Scan barcode
ecari's review against another edition
2.0
I didn't enjoy this LPW as well as all the others, perhaps because there was so little Lord Peter in it. Harriet is great, but just not the same. Also, the subplots around spying just weren't as interesting as the usual Sayers mysteries, in my mind.
kjboldon's review against another edition
3.0
This continuation of the Peter Wimsey and Harriet Vane mysteries frustrated me regularly. Harriet kept acting and thinking in ways that were rather stupid and slow and thus completely out of character. Yet it also sometimes delighted me, in its continuation of the lives of beloved characters but more in its details of life in WWII like the way that a small town handles justice and fairness in its pig club, but also details about the war that I wasn't as aware of as an American, like the significance of Holland. I read this book quickly and stayed up late to finish it but can't bring myself to feel it deserves anything above 3 stars.
I think Walsh is mostly good at writing Harriet, but stumbles even more with Peter. He's offstage for much of the book but when he finally returns, it's anticlimactic. I really enjoyed Thrones, Dominations. This one was a disappointment.
I think Walsh is mostly good at writing Harriet, but stumbles even more with Peter. He's offstage for much of the book but when he finally returns, it's anticlimactic. I really enjoyed Thrones, Dominations. This one was a disappointment.
thesarahshay's review
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
Let's call a spade a spade: this is fanfic. It's pretty good fanfic that got properly published, but fanfic just the same. It's not a patch on a real Sayers; all of the character are a bit out of sync, and the mystery is pretty perfunctory. But if you go into it knowing that, it can be a fun read. If you're a fan of the 1987 TV miniseries, listen to the audiobook narrated by Edward Petherbridge.
(A note: Paton Walsh probably did about as good a job as anyone alive could, there's just a cap on how good that is. I don't think anyone could write Peter and Harriet like Sayers; to try is a fool's errand.)
(A note: Paton Walsh probably did about as good a job as anyone alive could, there's just a cap on how good that is. I don't think anyone could write Peter and Harriet like Sayers; to try is a fool's errand.)
periheliondives's review
mysterious
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
cooeeaus's review against another edition
5.0
I love the books on Lord Peter Wimsey/Harriet Vane written originally by Dorothy L Sayers and now continued by Jill Paton Walsh. Walsh really does justice to the couple and I really would like to see more on the Wimsey/Vane family.
The second World War is current in this novel and Peter with Bunter are overseas somewhere, while Harriet and the children are in the country home they own and Harriet finds herself with a mystery to solve.
This is an excellent read for those who like those classic mystery reads like Christie, Francis Durbridge's 'Paul/Steve Temple', Georgette Heyer mysteries, Marjorie Allingham ... just to name a few. If you haven't read these authors I recommend them, Heyer's mysteries are great, the Paul & Steve Temple mysteries are excellent and fun so give them all a try.
The second World War is current in this novel and Peter with Bunter are overseas somewhere, while Harriet and the children are in the country home they own and Harriet finds herself with a mystery to solve.
This is an excellent read for those who like those classic mystery reads like Christie, Francis Durbridge's 'Paul/Steve Temple', Georgette Heyer mysteries, Marjorie Allingham ... just to name a few. If you haven't read these authors I recommend them, Heyer's mysteries are great, the Paul & Steve Temple mysteries are excellent and fun so give them all a try.
kindleandilluminate's review against another edition
3.0
It's not excellent as a Peter and Harriet novel - a pale echo of Sayers - but holds up as a mystery and a novel if divorced from its predecessors.
sawyerbell's review against another edition
3.0
I haven't read any Dorothy Sayers so don't know how it compares, but this was a fairly enjoyable look at life during WWI.
deborama's review against another edition
4.0
Truthfully, it doesn't deserve four stars, but I have a passion for Harriet Vane and it would feel like being unfaithful to a friend to rate it lower. Ha ha. Second book I read on my Kindle Fire. On holiday. It's perfect that kind of thing. Unlike in real Dorothy L. Sayerses, I figured out the mystery pretty quickly. Well, most of it.
ivleafclover's review against another edition
3.0
Still enjoying the continuation of Harriet and Peter's story, although this one was a little too easy to figure out. I would much rather be in the dark until the very end. It's no fun to solve the puzzles while Peter and Harriet are still fumbling around.
bev_reads_mysteries's review against another edition
1.0
Ruth Rendell wondered, "Will Paton Walsh do it again?" My answer? Unfortunately, yes. Paton Walsh does not have the classic background of a Sayers. One of the delights of reading Sayers' work is all the quotations she would sprinkle through the pages. Not just to say, "look what I know" but as a natural part of the characters of Peter and Harriet. Paton Walsh may write very good mysteries of her own...but she really doesn't do Lord Peter well. I've read the Wimsey papers that this story is based on. As fragmentary as those are they are far superior to this novel--with all the flavor of Sayers' writing. This has none.