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3.94 AVERAGE
3.94 AVERAGE
adventurous
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
The mystery was kind of convoluted and it lost me in a couple of places. The fun part of reading this book was the banter between Lord Peter and Harriet Vane.
adventurous
challenging
dark
informative
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide
mysterious
slow-paced
So a good but not great Wimsey installment. On the plus side, it's the reappearance of Harriet Vane (as the discoverer of the murder victim and co-detective with Peter), and we get so many glimpses of their mutual attraction and the debt of gratitude that keeps them apart. On the minus side, it's a murder puzzle wrapped up in timetables and fake names, and I did not do a good job of keeping everything straight over three hundred pages. Moreover, there's a section where Sayers describes Peter and Harriet deciphering a coded message, and I think it's incomprehensible unless you stop and follow along on paper yourself. So, great relationship stuff, but too puzzlely for its length.
This is probably the most complex murder-mystery puzzle I’ve ever encountered. It’s a whodunnit, howdunnit, AND whydunnit. You might even say it’s an IFdunnit. The story is awash with suspects, motives, alibis, and stray pieces of evidence ranging from lost horseshoes to barber equipment to coded ciphers. How Sayers came up with all this is beyond me, but she keeps the whole unwieldy mess afloat with her refined humor and neat dialogue.
lighthearted
mysterious
slow-paced
Strong character development:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
challenging
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
It is hurts my soul to feel something less than adoration for a Lord Peter tale but here we are with this one. Peter shows himself well, Harriet is an infuriating-but-understandable mess of contradictions, Bunter is magnificient, and the supporting police force are quite charming. But the plot is a bit overwrought and weak, there are sections that just go on and on (and not in Peter's charming piffling way either, we're talking code breaking in minute detail, yawn), and the ending... is like running full tilt into a brick wall. Abrupt and not at all a satisfying experience.
Complicated and fun mystery set in the 30s. Lord Peter at his piffly best