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3.82 AVERAGE
3.82 AVERAGE
mysterious
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
The quality of the stories ranges quite a lot. Some of them are clever and/or funny. Others are like professionally written fanfic with Peter as a Marty Stu.
Content Warnings
Minor: Antisemitism
adventurous
mysterious
fast-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
Short stories. Some are definitely better than others
Je pensais me traîner péniblement à travers ce recueil (que j'ai lu juste parce que je veux passer à travers toute la série), parce que tsé, les murder mysteries format nouvelles -- mais je me suis beaucoup amusée. Quelques scénarios convenus, beaucoup d'exubérance, des huis clos & des portes verrouillées de l'intérieur, & une seule petite histoire tellement mauvaise qu'elle en est gênante : ce serait difficile de demander un meilleur ratio.
Short stories of various lengths. Some are tightly constructed, but a few are ludicrous. Lord Peter behaves more like a spy than a detective in at least one of the stories.
Content Warnings
Minor: Racial slurs
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I keep forgetting how conservative the old crime writers were. I don’t think I’m ever going to be a Sayers girl, but overall some fun.
There's an edge to Sayers that I hadn't quite expected -- I often had to take small breaks between stories, as they can get a bit grim. But still nonetheless Wimsey's love of beauty and goodness pulls me through: I don't really care about wine or cars, but goodness do I care about antiquarian books and fabulous clothing more than enough to make up for it. These stories were clever and well-crafted, and a good reminder of why the novel-length ones are worth the amount of time they take up my brain. It's a bit funny to see how self-consciously Sherlockian the story construction is at moments (especially with the last story in this volume) but on the whole I like it.
Normally I'm not a huge short story fan, but these are just as much fun as the full novels.