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3.82 AVERAGE
3.82 AVERAGE
A fairly light and enjoyable set of short stories. Because they aren’t really long enough to be as complicated as Wimsey mysteries normally are, they can be a little silly. But I enjoyed the silliness. I think my favorite is the one involving a phantom Death Coach and corpse stealing!
I read about half of the stories, I think. Some were fun, some just didn't hold my interest. I definitely prefer the Wimsey novels over the short stories.
Twelve short and entertaining mysteries involving Lord Peter Wimsey: The Abominable History of the Man with Copper Fingers; The Entertaining Episode of the Article in Question; The Fascinating Problem of Uncle Meleager's Will; The Fantastic Horror of the Cat in the Bag; The Unprincipled Affair of the Practical Joker; The Undignified Melodrama of the Bone of Contention; The Vindictive Story of the Footsteps That Ran; The Bibulous Business of a Matter of Taste; The Learned Adventure of the Dragon's Head; The Piscatorial Farce of the Stolen Stomach; The Unsolved Puzzle of the Man with No Face; and The Adventurous Exploit of the Cave of Ali Baba. More gruesome than many mysteries from the 20's I've read the crimes involve dissolving corpses, French grammar, crossword puzzles, the owner of a bag leaking blood?, a phantom carriage, a hot murder weapon, a wine tasting test, a hidden treasure map, a devised digestive tract, a disfigured corpse on a picturesque beach, and a secret criminal society.
Read first when I was in high school, I think. Reread in 2014.
Altogether delightful collection of short stories. Fast-paced and clever mysteries that were especially fun in their foreshadowing of the future books Sayers would go on to write. The ones with the crossword and the beach tides mystery were especially reminiscent of Have His Carcase, and I found it enjoyable to see how she put together these short stories into the full-blown novels.
I only read one of the short stories in this book. I'm not a big fan of creepy death methods so decided to stop there:)
wow this collection of short stories is fun, clever and just fantastic. I honestly thought when I picked it up it was another mystery and yes to me that was more than enough but then the added bonus of realising it wasn't just one mystery it was a collection of mysteries (short stories) featuring Lord Peter Wimsey I was incredibly happy and excited to get going. This is where Dorothy's writing takes off to a whole new level and I am not saying her earlier novels are less but the mysteries are more intense and more menacing and yet still with that bubble of charm to carry you through. Loved Loved loved it.
Altogether delightful collection of short stories. Fast-paced and clever mysteries that were especially fun in their foreshadowing of the future books Sayers would go on to write. The ones with the crossword and the beach tides mystery were especially reminiscent of Have His Carcase, and I found it enjoyable to see how she put together these short stories into the full-blown novels.
Short story collections are always a nice interlude in between longer detective novel series, and this one holds up. The shorter length and lack of exposition made for several fun variations on the usual Wimsey format, particularly when it came to disguising who Peter was or how he would become involved. There were a couple that were just fun (rare book treasure! Digestive health!) but the last story was the most haunting - vivid and not at all what I expected even if it does open with Peter Wimsey's alleged death. That and Peter's attitude about the man with no face make me very intrigued to find out if that unpredictable, sort of amoral, morbid quality comes back again in later books.