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3.94 AVERAGE
3.94 AVERAGE
Enjoyable mystery, good humor here and there. But overall, some bits were hard to follow. I had to stop and look quite a few things up, mainly colloquialisms, a handful of slurs and quite a bit of French. I dunno what the 1930s in England were like but apparently everyone was fluent in French and could quote french poetry.
The ending left a bit to be desired which is why the rating is low.
The ending left a bit to be desired which is why the rating is low.
I love Lord Peter Wimsey and Harriet Vane!
For a review for all of the Lord Peter Wimsey books, see [b:Strong Poison|246225|Strong Poison (Lord Peter Wimsey, #6)|Dorothy L. Sayers|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1486963427l/246225._SY75_.jpg|1121561].
Please note! If you haven't read [b:Strong Poison|246225|Strong Poison (Lord Peter Wimsey, #6)|Dorothy L. Sayers|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1486963427l/246225._SY75_.jpg|1121561] and [b:Whose Body?|192893|Whose Body? (Lord Peter Wimsey, #1)|Dorothy L. Sayers|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1387573241l/192893._SY75_.jpg|1090544], DON'T READ THIS YET! (That's my opinion. I started with Strong Poison, and though a little confused at first about all the names, I managed to get along really well with all the characters, though I didn't know why on earth P. W. was in love with H. V. I recommend reading this series in order.)
2/29 - Please note this too! I just read [b:The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club|192887|The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club (Lord Peter Wimsey, #5)|Dorothy L. Sayers|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1389759541l/192887._SY75_.jpg|1093038] and now I know I'm never going to fully understand Lord Peter's reasons for falling in love with Harriet Vane, as it seems like when [b:Strong Poison|246225|Strong Poison (Lord Peter Wimsey, #6)|Dorothy L. Sayers|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1486963427l/246225._SY75_.jpg|1121561] begins, he already is in love with her.
For a review for all of the Lord Peter Wimsey books, see [b:Strong Poison|246225|Strong Poison (Lord Peter Wimsey, #6)|Dorothy L. Sayers|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1486963427l/246225._SY75_.jpg|1121561].
Please note! If you haven't read [b:Strong Poison|246225|Strong Poison (Lord Peter Wimsey, #6)|Dorothy L. Sayers|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1486963427l/246225._SY75_.jpg|1121561] and [b:Whose Body?|192893|Whose Body? (Lord Peter Wimsey, #1)|Dorothy L. Sayers|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1387573241l/192893._SY75_.jpg|1090544], DON'T READ THIS YET! (That's my opinion. I started with Strong Poison, and though a little confused at first about all the names, I managed to get along really well with all the characters, though I didn't know why on earth P. W. was in love with H. V. I recommend reading this series in order.)
2/29 - Please note this too! I just read [b:The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club|192887|The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club (Lord Peter Wimsey, #5)|Dorothy L. Sayers|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1389759541l/192887._SY75_.jpg|1093038] and now I know I'm never going to fully understand Lord Peter's reasons for falling in love with Harriet Vane, as it seems like when [b:Strong Poison|246225|Strong Poison (Lord Peter Wimsey, #6)|Dorothy L. Sayers|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1486963427l/246225._SY75_.jpg|1121561] begins, he already is in love with her.
The queen is back! This one is delicious. I think it's also the most humor-laden in the series so far. I know Harriet is a bit divisive as a character, but I really enjoyed her in this book. I also love when Bunter is given something to do.
Note: There is a lot more blood and description of gore with the victim on this one than is usual with Sayers, due to the nature of the death. Easy enough to skip over though, for other sensitive readers.
Note: There is a lot more blood and description of gore with the victim on this one than is usual with Sayers, due to the nature of the death. Easy enough to skip over though, for other sensitive readers.
The ones with Harriet Vane are so much better than the others. I think it's because Harriet reads as a coherent person, rather than a loose collection of eccentricities.
I really like Have His Carcase, and it is, at least in part, because of the fairly ugly scene between Harriet Vane and Peter Wimsey approximately mid-way through the book. Harriet is on a walking vacation, approximately a year or so after she is vindicated in Strong Poison. She finds a dead body on an isolated beach, apparently very recently killed, and does her best to document the scene before searching for help (which takes some time, as there are few people around and the telephone is several miles off). Immediately after notifying the police, Harriet notifies the tabloid press because she knows that her name will be released, and she wants to benefit from the notoriety that she knows is coming. What she doesn't say, until much later, is that she knows that she will be a suspect, largely because of the earlier false accusation, so she's done what she can to get ahead of it.
Wimsey, of course, immediately comes down to investigate. There is no doubt that he comes in order to protect her but, of course, being Wimsey, he also relishes a murder. Harriet is both grateful and resentful of his presence. On the one hand, he is her intellectual equal, and she enjoys investigating with him. On the other, however, she knows that he rushed to her side to protect her, and she is already dealing with the unwanted challenge of balancing her gratitude for his earlier efforts to free her with his avowed love and desire to marry her. Meanwhile, Wimsey is constantly having to balance his feelings--which are genuine and quite deep--with respect for her position and feelings. It's, at best, a difficult position for them both, and it's not surprising that their shared frustration boils over into an angry and somewhat nasty argument.
I admire Sayers for this scene. She shows both of them at their less-than-finest. They are angry and hurt, and they lash out (Harriet a little more than Peter). I admire that this fight doesn't bring them together. They get past it, basically by not talking about it. Both of them have a better idea of where the other stands, but it's clear that Harriet can't bring herself to trust him (or the world at large).
The mystery is also a good one. It's a very complicated plot, and the timing of the alibi is critical. The mystery is solved largely because Peter perseveres in disbelieving the suicide theory, and he makes sure that everything is checked. Bunter puts in a heroic effort to untangle one strand of the plot. The local police are also intelligent and work well with Peter. It's also one of the few times that Wimsey doesn't show sympathy for the murderer.
Wimsey, of course, immediately comes down to investigate. There is no doubt that he comes in order to protect her but, of course, being Wimsey, he also relishes a murder. Harriet is both grateful and resentful of his presence. On the one hand, he is her intellectual equal, and she enjoys investigating with him. On the other, however, she knows that he rushed to her side to protect her, and she is already dealing with the unwanted challenge of balancing her gratitude for his earlier efforts to free her with his avowed love and desire to marry her. Meanwhile, Wimsey is constantly having to balance his feelings--which are genuine and quite deep--with respect for her position and feelings. It's, at best, a difficult position for them both, and it's not surprising that their shared frustration boils over into an angry and somewhat nasty argument.
I admire Sayers for this scene. She shows both of them at their less-than-finest. They are angry and hurt, and they lash out (Harriet a little more than Peter). I admire that this fight doesn't bring them together. They get past it, basically by not talking about it. Both of them have a better idea of where the other stands, but it's clear that Harriet can't bring herself to trust him (or the world at large).
The mystery is also a good one. It's a very complicated plot, and the timing of the alibi is critical. The mystery is solved largely because Peter perseveres in disbelieving the suicide theory, and he makes sure that everything is checked. Bunter puts in a heroic effort to untangle one strand of the plot. The local police are also intelligent and work well with Peter. It's also one of the few times that Wimsey doesn't show sympathy for the murderer.
adventurous
challenging
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Complicated and fun mystery set in the 30s. Lord Peter at his piffly best
adventurous
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I buy a fair amount of book tapes in charity shops. I have Harry Potter 1, 2, and 4. I have a massive collection of Sherlock Holmes radio plays. A fair amount of Morse, Ruth Rendell and Agatha Christie. My car is a cassette player that gets me to work.
The more tapes there are and the older they are the more likely there is to be a problem with one of them. So when I saw this had twelve tapes I was a bit put off. I thought one of them (most probably the one where they solve the mystery) is bound to be defunct. Then I saw this amazing sticker next to the price:
"slight squeek at beginning of tape thirteen"
Someone had bothered to listen to 15 hours of tapes to check the sound quality for me. What would the world do without Oxfam volunteers? Anyway, charmed by that and the adorable misspelling of squeak I coughed up my £3.99 very willingly.
I listened to the whole, extra carefully at the beginning of tape 13. I heard no “squeek”. If a booktape is unabridged I count it as ‘read’ once I’ve listened to it. There are some minor spoilers beyond this point but I don’t give the solution away.
I think this was the wrong Dorothy L Sayer to start with. I only read afterwards that it was number eight of a series. The back story was well explained but it felt a bit cut short. I actually checked that I hadn’t missed a cassette.
It is clear that Dorothy L Sayer is a good writer. There are pieces of dialogue that quickly sum up a minor character and round him out. I found myself thinking “I know someone like that” several times. The dialogue between Harriet Vane and Lord Peter Whimsy is witty and enjoyable.
I can’t say I felt the same about the murder mystery. It dragged on and on. The discovery of the body is exciting, the reporting of the discovery tedious. There was one point that seemed obvious to me from the beginning but we crawled towards it frustratingly slowly. The solution I found clever but the conclusion very flat. The relationship between Harriet and Lord Peter is like a TV show “will they won’t they” but even an episode of Castle would have had more conclusion about the feelings of each character than this did.
I feel like it could have made a very good short story. You could have cut half of it out and made it considerably better. There was a lot of listening to the characters going over and over the same points, time scales and don’t get me started on the cryptography. After a while I didn’t care who did it, I didn’t care who rode on the bay mare and I didn’t want to hear any more quotes from “Death’s Jest Book”. If I had been reading it on paper I’m sure I would have skim read a lot but as it was I had to listen to Ian Carmichael perfectly enunciate every word. He was great by the way, I would definitely listen to more read by him. It’s interesting that I wanted it to be over but once it was I was left incredulously saying “Is that it?”.
I’d like to read short stories by Dorothy L Sayers but I’m going to leave it a while before I tackle another novel.
The more tapes there are and the older they are the more likely there is to be a problem with one of them. So when I saw this had twelve tapes I was a bit put off. I thought one of them (most probably the one where they solve the mystery) is bound to be defunct. Then I saw this amazing sticker next to the price:
"slight squeek at beginning of tape thirteen"
Someone had bothered to listen to 15 hours of tapes to check the sound quality for me. What would the world do without Oxfam volunteers? Anyway, charmed by that and the adorable misspelling of squeak I coughed up my £3.99 very willingly.
I listened to the whole, extra carefully at the beginning of tape 13. I heard no “squeek”. If a booktape is unabridged I count it as ‘read’ once I’ve listened to it. There are some minor spoilers beyond this point but I don’t give the solution away.
I think this was the wrong Dorothy L Sayer to start with. I only read afterwards that it was number eight of a series. The back story was well explained but it felt a bit cut short. I actually checked that I hadn’t missed a cassette.
It is clear that Dorothy L Sayer is a good writer. There are pieces of dialogue that quickly sum up a minor character and round him out. I found myself thinking “I know someone like that” several times. The dialogue between Harriet Vane and Lord Peter Whimsy is witty and enjoyable.
I can’t say I felt the same about the murder mystery. It dragged on and on. The discovery of the body is exciting, the reporting of the discovery tedious. There was one point that seemed obvious to me from the beginning but we crawled towards it frustratingly slowly. The solution I found clever but the conclusion very flat. The relationship between Harriet and Lord Peter is like a TV show “will they won’t they” but even an episode of Castle would have had more conclusion about the feelings of each character than this did.
I feel like it could have made a very good short story. You could have cut half of it out and made it considerably better. There was a lot of listening to the characters going over and over the same points, time scales and don’t get me started on the cryptography. After a while I didn’t care who did it, I didn’t care who rode on the bay mare and I didn’t want to hear any more quotes from “Death’s Jest Book”. If I had been reading it on paper I’m sure I would have skim read a lot but as it was I had to listen to Ian Carmichael perfectly enunciate every word. He was great by the way, I would definitely listen to more read by him. It’s interesting that I wanted it to be over but once it was I was left incredulously saying “Is that it?”.
I’d like to read short stories by Dorothy L Sayers but I’m going to leave it a while before I tackle another novel.
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix