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3.94 AVERAGE
3.94 AVERAGE
Harriet shows herself as a strong, capable woman here. Love the banter between her and Peter!
The banter between Peter and Harriet was perfect and it was great to see them form a partnership. Also, the angst lover in me liked how much fraught emotion was buried under the flippancy.
Four stars because i didn't really care about the solution to the crime.
Content warnings: xenophobia, suicide mention, antisemitism
Four stars because i didn't really care about the solution to the crime.
Content warnings: xenophobia, suicide mention, antisemitism
Super romantic the way that the older man keeps bugging the woman in her 20s to marry him and referring to her as “[his] dear child” in the same breath. A very racist seaside murder-mystery - would not recommend.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racial slurs
Moderate: Misogyny, Racism
Minor: Ableism
Talk about a complicated plot that makes so much sense at the end!
Getting back to this one, it was difficult to read, knowing the "surprise twist" at the end. But I got into it regardless, and enjoyed the writing, the characters, and the intricate attention to plot details that mark these works out beyond most of what passes for "mystery" writing today.
lighthearted
mysterious
slow-paced
I just love the whole atmosphere of a Dorothy Sayers mystery. I find it so soothing. Also love how she gives time to minor characters, letting them blather on about things not relevant to the mystery. No, seriously, I do enjoy that! It adds to the aforementioned atmosphere.
The mystery in this one is ok, I wasn't dying to know who the killer was. It was enough to read Wimsey and Harriet hashing things out. The end result was secondary to their interactions.
Since the book was written 90 years ago, there are wincingly unpleasant references to Italians as dagos and jokes about women over 50 daring to want to be sexual. I try to look at it in terms of "Oh, isn't it nice that we have advanced somewhat as a society and ethnic slurs are not commonly used anymore." If one reads older books then you must be prepared to encounter outdated, unpleasant language.
The mystery in this one is ok, I wasn't dying to know who the killer was. It was enough to read Wimsey and Harriet hashing things out. The end result was secondary to their interactions.
Since the book was written 90 years ago, there are wincingly unpleasant references to Italians as dagos and jokes about women over 50 daring to want to be sexual. I try to look at it in terms of "Oh, isn't it nice that we have advanced somewhat as a society and ethnic slurs are not commonly used anymore." If one reads older books then you must be prepared to encounter outdated, unpleasant language.
Re-read in late July 2013 because the littlest thing can provoke a Sayers binge.
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The girl, in an exaggerated gown of petunia satin with an enormous bustle and a train, exhibited a mask of Victorian coyness as she revolved languidly in her partner‰ЫЄs arms to the strains of the ‰ЫПBlue Danube.‰Ыќ ‰ЫПAutres temps, autres moeurs,‰Ыќ thought Harriet. She looked about the room. Long skirts and costumes of the ‰ЫЄseventies were in evidence ‰ЫУ and even ostrich feathers and fans. Even the coyness had its imitators. But it was so obviously an imitation. The slender-seeming waists were made so, not by savage tightlacing, but by sheer expensive dressmaking. To-morrow, on the tennis-court, the short, loose tunic-frock would reveal them as the waists of muscular young women of the day, despising all bonds. And the sidelong glances, the down-cast eyes, the mock-modesty ‰ЫУ masks, only. If this was the ‰ЫПreturn to womanliness‰Ыќ hailed by the fashion-correspondents, it was to a quite different kind of womanliness ‰ЫУ set on a basis of economic independence. Were men really stupid enough to believe that the good old days of submissive womanhood could be brought back by milliners‰ЫЄ fashions? ‰ЫПHardly,‰Ыќ thought Harriet, ‰ЫПwhen they know perfectly well that one has only remove the train and the bustle, get into a short skirt and walk off, with a job to do and money in one‰ЫЄs pocket. Oh, well, it‰ЫЄs a game, and presumably they all know the rules.‰Ыќ
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‰ЫчWhat I like about your evidence, Miss Kohn, is that it adds the final touch of utter and impenetrable obscurity to the problem which the Inspector and I have undertaken to solve. It reduces it to the complete quintessence of imcomprehensible nonsense. Therefore, by the second law of thermo-dynamics, which lays down that we are hourly and momently progressing to a state of more and more randomness, we receive positive assurance that we are moving happily and securely in the right direction. You may not believe me,‰ЫЄ added Wimsey, now merrily launched on a flight of fantasy, ‰Ычbut I have got to the point now at which the slightest glimmer of common-sense imported into this preposterous case would not merely disconcert me but cut me to the heart. I have seen unpleasant cases, difficult cases, complicated cases and even contradictory cases, but a case founded on stark unreason I have never met before. It is a new experience and, blasМ© as I am, I confess that I am thrilled to the marrow.‰ЫЄ
Couldn't quite bring myself to give this 4 stars, despite the always lovely interactions of Harriet Vane and Peter Wimsey. I think there was just too much detail in the mystery for me. I like to read about the clues and inferences and have some obfuscations revealed, but it felt like a lot of minute detail could have been glossed over a bit, and kept the pace moving better. It was a pleasant read, but a far cry from Gaudy Night.
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No