On the Case with Lord Peter Wimsey

Lord Peter Wimsey #3,6,8

by Dorothy L. Sayers

Includes: Strong Poison / Have His Carcase / Unnatural Death.

Strong Poison
Mystery novelist Harriet Vane knew all about poisons, and when her fiance died in the manner prescribed in one of her books, a jury of her peers had a hangman's noose in mind. But Lord Peter Wimsey was determined to find her innocent--as determined as he was to make her his wife.

Have-His-Caracase
The mystery writer Harriet Vane, recovering from an unhappy love affair and its aftermath, seeks solace on a barren beach -- deserted but for the body of a bearded young man with his throat cut. From the moment she photographs the corpse, which soon disappears with the tide, she is puzzled by a mystery that might have been suicide, murder or a political plot. With the appearance of her dear friend Lord Peter Wimsey, she finds a reason for detective pursuit -- as only the two of them can pursue it.

Unnatural Death
The wealthy old woman was dead -- a trifle sooner than expected. The intricate trail of horror and senseless murder led from a beautiful hampshire village to a fashionable London flat and a deliberate test of amour -- staged by the debonair sleuth Lord Peter Wimsey.

Genres: Mystery, Fiction

566 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1991

About the author

The detective stories of well-known British writer Dorothy Leigh Sayers mostly feature the amateur investigator Lord Peter Wimsey; she also translated the Divine Comedy of Dante Alighieri.

This renowned author and Christian humanist studied classical and modern languages.

Her best known mysteries, a series of short novels, set between World War I and World War II, feature an English aristocrat and amateur sleuth. She is also known for her plays and essays.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dorothy...

Reviews

[Harron68 · Rating 4 out of 5]

I first met Lord Peter thru U.S. tv's Masterpiece Theatre. I was drawn into the mysteries and read them all. In this collection I reread the three. So much fun!!!! My fave remains "THE NINE TAILORS."
I'm not happy with the sniping at books written long ago (now a century in the past) that reflect the prejudices of those times. i want to shout "Get over it" but I see how hurtful the portrayals can be to modern tastes. Still, please have patience and learn from the "slurs" we have come a long way since then.
One more truth I'll share: the ethos of today will look bad to folks a century from now! That is, if we haven't exterminated ourselves before then. Have a nice day!

[Sasha]

Read Unnatural Death.

[Lisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love everything about Sayers' books except....yes you guessed it: the racist stereotypes and comments. They are not too disgusting, just condescending in the way British writers of that period have a tendency to be. I totally do not excuse any form of racism. I am Jewish and she has comments about Jews. If they were any more extreme I would not be able to enjoy the books.
I enjoy the books for being historical writing that reminds me of my family, who were Brit/Irish/Welsh.

If you read these books, you may find that you just can't ignore the racial comments.
I don't in any way condone or excuse that kind of superiority complex, which is really ignorance.
All humans are different but unconditionally equal.

Some nice descriptions of England, Oxford and so on.

[Lotzastitches · Rating 3 out of 5]

Finished "Strong Poison" in June.
July 6th: on chapter 9 of "Have His Carcase".
July 13th: Finished "Have His Carcase".

I'm going to skip the last novel (Unnatural Death) in this book. I love the interaction between Lord Peter Wimsey and Harriet Vane. "Gaudy Night" will continue on with their adventures and so that is added to my "to read" list.

For chronological order of Lord Peter Wimsey novels:

[Rachel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Having read all of Sayers' short stories about Peter Wimsey, I was excited to read some of the novels. They were very well-written, exciting, and interesting. I truly enjoyed them.

[dot · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun to read, but the casual racism... Ugh.

[Pam]

If you could get past the writing of the time these books were written, not bad stories

[Mdbeltrano · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really like Lord Peter!! He's pretty darn close to being as good as Sherlock Holmes!

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well... I'm just reading Strong Poison but it's not coming up as a standalone.

HIYA HARRIET!