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3.77 AVERAGE
3.77 AVERAGE
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
adventurous
mysterious
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
adventurous
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
3.5★
It would be nice when reading a new, favourite author if there was a steady arc of improvement, but I don't like this one quite as much as I liked [b:Clouds of Witness|192888|Clouds of Witness (Lord Peter Wimsey, #2)|Dorothy L. Sayers|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1287510321s/192888.jpg|1576206]. I still enjoyed it, but there were places where the story became quite bogged down and Sayers had characters voicing their disapproval of both blacks & Roman Catholics. My usual disclaimer; I still prefer to read uncensored.
I think Sayers was probably struggling a bit with censorship herself - it was obvious that two of the characters were
I guessed the main twist well before the end, but this was still a satisfying read & I hope to tackle another Sayers before the end of the year.
It would be nice when reading a new, favourite author if there was a steady arc of improvement, but I don't like this one quite as much as I liked [b:Clouds of Witness|192888|Clouds of Witness (Lord Peter Wimsey, #2)|Dorothy L. Sayers|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1287510321s/192888.jpg|1576206]. I still enjoyed it, but there were places where the story became quite bogged down and Sayers had characters voicing their disapproval of both blacks & Roman Catholics. My usual disclaimer; I still prefer to read uncensored.
I think Sayers was probably struggling a bit with censorship herself - it was obvious that two of the characters were
Spoiler
lesbian but it was never directly stated. I found Sayers way of handling this both clever and interesting.I guessed the main twist well before the end, but this was still a satisfying read & I hope to tackle another Sayers before the end of the year.
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
3.5 stars, 3 for how much I enjoyed it and 4 for stellar plot and writing.
(Don't be deceived by the fact that I laughed while reading this book; it is far closer to a thriller than to a comedy. Miss Alexandra Katherine Climpson is just marvelous, that's all.)
(Don't be deceived by the fact that I laughed while reading this book; it is far closer to a thriller than to a comedy. Miss Alexandra Katherine Climpson is just marvelous, that's all.)
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
N/A
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Highly recommended by Sonia.
Check our catalog: https://encore.cooklib.org/iii/encore/search/C__Sunnatural%20death%20sayers__Orightresult__U?lang=eng&suite=gold
Check our catalog: https://encore.cooklib.org/iii/encore/search/C__Sunnatural%20death%20sayers__Orightresult__U?lang=eng&suite=gold
This mystery novel, first published in 1927, is still a compelling read.
Really great mystery featuring a very rollicking adventure. The solution isn't just pulled out of a hat (you can work it all out along the way - maybe not beyond doubt but I'd worked out most of it quite a bit before the end) and is pretty interesting (although the murderer's initial murder and motive is kind of strange, even if the facts work out ok). Somewhat formulaic but really excellent writing for the genre, with enjoyable dialogue and great characters. There's some serious stuff - lesbian relationships, most obviously - that are dealt with pretty well and though Sayers doesn't avoid injecting her own morality regarding them into the book she's remarkably delicate about it and never condemns lesbians - I mean the portrayal is hardly that great and relies on stereotypes but it's never cruel and it comes across pretty well, at least in my opinion.
HOWEVER, as multiple other people have pointed out, there's a really iffy bit. A black character is referred to using the n-word. This is reported by another character in a letter, who places the word in quotes and pretty clearly indicates their distate for it - although probably not clearly enough, and it's obviously really disgusting to see whatever. The character is minor except for a later part where there's a short bit about the media's racist smear campaign against him. Another person goes into why this is pretty iffy in detail but basically the police use him as bait to try and snare the real criminal. Unbelievably dodgy and dangerous. Otherwise the way he's talked about isn't racist, outside of maybe some patronising descriptions and one or two people leaping to bad conclusions based on racism - I don't really think Wimsey himself comes across as racist. But it's still pretty bad. It's the sort of thing that'd probably be considered particularly well done 90 years ago but now looks pretty shameful. I don't think it destroys the book because the racism is, imo, disapproved of within text but that's not shown clearly and I'd find it hard recommending the book without qualifications for that.
Following is some rambling on the main plot point cause I felt it was a bit weak if you thought about it but not a big deal:
HOWEVER, as multiple other people have pointed out, there's a really iffy bit. A black character is referred to using the n-word. This is reported by another character in a letter, who places the word in quotes and pretty clearly indicates their distate for it - although probably not clearly enough, and it's obviously really disgusting to see whatever. The character is minor except for a later part where there's a short bit about the media's racist smear campaign against him. Another person goes into why this is pretty iffy in detail but basically the police use him as bait to try and snare the real criminal. Unbelievably dodgy and dangerous. Otherwise the way he's talked about isn't racist, outside of maybe some patronising descriptions and one or two people leaping to bad conclusions based on racism - I don't really think Wimsey himself comes across as racist. But it's still pretty bad. It's the sort of thing that'd probably be considered particularly well done 90 years ago but now looks pretty shameful. I don't think it destroys the book because the racism is, imo, disapproved of within text but that's not shown clearly and I'd find it hard recommending the book without qualifications for that.
Following is some rambling on the main plot point cause I felt it was a bit weak if you thought about it but not a big deal: