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3.69 AVERAGE
3.69 AVERAGE
These books have helped me define why it is I like some mystery books and not other. I like "mystery." I do not like "thrillers," "drama," or "suspense" novels. I enjoy the challenge of solving a problem with logic, I love the characters and the background, and the eye for detail. I don't necessarily enjoy the violent crime, pain, and ugliness that is often present in such staggering quantities in modern-day mystery novels. So I suppose, more precisely, I enjoy historical fiction mystery novels.
I started reading [a:Dorothy L. Sayers|8734|Dorothy L. Sayers|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1519840173p2/8734.jpg] this year, and loved her novels. When I realized they switched over from her to Jill Walsh, I was thrilled, but still bummed because they were a limited quantity. I just sort of assumed Walsh was writing a long time ago, too. I was so surprised and pleased to find this book was published in 2010, so there's a good chance of them continuing!
Walsh is not Sayers, but she handles the characters deftly, and with respect, and it's clear that she has Sayers's blessing. That doesn't always guarantee continued high quality (see [a:Anne McCaffrey|26|Anne McCaffrey|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1323715139p2/26.jpg] and [a:Todd McCaffrey|1948907|Todd McCaffrey|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1358099695p2/1948907.jpg]), but it's a good start.
The Attenbury Emeralds was not as scintillating as Sayer's work, but it was wonderfully enjoyable, well-written and orchestrated, and the characters were all the ones I knew and loved. I highly recommend this book, and intend to continue following Walsh, and look for more books like this.
I started reading [a:Dorothy L. Sayers|8734|Dorothy L. Sayers|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1519840173p2/8734.jpg] this year, and loved her novels. When I realized they switched over from her to Jill Walsh, I was thrilled, but still bummed because they were a limited quantity. I just sort of assumed Walsh was writing a long time ago, too. I was so surprised and pleased to find this book was published in 2010, so there's a good chance of them continuing!
Walsh is not Sayers, but she handles the characters deftly, and with respect, and it's clear that she has Sayers's blessing. That doesn't always guarantee continued high quality (see [a:Anne McCaffrey|26|Anne McCaffrey|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1323715139p2/26.jpg] and [a:Todd McCaffrey|1948907|Todd McCaffrey|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1358099695p2/1948907.jpg]), but it's a good start.
The Attenbury Emeralds was not as scintillating as Sayer's work, but it was wonderfully enjoyable, well-written and orchestrated, and the characters were all the ones I knew and loved. I highly recommend this book, and intend to continue following Walsh, and look for more books like this.
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
In the Attenbury Emeralds, Lord Peter Wimsey revisits his first case, retelling it to his wife, writer Harriet Vane, and then solving a modern twist.
The original Lord Peter books were written by Dorothy Sayers, one of the best mystery writers of the 20th century and beloved by many readers. Considered By adopting her characters, Jill Paton Walsh takes on the very difficult role of living up to Sayers' standard. In moments, she almost reaches her inspiration.
As a modern writer, she doesn't have the grace, tone and background of classically-educated Sayers and it shows. Overall, the dialogue was a stretch, the writing uneven, and the historical context was not quite as strong as it could be. There are a few points where the stars align and I almost believed I was reading Sayers again, but not often enough. However, the story was fun and easy to read and that is a very redeeming quality.
I'd recommend the original Sayers books to any reader. If you can't get enough of Lord Peter, Harriet and Bunter, you might enjoy these as well.
The original Lord Peter books were written by Dorothy Sayers, one of the best mystery writers of the 20th century and beloved by many readers. Considered By adopting her characters, Jill Paton Walsh takes on the very difficult role of living up to Sayers' standard. In moments, she almost reaches her inspiration.
As a modern writer, she doesn't have the grace, tone and background of classically-educated Sayers and it shows. Overall, the dialogue was a stretch, the writing uneven, and the historical context was not quite as strong as it could be. There are a few points where the stars align and I almost believed I was reading Sayers again, but not often enough. However, the story was fun and easy to read and that is a very redeeming quality.
I'd recommend the original Sayers books to any reader. If you can't get enough of Lord Peter, Harriet and Bunter, you might enjoy these as well.
As reviewed for Library Journal:
http://www.libraryjournal.com/lj/home/888909-264/xpress_reviewsfirst_look_at_new.html.csp
This is Walsh's third venture into writing in the Lord Peter Wimsey/Harriet Vane universe created by Dorothy L. Sayers. Her first, Thrones, Dominations, completed an unfinished Sayers's novel, based on notes. Her second, A Presumption of Death, was based on a series of Sayers's articles known as "The Wimsey Papers." This new title is the first to bear only Walsh's name as author, although the eponymous case was referred to many times throughout Sayers's novels as Peter's first case. This novel will satisfy fans of Wimsey, in its flashback to his beginnings as an amateur sleuth and with its "flashforward" glimpses into the happily married lives of an older Peter and Harriet, their children, and the family of Mervyn Bunter, the Jeeves to Peter's Wooster. Some of the self-referential jokes may be off-putting to some readers. As capably as Walsh writes, it still misses the spark that Sayers brought to the originals.
Recommended for longtime devotees of Sayers and the witty detective genre but not the way to introduce a new reader to the series.
http://www.libraryjournal.com/lj/home/888909-264/xpress_reviewsfirst_look_at_new.html.csp
Walsh is an award winning novelist and has been commissioned to take over Dorothy Sayers’s Lord Peter Whimsey novels (apparently finishing a half-finished Sayers book before crafting this one). That sort of thing is always dicey but it’s been ages since I’ve read Whimsey so I can’t say if she’s faithful to the series. It seemed fairly in character.
That said, this is a very British mystery. It’s very slow to get started. It’s many years down the road. Peter is sixty and over breakfast, Harriet Vane, his wife and mystery novelist, asks him about Lord Attenbury’s emeralds having seen the Lord’s obituary in the paper and knowing Peter had solved a case for him, Peter’s very first, but she thought it was diamonds.
Peter goes on to tell her, with the help of Bunter, his ever faithful man-servant, and later on in the book, with the help of Peter’s mother the Dowager Duchess. Basically his friend, Attenbury had an emerald, one of two that had once belonged to an Indian prince before the British took over India. On the back of the stones is something written in Persian and that is the only thing distinguishing the two. Naturally Attenbury’s emerald has gone missing and Peter helped him get it back.
This literally goes on for nearly 130 pages of a 330 page book. There is a definitely loss of immediacy when you get the story via three people sitting around talking. Well, naturally the next day the new Lord Attenbury shows up. Like many nobles, he’s money strapped and wants to sell the emerald but the bank says there’s been a claim that it is not his. Knowing there are two stones, Peter and Harriet (and Bunter of course) try to find out if this isn’t Attenbury’s emerald, when in the world did the switch happen.
In the course of this, they find more dead bodies attached to the emerald. Inexplicably in the middle of all this we throw in some personal stuff for Peter to deal with that just seemed, I don’t know, there merely because Walsh wanted to bump him up the aristocrat ladder and I wasn’t tremendously interested in it. The novel isn’t bad but it is slow. The ending, however, is fast, too fast and a little too out of thin air for me. Then there’s another thirty pages of wrapping up. Over all, not bad but there are pacing issues throughout, at least for me.
That said, this is a very British mystery. It’s very slow to get started. It’s many years down the road. Peter is sixty and over breakfast, Harriet Vane, his wife and mystery novelist, asks him about Lord Attenbury’s emeralds having seen the Lord’s obituary in the paper and knowing Peter had solved a case for him, Peter’s very first, but she thought it was diamonds.
Peter goes on to tell her, with the help of Bunter, his ever faithful man-servant, and later on in the book, with the help of Peter’s mother the Dowager Duchess. Basically his friend, Attenbury had an emerald, one of two that had once belonged to an Indian prince before the British took over India. On the back of the stones is something written in Persian and that is the only thing distinguishing the two. Naturally Attenbury’s emerald has gone missing and Peter helped him get it back.
This literally goes on for nearly 130 pages of a 330 page book. There is a definitely loss of immediacy when you get the story via three people sitting around talking. Well, naturally the next day the new Lord Attenbury shows up. Like many nobles, he’s money strapped and wants to sell the emerald but the bank says there’s been a claim that it is not his. Knowing there are two stones, Peter and Harriet (and Bunter of course) try to find out if this isn’t Attenbury’s emerald, when in the world did the switch happen.
In the course of this, they find more dead bodies attached to the emerald. Inexplicably in the middle of all this we throw in some personal stuff for Peter to deal with that just seemed, I don’t know, there merely because Walsh wanted to bump him up the aristocrat ladder and I wasn’t tremendously interested in it. The novel isn’t bad but it is slow. The ending, however, is fast, too fast and a little too out of thin air for me. Then there’s another thirty pages of wrapping up. Over all, not bad but there are pacing issues throughout, at least for me.
This book will definitely be more meaningful for fans of Dorothy Sayers, who invented the characters. And you really need to have read the last 2 or 3 novels in the Sayers Lord Peter Wimsey series, in order to truly appreciate this volume, which finds Lord Peter and Harriet his wife, plus faithful Bunter, revisiting Peter's very first case, which then turns into a new, albeit closely related case all these many years later.
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Prequel & Sequel in One Continuation
Review of the Hodder & Stoughton paperback (2011) of the 2010 hardcover original
Review of the Hodder & Stoughton paperback (2011) of the 2010 hardcover original
Well, it didn't suck, but I didn't get drawn into it until 2/3 of the way through. I'm always a little uncomfortable around modern writers taking on old characters. Fortunately, it's been a while since I've read any of the old stories, so I couldn't really say how "authentic" the characters were, just that they were sketched out in a familiar way.
It wasn't gripping, but was a nice piece to read before going to bed. That's not exactly a glowing endorsement, but if you like English country house mysteries and have a nodding familiarity with the Wimsey characters, it's worth a gander.
It wasn't gripping, but was a nice piece to read before going to bed. That's not exactly a glowing endorsement, but if you like English country house mysteries and have a nodding familiarity with the Wimsey characters, it's worth a gander.
I still remember how happy I was when I found new Wimsey novel years ago in Akateeminen store. Jill Paton Walsh managed to write fresh feeling book but still staying loyal to Dorothy L. Sayer's characters. Do keep writing more, thank you.