lovely.
The Nine Tailors I can't say anything to the accuracy of the information of change-ringing, but a lot of effort was clearly put in to research. Unfortunately, I really didn't find any of it all that interesting. The mystery was intriguing and I definitely enjoyed Wimsey's character more in this book than the first one. I did figure out how the victim was killed around the 1/2 way mark and it was a little disappointing how long it took Wimsey to figure it out. But, it was still an enjoyable read and now I have to go hunt down the other books in this series.
Absolute first class mystery. Loses .5 stars for lack of LPW but otherwise possibly perfect.
Far more depressing than the Lord Peter Wimsey novels usually are, and, at least for me, strangely predictable (I solved almost every aspect of the case ages before Wimsey got around to it), but bleakly lovely in its way.
love Dorothy Sayers' mysteries. I have just discovered them in nook format, so I have decided to re-read them. I forget a lot about a story, so when I re-read I remember somel things I'd forgotten and usually discover something new about the story. I picked up a couple of things that were under my radar last time I read it. That's why I love to re-read books. There's so much in them, a wealth of stuff to remember and new insights...
challenging
mysterious
medium-paced
This one dragged on a little too long (especially regarding the bells) and Bunter wasn’t as involved as the first book, which was a disappointment! The ending was rather anti-climatic as well.
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No