trouble writing her latest mystery novel, Harriet Vane explains, "When I needed the money, it justified itself. It was a job of work, and I did it as well as I could, and that was that. But now, you see, it has no necessity except itself. And, of course, it's hard; it's always been hard, and it's getting harder. So when I'm stuck I think, this isn't my livelihood, and it isn't great art, it's only detective stories. You read them and write them for fun." Is this a clue to the mystery of why Dorothy L. Sayers put aside her 13th full-length Lord Peter novel in 1938 and never finished it? She had made lots of money, and was much more interested in translating Dante and writing about religion. Or is it another excellent novelist, Jill Paton Walsh, speculating--in a perfect imitation of Sayers's voice--on what might have happened? Walsh was invited by the estate of Sayers' illegitimate son, Anthony Fleming, to finish Thrones, Dominations. She has done a splendid job, certain to please Sayers loyalists on the "dorothyl" listserv as well as those new to the Wimsey canon. Lord Peter has been made much more human and interesting by marriage; Harriet is a wise and acerbic companion; and the story, about the murders of two beautiful young women involved with a theatrical producer, is full of twists and connivance. There's also a fascinating subplot involving the soon-to-abdicate King Edward VII and a country on the brink of the second world war. Earlier Wimseys in paperback include The Five Red Herrings, Gaudy Night, Murder Must Advertise, and Unnatural Death. Books in print by Walsh include a mystery called A Piece of Justice and a novel, The Serpentine Cave.
Advantages: Full of suspense Disadvantages: Longer than necessary
...Introduction
DorothyLSayers, famous for whodunnits, was crowned as one of the Queens of Crime, along with Agatha Christie and Ngaio Marsh. Although some of her books have been televised in relatively recent years, she no longer seems to be quite as well-known as Agatha Christie. However, as a fan of crime fiction, I have always loved her books and would like to see them more appreciated. The main detective in her books is Lord Peter Wimsey, who is not a policeman, but rather a private sleuth who also happens to be very high-bred and wealthy.
The author
DorothyLSayers was born in 1893 and her father was headmaster at Christchurch Cathedral School. She studied at Oxford University, where she got a First in modern languages. She later worked for a publishing company and began writing in 1923. In later life, she taught herself Italian...
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Advantages: Some good stories Disadvantages: Most not particularly memorable
...DorothyLSayers, one of the so-called Queens of Crime (along with Agatha Christie, Ngaio Marsh and Margery Allingham), is best known for her novels featuring foppish Lord Peter Wimsey, an aristocrat with a taste for crime. Whereas most of the Lord Peter stories are book-length, Sayers has written several short stories, twelve of which are presented in this book. I have always preferred my crime fiction to be in the form of a book that I can get my teeth into; however, there are some good stories in this collection that are representative of Sayers' style and this is a good way for newcomers to the author to sample her work before trying out a full-length book.
Most of the stories involve a murder and Lord Peter's investigation and consequent discovery of the killer. This is usually done in the form of a conversation between Wimsey...
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helpful 24.11.2007
Best left buried Review ofBones of the Buried - David Robertsby
filmlover
Advantages: 1930s murder mystery Disadvantages: Poor imitation of Dorothy L Sayers
...Bones of the Buried is a murder mystery set in the 1930s featuring amateur sleuth Lord Edward Corinth and his liberated, female friend Verity Browne.
So first off, this is very similar to DorothyLSayers' novels written in the 1930s with Lord Peter Wimsey and Harriet Vane. Strangely, David Robert's novel doesn't mention DorothyLSayers so I don't know if we're not meant to notice the similarities. I still wanted to read this novel though as I was curious how similar they were going to be and I'm a big whodunit fan.
the story
It's 1936 and Lord Edward Corinth is asked by Verity Browne to stop her communist friend being executed in Spain for a murder he didn't commit. Edward has to overcome his jealousy over Verity (apparently he fancies her, she's not sure if she fancies him) and politics to help him. At the same time Edward...
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helpful 07.02.2006
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