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Available
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Publication
Hodder & Stoughton Ltd (1996), Paperback, 400 pages
Description
Fiction. Mystery. Society's eligible women are in mourning. Lord Peter Wimsey has married at last, having finally succeeded in his ardent pursuit of the lovely mystery novelist Harriet Vane. The two depart for a tranquil honeymoon in a country farmhouse but find, instead of a well-prepared love nest, the place left in a shambles by the previous owner. His sudden appearance, dead from a broken skull in the cellar, only prompts more questions. Why would anyone have wanted to kill old Mr Noakes? What dark secrets had he to hide? The honeymoon is over, as Lord Peter and Harriet Vane start their investigations. Suspicion is rife and everyone seems to have something to hide, from the local constable to the housekeeper. Wimsey and his wife can think of plenty of theories, but it's not until they discover a vital fact that the identity of the murderer becomes clear.… (more)
User reviews
LibraryThing member melannen
"A love story with detective interruptions" says Sayers about this book, which might seem odd in light of the fact that it takes place *after* Peter and Harriet have fallen in love and gotten married. But while it may not be a conventional boy-meets-girl love story, it is a story, above all,
Harriet and Peter head for their honeymoon for a month at an old farmhouse that Harriet loved as a child, but they get there to discover that nobody knew they were coming, and inconvenience and farce piles one on top of another until it culminates when they find a week-dead body in the basement.
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*about* love, about all the tiny compromises that marriage requires and love makes possible, and about the big scary changes that living with a love so all-consuming creates in one's heart.Harriet and Peter head for their honeymoon for a month at an old farmhouse that Harriet loved as a child, but they get there to discover that nobody knew they were coming, and inconvenience and farce piles one on top of another until it culminates when they find a week-dead body in the basement.
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LibraryThing member MrsLee
Dorothy Sayers created the perfect complement to Lord Peter, Harriet Vane. Of course you know I think this is a wonderful book, full of humor, pathos and romance. Lord Peter and his wife, Harriet, begin their married life by trying to avoid the massive press invasion that celebrities are subjected
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to. They begin well, by having a quiet wedding and slipping past the reporters to their secret home in the country. Things go downhill from there though, because a corpse is discovered in the basement. Now begins the real test of the marriage. Will it survive the solution to the mystery Show Less
LibraryThing member lyzard
Successfully evading the press and most of the groom's family, Harriet Vane and Lord Peter Wimsey are quietly married in an Oxford church. Shortly prior to the ceremony, Peter lets Harriet know that he has bought for her Talboys, an old country farmhouse she has always loved, which sits outside
"Oh, my dear, what is happening to us? What has become of our peace?"
"Broken," Peter said. "That's what violence does. Once it starts, there's no stopping it. It catches us all, sooner or later."
"But...it mustn't. Can't we escape?"
"Only by running away." He dropped his hands in a hopeless gesture. "Perhaps it would be better for us to run. I have no right to drag any woman into this mess---least of all my wife. Forgive me. I have been my own master so long---I think I have forgotten the meaning of an obligation." The stricken whiteness of her face startled him. "Oh, my dear---don't upset yourself like this. Say the word, and we'll go away. We'll leave this miserable business, and never meddle again."
"Do you really mean that?" Harriet said, incredulously.
"Of course I mean it. I have said it."
His voice was the voice of a beaten man. She was appalled, seeing what she had done. "Peter, you're mad. Never dare to suggest such a thing. Whatever marriage is, it isn't that."
"Isn't what, Harriet?"
"Letting affection corrupt your judgement. What kind of life could we have if I knew that you had become less than yourself by marrying me?"
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Great Pagford, near to where she spent her childhood with her doctor-father. Escaping to their country honeymoon with only Bunter and a carful of luxuries, Peter and Harriet are rather mortified when they arrive at Talboys to find it dark and deserted, with no sign of any preparations for their arrival, nor of Mr Noakes, the previous owner. Via a key provided by Miss Twitterton, Mr Noakes' niece, who is unable to account for her uncle's protracted absence, the newlyweds are able to enter their house and set about making it habitable, and making a start to their marriage. The latter tasks take a temporary backseat, however, when the dead body of Mr Noakes is discovered at the bottom of the cellar stairs, bearing a head injury that was not caused by a fall... It has become something of a tradition for me to start off my reviews of Dorothy Sayers' Lord Peter Wimsey mysteries with some reflections upon what annoyed me about them---and yes, alas, for all its many strengths, [Busman's Honeymoon] does have its annoyances, the overwhelming one being that Sayers follows up her Latin-tag conclusion to Gaudy Night by punctuating this novel with frequent and lengthy passages in French. The implication seems to be the same, i.e. If you'd had the right sort of education, you'd be able to read this. (And as I said re: the Latin, I did, and I can, and it's still annoying.) Otherwise, the nature of the narrative not really lending itself to even more revelations of obscure interests and arcane talents, Sayers contents herself with letting us know that Peter is dynamite in bed. (In fact, albeit obliquely, Peter tells us so himself!) But as is generally the case, these exasperations aside, Busman's Honeymoon is a fine and complex novel. Carrying the subtitle A Love Story With Detective Interruptions, much of the narrative concerns itself with the new realities created by marriage---with Harriet forced to adjust, not only to the privileges and demands of having married into the British aristocracy, though only to a younger son, but to Peter's complexities, thin-skin, and lingering emotional and psychological trauma. As for Peter himself, having devoted six years to his single-minded pursuit of Harriet, he comes to the belated realisation that he has never really thought beyond the point of his success. Any assumption, however, that marriage would mean a "settling" of his feelings is soon proved entirely false, as Peter finds himself in a whole new realm of emotional upheaval... The discovery of Mr Noakes body, and the confirmation that a murder has been committed, creates a situation awkward far beyond the immediate inconvenience of a police investigation in the middle of a honeymoon. Peter makes some attempt not to involve himself in the mystery, but in the end he cannot help himself; while Harriet resolves within herself that she will not interfere with his instinctive pursuit of the truth... Busman's Honeymoon is the last of Dorothy Sayers' Peter Wimsey novels (though some short stories followed), and as always, we find her using her detective novel as a vehicle for concerns far beyond those usually associated with the genre. Golden Age mysteries were often accused, and not without reason, of trivialising murder, turning it into a mere "entertainment"; and most of all, of course, with respect to the dabblings in crime of amateur, dilettante detectives---like Lord Peter Wimsey. As a parting shot, Sayers engages wholly with the implications of that argument---illustrating with grim exactness just what "playing detective" really means, within a society that embraces capital punishment..."Oh, my dear, what is happening to us? What has become of our peace?"
"Broken," Peter said. "That's what violence does. Once it starts, there's no stopping it. It catches us all, sooner or later."
"But...it mustn't. Can't we escape?"
"Only by running away." He dropped his hands in a hopeless gesture. "Perhaps it would be better for us to run. I have no right to drag any woman into this mess---least of all my wife. Forgive me. I have been my own master so long---I think I have forgotten the meaning of an obligation." The stricken whiteness of her face startled him. "Oh, my dear---don't upset yourself like this. Say the word, and we'll go away. We'll leave this miserable business, and never meddle again."
"Do you really mean that?" Harriet said, incredulously.
"Of course I mean it. I have said it."
His voice was the voice of a beaten man. She was appalled, seeing what she had done. "Peter, you're mad. Never dare to suggest such a thing. Whatever marriage is, it isn't that."
"Isn't what, Harriet?"
"Letting affection corrupt your judgement. What kind of life could we have if I knew that you had become less than yourself by marrying me?"
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LibraryThing member jasesq
More an examination of the adjustments two intelligent, independent people make when they are first married than a mystery, this book takes a lot of mystery fans off balance. Sayers herself called it "a love story with detective interruptions" and notes that while the reader may find the love story
I've honestly found most of Sayers' mystery plots to be a bit over-engineered anyway - I was never really interested in whodunit with a Sayers novel - the real interest for me was always in the relationships. Busman's Honeymoon has those in abundance, and they are all very specific and finely drawn.
I agree with another reviewer who says the best bit is the epistolary foreword. It's delicious.
Lastly, if you like audiobooks and you can lay your hands on a copy of Ian Carmichael reading this one, do it.
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to be a distraction from the mystery, the characters themselves would feel the opposite. The story was originally a stage play and I think those antecedents also show through in the writing as the various characters pop in and out of rooms and move about them, but not in a mannered or distracting way. I've honestly found most of Sayers' mystery plots to be a bit over-engineered anyway - I was never really interested in whodunit with a Sayers novel - the real interest for me was always in the relationships. Busman's Honeymoon has those in abundance, and they are all very specific and finely drawn.
I agree with another reviewer who says the best bit is the epistolary foreword. It's delicious.
Lastly, if you like audiobooks and you can lay your hands on a copy of Ian Carmichael reading this one, do it.
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LibraryThing member JaneSteen
Where I got the book: my bookshelf.
Harriet Vane and Lord Peter Wimsey are married at last, and have purchased an old house in the country where they intend to honeymoon. They arrive to find that the previous owner hasn't put things in order as he promised, and find out (mercifully AFTER the
This novel was based on a stage play that Sayers wrote with a friend (presumably to capitalize on the popularity of Gaudy Night, the previous Wimsey/Vane book.) You can still, if you think about it, see the original bones of the play's structure underneath the accretion of quotations, letters and inner monologues that glorify The Relationship into something way larger than any real relationship could be. Having spent so long getting her two characters together, Sayers endows them with superhuman amounts of tact, class and sexual prowess (hinted at above and beyond the bounds of delicacy.) The bones rest on the murder story itself, which is quite ingeniously done with a very devious murder method and a pretty decent supporting cast.
As for the rest...Sayers seems to have decided that now that she's made Harriet and Wimsey fall in love, she's going to make them very, very happy. Wimsey does, at the end, fall prey to the psychological problems that have haunted him since the War, but Harriet, naturally, provides the outlet for his guilt and pain so we're all good.
Don't get me wrong, I find this book very enjoyable and have read it several times. But after Gaudy Night which is a heartfelt exploration of her characters' psychology, Sayers seems content to fall back on a mess of quotations, sturm und drang and family ghosts to fill out her murder plot. However enjoyable, I'm kind of glad it was her last full-length Wimsey book. She needed to rein herself in and didn't.
Harriet Vane and Lord Peter Wimsey are married at last, and have purchased an old house in the country where they intend to honeymoon. They arrive to find that the previous owner hasn't put things in order as he promised, and find out (mercifully AFTER the
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wedding night) that there's a good reason...This novel was based on a stage play that Sayers wrote with a friend (presumably to capitalize on the popularity of Gaudy Night, the previous Wimsey/Vane book.) You can still, if you think about it, see the original bones of the play's structure underneath the accretion of quotations, letters and inner monologues that glorify The Relationship into something way larger than any real relationship could be. Having spent so long getting her two characters together, Sayers endows them with superhuman amounts of tact, class and sexual prowess (hinted at above and beyond the bounds of delicacy.) The bones rest on the murder story itself, which is quite ingeniously done with a very devious murder method and a pretty decent supporting cast.
As for the rest...Sayers seems to have decided that now that she's made Harriet and Wimsey fall in love, she's going to make them very, very happy. Wimsey does, at the end, fall prey to the psychological problems that have haunted him since the War, but Harriet, naturally, provides the outlet for his guilt and pain so we're all good.
Don't get me wrong, I find this book very enjoyable and have read it several times. But after Gaudy Night which is a heartfelt exploration of her characters' psychology, Sayers seems content to fall back on a mess of quotations, sturm und drang and family ghosts to fill out her murder plot. However enjoyable, I'm kind of glad it was her last full-length Wimsey book. She needed to rein herself in and didn't.
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LibraryThing member wendyrey
A well written Wimsey mystery /romance. Also in insight into English society of the 20's with a degree of casual racism that would be unacceptable today. The huge differences between the classes at the time is also evident.
Well worth the re reading.
Well worth the re reading.
LibraryThing member iayork
The romantic conclusion of the series!: Lord Peter and Harriet Vane are married. In a series of letters we learn the details of the wedding and honeymoon. Due to the malicious meddling of Lord Peter's sister-in-law and the hounding of the press, the bride and groom decide at the last minute to be
The adjustment to marring someone with money is a hurdle for Harriet. She buys him an expensive wedding gift that is just right, and with the last of her money she buys a gold designer wedding dress from Worth which suits her dark beauty perfectly. Lord Peter has made her independently wealthy but she has difficulty understanding the details. All that matters is that she has completely given her heart to Peter.
However, the honeymoon is not the quiet country idyll the Wimseys were longing for. The discovery of a body in the basement of their new home causes Lord Peter and Harriet to be swept up in a murder investigation and the press are once again at their door. While distracting, the investigation does not keep them from sharing many deep passionate moments. It does, however, cause them to confront difficulties in their personalities and temperaments.
Sayers writes with her usual wonderful characterizations and evocative style. The reader is transported to 1930's England, a simpler more elegant time. The intricacies of a grisly murder investigation throw into relief the charm of the simple life. Yet somehow this story has a more somber tone than the other Lord Peter mysteries, perhaps because it is the last book of the series. At any rate, once again Sayers delivers prime entertainment and an enchanting detective mystery, only this time Lord Peter is finally in a settled relationship with his beloved.
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married in a small chapel in Oxford. Harriet has asked Lord Peter to buy her a beautiful and ancient farmhouse in the country where they decide to go for their honeymoon. The adjustment to marring someone with money is a hurdle for Harriet. She buys him an expensive wedding gift that is just right, and with the last of her money she buys a gold designer wedding dress from Worth which suits her dark beauty perfectly. Lord Peter has made her independently wealthy but she has difficulty understanding the details. All that matters is that she has completely given her heart to Peter.
However, the honeymoon is not the quiet country idyll the Wimseys were longing for. The discovery of a body in the basement of their new home causes Lord Peter and Harriet to be swept up in a murder investigation and the press are once again at their door. While distracting, the investigation does not keep them from sharing many deep passionate moments. It does, however, cause them to confront difficulties in their personalities and temperaments.
Sayers writes with her usual wonderful characterizations and evocative style. The reader is transported to 1930's England, a simpler more elegant time. The intricacies of a grisly murder investigation throw into relief the charm of the simple life. Yet somehow this story has a more somber tone than the other Lord Peter mysteries, perhaps because it is the last book of the series. At any rate, once again Sayers delivers prime entertainment and an enchanting detective mystery, only this time Lord Peter is finally in a settled relationship with his beloved.
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LibraryThing member teckelvik
This is my least favorite of the Peter Wimsey mysteries, and whenever I reread it I'm pleasantly surprised by how much better it is than I remember it being.
What always throws me off is random, clumsy scenes and transitions - the scene, for example, where Bunter discovers the housekeeper dusting
Years later, I discovered why. Sayers didn't write this book. A friend of hers wrote a stage play using the characters, and when publishers and public were badgering her for more Peter Wimsey, she grabbed the play and adapted it. This revelation clarified everything. I can see an audience roaring with laughter at Bunter's sudden discomfiture, and so many of the scenes I deplore are now revealed as stage directions converted to text.
Having said all that, there is a lot to like about this book. Peter and Harriet are wonderful characters, and watching them settle in to life together is a joy. The whole game of quotations they constantly play is well worth whatever anyone might pay for a copy. There are other memorable characters, and Sayers did a good job with dialogue and setting.
This gets four stars, which is low only in that everything else in this series gets five.
What always throws me off is random, clumsy scenes and transitions - the scene, for example, where Bunter discovers the housekeeper dusting
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the wine bottles. It reads clumsily on the page, and seems to play Bunter for laughs in a way that undermines what we know of his character. There are scenes like this all over the book, and from the first time I read it, they have always jumped out at me, and pulled me out of my enjoyment of the rest of it.Years later, I discovered why. Sayers didn't write this book. A friend of hers wrote a stage play using the characters, and when publishers and public were badgering her for more Peter Wimsey, she grabbed the play and adapted it. This revelation clarified everything. I can see an audience roaring with laughter at Bunter's sudden discomfiture, and so many of the scenes I deplore are now revealed as stage directions converted to text.
Having said all that, there is a lot to like about this book. Peter and Harriet are wonderful characters, and watching them settle in to life together is a joy. The whole game of quotations they constantly play is well worth whatever anyone might pay for a copy. There are other memorable characters, and Sayers did a good job with dialogue and setting.
This gets four stars, which is low only in that everything else in this series gets five.
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LibraryThing member nperrin
This was my first mystery by Dorothy Sayers and I will definitely be returning for more. Lord Peter Wimsey is finally married, and he and his wife, Harriet Vane, must learn how to live together in their new roles. But on the first morning of their honeymoon a corpse is discovered in their new
I've seen reviews that complain this mystery was a bit self-indulgent, and I won't disagree, but I think this just goes to show how well-loved Wimsey is by his creator and his readers alike. The mystery itself is first-rate and the village personalities great fun--especially the police superintendent who plays literary games with the Wimseys. I'll definitely be starting this series over at the beginning.
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country house and dreams of a peaceful happy life are thrown into question.I've seen reviews that complain this mystery was a bit self-indulgent, and I won't disagree, but I think this just goes to show how well-loved Wimsey is by his creator and his readers alike. The mystery itself is first-rate and the village personalities great fun--especially the police superintendent who plays literary games with the Wimseys. I'll definitely be starting this series over at the beginning.
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LibraryThing member picardyrose
It's so romantic! Except for the dead guy.
LibraryThing member LARA335
Harriet and Peter on honeymoon desperately wanting to do right by each other. What sets Peter Wimsey apart from other literary sleuths is his sense of responsibility for the consequences of his actions, that whilst finding the culprit is an intellectual game for him, is a matter of the hangman's
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noose for the guilty. Show Less
LibraryThing member phyllis2779
Enjoyed this book a lot when I originally read it and enjoying it again as I reread it. What is nice reading it as an e-book is that it easier to translate the French that it is intermittently used. I have loved all the Peter Wimsey books and I;m glad I re-purchased this one. I think I gave away my
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paper copy a long time ago. Show Less
LibraryThing member page.fault
By this point in her series, Sayers has indisputably committed an unforgivable sin in writing: falling in love with her own protagonist. In every book, Lord Peter Wimsey has become more and more of a superman; he even gets taller and better-looking as the books progress. (under 5'9'' in the first
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book, he is a little under 6' by the last) He goes from an underdeveloped fair-haired Bertie Wooster to a sleek, muscled, intelligent, superhero by the end, who can do everything, from playing the piano like a maestro to swimming to rowing. Needless to say, he is lovable in the beginning, insufferable by the end. Even worse, she writes herself into her books--not, in the Agatha Christie style, as a wittering, absent-minded, endearing Ariadne Ollivers who eats about 20 apples a day and sheds hairpins wherever she goes, but as the persecuted, brilliant, and "oddly captivating" herione (at least, so were are told, by our clearly unbiased narrator) who MARRIES her detective. Both become increasingly, obnoxiously, and sickeningly perfect as time goes on. ugh. They become embarrassing, like reading the effusions of a 13-year-old writing fantasy fiction, where it is painfully clear that the authoress is the heroine and the hero is the Man Of Her Dreams. This book is so sickening in the romantic outpourings of the daydreaming author that it is difficult to read and somewhat of a disappointing end to the series; however, the side characters are still entertaining and enjoyable, and although it is difficult to appreciate the perfect-man-Wimsey, one gets flashes every so often of the human character he was before he was placed on his pedestal. Show Less
LibraryThing member raizel
This is a locked-door mystery as well as a murder in which the act leading to death happens way before the death itself (as is the case in many of Dorothy Sayers books), which sort of makes the locked door less of an obstacle. I did not guess whodunit, but I'm not sure I really cared. As she
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touched on in her note before the story, the "love-interest" and the "detective-interest" do not always mesh well. Lots of literary references, many of them obscure and not necessarily more clever than P.G. Wodehouse's. And then there are the letters from Lord Peter's uncle written in French with no clue in English as to what profound statements about life and love they contain. Still, I wanted to read it to the end; it's only after the book is over that it feels lacking. Show Less
LibraryThing member Kateingilo
I love Dorothy Sayers. She has a wonderful writing style, a highly educated mind, and a delightful wit. Some more adult content.
LibraryThing member marfita
It reads like a play because it was a play and Sayers did little to disturb that. People have said that Sayers's biggest mistake was falling in love with her lead character. The mistake just may be marrying him. Gone is all the sexual tension. So many terrific relationships in literature (and
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television, of all things) have been ruined this way. There are bits of this book that are just blushingly embarrassing (I'm blushing right now - although that might be a hot flash), but Sayers can still deliver a good mystery. Show Less
LibraryThing member aubreyfs
Peter Wimsey and Harriet Vane are just married. Discovering a body in the cellar of their new home, the ameteur sleuth and detective novelist find themselves engaged in a very interesting albeit morbid honeymoon. Fun characters, a good plot. Nothing gorey or disturbing!
LibraryThing member antiquary
Accurately described as a "love story with intervals of detecting" not bad, but I prefer Murder Must Advertise or Lord Peter
LibraryThing member tzelman
Murder on the Wimseys' honeymoon--ingenious at times but the least compelling of the Wimsey mysteries
LibraryThing member bookswamp
Lord Peter No. 11, 1937
Even though their honeymoon is (partly) spent with crime solving, Sayers finds time for subtle romancing.
Even though their honeymoon is (partly) spent with crime solving, Sayers finds time for subtle romancing.
LibraryThing member ReadingBear
Loved the read--but then I was predisposed to.
Lord Peter Wimsey & Harriet Vane finally get married & (almost incidentally) solve the problem of nasty Noakes who sold his 'country' house to them being found with his head bashed in in the celler.
No, this probably wasn't the best if you're looking for
But I really loved:
Dowager Duchess of Denver's appearances--she is so sweetly loving & adaptable to anything Lord Peter comes up with.
Bunter losing his cool with the dreadful Mrs Ruddles over port.
The so sarky snobbish Helen.
The loyal, unworldly lady dons of Harriet's 'home' college.
The wonderfully nasty yet charismatic Frank Crutchley
The vicar & cactus devotee, Mr Goodacre.
Their game of applied quotations.
So yes--I really enjoyed reading it, though it might not qualify as a great whodunnit it felt like a cross between fantasy & nostalgia for a time I never experienced.
Lord Peter Wimsey & Harriet Vane finally get married & (almost incidentally) solve the problem of nasty Noakes who sold his 'country' house to them being found with his head bashed in in the celler.
No, this probably wasn't the best if you're looking for
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tight plots & procedurals.But I really loved:
Dowager Duchess of Denver's appearances--she is so sweetly loving & adaptable to anything Lord Peter comes up with.
Bunter losing his cool with the dreadful Mrs Ruddles over port.
The so sarky snobbish Helen.
The loyal, unworldly lady dons of Harriet's 'home' college.
The wonderfully nasty yet charismatic Frank Crutchley
The vicar & cactus devotee, Mr Goodacre.
Their game of applied quotations.
So yes--I really enjoyed reading it, though it might not qualify as a great whodunnit it felt like a cross between fantasy & nostalgia for a time I never experienced.
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LibraryThing member KimMR
This novel is really much more of a love story than a mystery, as Dorothy L Sayers herself acknowledged. But for readers who followed the story of Peter Wimsey and Harriet Vane through the three previous novels which featured both characters, it is a most satisfying love story and a welcome
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culmination to the years of Peter's patient courtship and Harriet's determined resistance. Tbere's enough of a mystery to make it worthy of being called a mystery novel, but no more than that. Apart from the love story and the mystery, Busman's Honeymoon is an interesting reflection of the era in which it was written, with its depiction of English attitudes to class and race (not critical, but descriptive and not the less interesting for that). There's a lot of French in it, which is ok for me because I am reasonably fluent in that language, but it must be a trial for readers who are not. I know how they feel, because there's a bit of Latin in there as well, the meaning of which I can only guess at. (I have an old edition of Busman's Honeymoon - probably printed in the 1970s - with no translations or notes: possibly more recent editions translate the bits which aren't in English?) Anyway, even if it could be considered pretentious by today's standards, I love the French and the Latin...and the poetry with which each chapter starts and which characters quote with abandon. They don't write mysteries like this anymore, more's the pity! Show Less
LibraryThing member GingerbreadMan
The newlyweds Lord Peter Wimsey and Harriet Vane elope the tedious press after their wedding, and head for their newly bought country house. But coming there, they find it less than satisfactory. The doors are locked, the fireplaces all sooted up and there are traces of the previous owner
This is a kind of literature I seldom visit, the clever mystery richer in wit than in blood, where refined detectives jovially put two and two together. And, even though I liked the smart sense of humor and the banter shared by the newly wed couple here, I often felt a bit out of place. It just isn’t my cuppa, this.
However, as the mystery unfolds and continues to elude Lord Peter and Harriet, a darker streak starts to glimpse. This murder is really destroying their honeymoon. It appalls them. And in finally solving it, there is remorse and bad thoughts connected with condemning the culprit. There may not be that much blood on the floor here, but there is blood in the characters, making this a book about middle aged love and obsession more than detatched puzzle solving. Much as I enjoy Bunter’s stiff upper lip and Sayers ear for the way people speak, this gloom is what in the end pushes the book up to four stars for me.
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everywhere. Even the beds are still full of used sheets. And in trying to get the house in order, it becomes more than apparent that the seller Mr. Noakes, isn’t up for any local popularity awards. After a couple of days they find him in the basement with his head smashed in. And, trying to get the house in order, they have effectively cleaned away all clues themselves…This is a kind of literature I seldom visit, the clever mystery richer in wit than in blood, where refined detectives jovially put two and two together. And, even though I liked the smart sense of humor and the banter shared by the newly wed couple here, I often felt a bit out of place. It just isn’t my cuppa, this.
However, as the mystery unfolds and continues to elude Lord Peter and Harriet, a darker streak starts to glimpse. This murder is really destroying their honeymoon. It appalls them. And in finally solving it, there is remorse and bad thoughts connected with condemning the culprit. There may not be that much blood on the floor here, but there is blood in the characters, making this a book about middle aged love and obsession more than detatched puzzle solving. Much as I enjoy Bunter’s stiff upper lip and Sayers ear for the way people speak, this gloom is what in the end pushes the book up to four stars for me.
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LibraryThing member simchaboston
A sublime mix of mystery, romance, and comedy.
LibraryThing member Marliesd
An old mystery classic. Not quite Agatha Christie, but lots of fun anyway. She uses many literary references, though, which is good and sometimes, a little annoying. Even for an English teacher!
Awards
Language
Original publication date
1937
Physical description
464 p.; 6.77 inches
ISBN
0340489103 / 9780340489109
Local notes
Lord Peter, 13
DDC/MDS
| Fic Mystery Sayers |