A Presumption of Death

by Jill Paton Walsh

Other authorsDorothy L. Sayers (Inspiration)

Hardcover, 2003

Status

Available

Call number

Fic Mystery Walsh

Publication

St. Martin's Minotaur (2003), Hardcover, 384 pages

Description

In 1998, Jill Paton Walsh completed Dorothy L. Sayers' last, unfinished Lord Peter Wimsey novel, Thrones, Dominations to widespread praise. Here, using "The Wimsey Papers", in which Sayers described life in Britain during World War II, Walsh devises an irresistible story set in 1940 at the start of the Blitz. While Lord Peter is abroad on a secret mission, Harriet Vane, now Lady Peter Wimsey, takes their children to safety in the country. But there's no escape from war: rumors of spies abound, glamorous RAF pilots and flirtatious land-girls scandalize the villagers, and the blackout makes rural lanes as sinister as London's alleys. And when a practice air-raid ends with a young woman's death, it's almost a shock to hear that the cause is not enemy action, but murder. Or is it? With Peter away, Harriet sets out to find out whodunit ... and the chilling reason why.… (more)

User reviews

LibraryThing member alaudacorax

My first Jill Paton Walsh and I wasn't overly impressed by A Presumption of Death.

Pros: It kept me reading until the end, and I'm actually not much of a crime fiction fan outside of Dorothy L and, when I'm feeling like some light reading, the occasional 'Miss Marple' or 'Miss Seeton'; so that's a

point in her favour.

Cons: (1) JPW is simply not as good a prose writer as DLS. She doesn't flow so well and I occasionally came upon awkward sentence structures that Dorothy L would never have allowed into print. (2) I haven't checked this out properly as yet (and I probably won't bother), but some of the language she gave people struck me as anachronistic, leaving me thinking that people in that time and place just would not have spoken quite like that. (3) I wasn't impressed by some of her characterisation. Just off the top of my head, I don't think she at all accurately captured DLS's depiction of Puffet, the vicar's wife, Miss Twitterton or Helen, and I wasn't really convinced by the Dowager Duchess or Bunter, either (and I dread to think what Dorothy L. would have had to say about having Harriet undressing Bunter). (4) I missed the way DLS liberally peppered Harriet and Peter's speech and thoughts with unacknowledged and almost unsignalled literary quotes and allusions - for me that was one of the delights of the books and, after perhaps a couple of decades of reading, I still haven't chased down the half of them to their sources - always supposing I've actually spotted them all, which is unlikely. They were Dorothy L's way of signalling that Harriet and Peter were kindred spirits and potential soul mates - very important.

I'm sorry, but Jill Paton Walsh is just not Dorothy L. Sayer.

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LibraryThing member MusicMom41

Of the two fragments of Lord Peter stories that Walsh finished, I prefer this one to "Thrones and Dominions" although this story focuses more on Harriet than Lord Peter. The plot is better developed as are the characters. Also, I like this story better. Although not as good as the best of the

original novels it is certainly worth reading for the avid Lord Peter (and Harriet Vane!) fan.

The story takes place near the beginning of WWII at the start of the Blitz in London. While Peter is on a secret mission for the foreign Office Harriet takes the children to safety in the country. However, evidence of war is here also with glamorous RAF pilots and Land Girls who scandalize the neighborhood and blackouts make the country lanes dangerous. When a body is discovered in the lane after the first air-raid practice the neighborhood is appalled to discover that it is not a war casualty but a murder. The police are under manned and over extended so Harriet reluctantly agrees to help with the investigation.

I read the novel when it first came out and enjoyed it. I bought the audio version to listen to on a driving trip with my husband. Edward Petherbridge, the narrator, played Lord Peter in the 3 BBC episodes that feature Harriet Vane and I really enjoyed his narration (he was my favorite “Lord Peter” actor). Jim, however, wished that the narrator had been a woman because the story was so much about Harriet.

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LibraryThing member delphica

(#13 in the 2005 Book Challenge)

Based on the Dorothy Sayers characters. Didn't I say I was going to take a break from mysteries for a while? Anyway, this is a Lord Peter/Harriet Vane mystery that takes place during WWII. It's probably impossible for a modern day person to write about WWII without

knowing the outcome of WWII, which gives this a funny tone compared to the actual Sayers books (I thought the same thing about Thrones, Dominations). I had been looking for this in paperback for a while, and once I found it, I couldn't not read it even though my expectations were fairly low going in.

Grade: B, eh, it's just eh.
Recommended: To people who bothered to read Thrones, Dominations and liked it well enough. It's no Gaudy Night, I'll tell you what.

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LibraryThing member atimco

It's WWII and the Wimsey family is caught up in the all-consuming war effort like the rest of the country. At the start of the Blitz, Harriet and the boys have retreated to their country home of Talboys while Peter and Bunter are doing highly sensitive intelligence work abroad. Working from Dorothy

Sayers' "Wimsey Papers," Jill Paton Walsh has created a surprisingly compelling mystery story.

I have always enjoyed wartime stories set "back home" where life must still go on, even as the shadow of the bigger world at war looms over everything (Rilla of Ingleside comes to mind). I think the reason this story works better than Walsh's first effort (Thrones, Dominations) is because Peter is gone most of the time and so I was not constantly scrutinizing his and Harriet's relationship and conversations to see if they were authentically Sayerian. The mystery itself is rather better done than that of the previous book. I'd reread this one.

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LibraryThing member cee2

Harriet Vane is one of my favorite literary characters and this book gives a good idea of her intelligence and competence along with her sensitivity and loyalty. Mss Paton Walsh has done well by her use of Ms. Sayers' Wimsey Papers to construct another mystery using the well loved characters of

Harriet Vane and Lord Peter Wimsey. Set during the 2nd World War in the English countryside, we see Harriet as a mother, mistress of the household, aunt, and detective as well as being the wife and partner of Lord Peter. It's such a treat to read a story involving these characters again.

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LibraryThing member phoebesmum

A worthy attempt at filling Sayers’s (sensible) shoes; her writing style fits the bill, and her story is competent enough. Peter was sadly missed, but Harriet taking centre stage was appreciated, and the cameos by Bunter, St George, the Dowager Duchess and a vastly improved not to say redeemed

Denver give the story life. She is, of course, writing with the benefit of hindsight and thus cheating, and her language slips occasionally, but overall this is excellent.

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LibraryThing member mramos

This book takes place mainly in a small village in the countryside of England. The time, Wartime England, covering the end of 1939 through early 1940. While the village has its first air-raid practice, a crime is committed. They return to the streets to find a young lady murdered.

Lord Peter Wimbsy

is off on a Secret Mission for his country. Leaving the short-handed police to turn to his wife for assistance, Writer and amateur detective Lady Peter Wimsey, known before her marriage as Harriet Vane.

We follow Harriet as she tries to solve this mystery. The story is well woven and just when we figure out who did it, we are thrown a curious twist. The cast of characters in the village makes for a fun read. We are also given a good look at life in England during the early part of World War II.

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LibraryThing member MusicMom41

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LibraryThing member photomarg

Not up to Dorothy L. Sayers' standards, quite, but a satisfactory Wimsey/Vane fix.

LibraryThing member hailelib

A moderately OK mystery (though the murderer of the landgirl was pretty easy to spot!) with Harriet Vane Wimsey doing most of the detecting in the first half of the book since Peter is on a secret mission somewhere. It's early in WWII and Harriet is at Talboys with both the Wimsey and the Parker

children and the country round about is full of evacuees, airmen, and landgirls. Naturally Harriet agrees when the overworked local police ask for a bit of help in a murder investigation. But it's Peter who, after his return, comes up with the answer. Nice details of village life at the beginning of the war and a nice visit with the Wimsey family. For those who can't get get enough of Ms. Sayer's characters even when written by another author.

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LibraryThing member Fledgist

World War II is on, Lady Peter Wimsey and children (and the Parker children) are in Hertfordshire. Peter is off somewhere for the FO. Then, of course, there's a murder. Harriet is asked to investigate. It turns out to have more twists than a country road. Peter does help, in the end, as does the

indefagitable Bunter.

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LibraryThing member Lindoula

Not bad, but a little too easy to figure out, and too little Peter Wimsey for my taste. Not only that, while I think Walsh does a pretty job with Harriet, her Peter just doesn't match up to Sayers' Peter.

LibraryThing member Elleneer

A delight to read. Details of life during wartime (WWII) in England are fascinating.. How technology has changed! They painted out road and railroad station signs, whereas today, GPS would find the location immediately. Loved the quotations from poetry and the Bible--how shallow, crass and

commercial our society seems by comparison in the 21st C.

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LibraryThing member PaperDollLady

Excellent narration by Edward Petherbridge makes great listening of a Harriet Vane and Lord Wimsey murder mystery written by Jill Paton Walsh that was based on Dorothy Sayers' notes. An encompassing suspenseful story that puts you right there in the English countryside, and briefly in London,

during WW II. There's loads of atmosphere depicting the sacrifices and hardships endured by the British citizenry, and I particularly liked how daily family life and the presence and care of young children was included. So often the little ones are merely marginalized minor characters, but here they're appealing and entertaining players in an overall intriguing novel.

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LibraryThing member JaneSteen

Where I got the book: my bookshelf.

All in all, this is probably the weakest of the Paton Walsh Wimsey books. Paton Walsh does a reasonable facsimile of Sayers' high-life dialogue, but falls down when it comes to rendering the speech of ordinary people--and this novel puts the Wimseys among the

villagers of Paggleham, where Harriet and the children are escaping from the London Blitz while Peter--who, by this time, must be getting a bit geriatric for intelligence work--goes off to Destinations Unknown to do something or the other, purely, I suspect, to raise tension as Harriet worries whether he'll return.

Paton Walsh seems determined to get as many characters from the Wimsey books into this one as possible, along with some code-breaking à la The Nine Tailors. The overall effect is something of a patchwork pastiche, not altogether pleasing to the palate. She's imitating the wartime Wimsey stories, of course; ghoul as I am, I'd much rather she'd dealt with the death of young Jerry, because she handles Wimsey tragic better than Wimsey whimsical.

One for the fans, entirely, with nothing much to commend it to the general reader. An OK mystery, but just OK.

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LibraryThing member raizel

Of more interest for its discussion of everyday life during 1940 in England than as a murder mystery. I guessed whodunit, and I never guess whodunit. The letters at the beginning and end of the story were written by Dorothy Sayers; the rest is by Ms. Walsh.

LibraryThing member leslie.98

Maybe even 3.5*

Nice to see Lord Peter & Harriet & Bunter again! 1939-1940: WW2 is going on & on the home front, there is rationing, air raid drills & evacuees... and a murder or two to be cleared up!

LibraryThing member jennybeast

New reader for this book -- took some getting used to, but enjoyed it once I did. Harriet on her own at Tallboys in WWII, holding down the fort and keeping the 5 kids of the next generation in the country with her (with nanny and cook and housemaid, of course). She remains a quietly enthralling

character, and the story really powerfully relates the harrowing powerlessness of waiting that so many people have endured in times of war and crisis. Beautiful writing, feels true to the original series with perhaps a little more emotional depth.

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LibraryThing member leslie.98

Fewer