Donation from Mum.

WILD RELEASE NOTES:

Taken to the meetup.

Our first introduction to Harriet Vane and one of the great romances of cozy detection. I know that many people now see Peter Wimsey as a foppish caricature but this is not my perception. Here he is the romantic hero of a quest for the fair lady with the looming deadline of Harriet's retrial setting a clear boundary to his investigation. In practice, the murderer can be deduced early in the novel, so it becomes a whydoit and a howdunnit until the end.

Written in the late 1920s about contemporary England, the book is filled with social commentary explored from various angles by using the viewpoints of several characters. Harriet's circumstances having been shaped significantly by the changing role of women. Modernism and spiritualism are mocked trenchantly in sharp aphorisms.

Most whodunnits do not bear rereading but Sayers' sharp with and incisive observation provide continuing rewards.

WILD RELEASE NOTES:

With other books on fireplace.