The Late Scholar: Lord Peter Wimsey/Harriet Vane Series, Book 4
(Libby/OverDrive eBook, Kindle)

*Starred Review* We know from internal evidence that it is 1952. The Duke of Denver, Peter Wimsey; his wife, the Duchess, who writes mysteries under her birth name, Harriet Vane; and the ever-present, ever-indispensable manservant, Bunter, are in receipt of a letter from St. Severin's, Oxford. It seems that Peter is the Visitor for the college, and a dispute has come up that he must adjudicate. Shall the college, in dire financial straits, sell a Boethius manuscript? This allows Walsh to write a love letter to Oxford, city and university; to illuminate the large and petty disagreements, both scholarly and personal, that then as now drive academe; to provide a rather alarming number of corpses; and to allow Peter, Harriet, and Bunter to do what they do best. Our beloved characters are not so much in evidence as Oxford itself is, but their words are taken with delight. There are glimpses, too, of Peter's mother, elderly and frail but adorable as ever; of their oldest son, Bredon, who struggles with a future that does not include Balliol; and of Peter Bunter, who has set his sights on the London School of Economics. It does not have quite the tie to Sayers as have earlier volumes in the series, nor does it possess the power of The Attenbury Emeralds (2011), but it is delicious nonetheless.--DeCandido, GraceAnne A. Copyright 2010 Booklist

Lord Peter Wimsey, now the Duke of Denver, receives a summons to St. Severin's College in Oxford. It seems that, along with his new title, he also inherited the position of Visitor at St. Severin's, a mediator who is called upon to settle disputes among the Fellows of the college when voting on an issue is unresolved. St. Severin's possesses a priceless book alleged to have belonged to Alfred the Great. One faction of the Fellows wants to sell the book in order to purchase land to later sell at profit, while the other opposes the sale on the grounds that the scholarly value of the volume far outweighs its monetary worth. Deadlocked, they call in the Visitor. Upon arrival, Wimsey finds the Warden of the college missing and a trail of mysterious deaths and accidents, with Fellows being picked off one by one. Believing these deaths and accidents are intended to tip the balance of votes to favoring the sale of the book, Wimsey and his wife, Harriet Vane, begin investigating. VERDICT Walsh took up the mantle of Dorothy L. Sayers in 1998 when she completed Sayers's unfinished manuscript, A Presumption of Death. Though die-hard Sayers fans may find this title lacks the witty flavor of the originals, this is an entertaining and convoluted puzzle for readers who enjoy Golden Age mysteries. [See Prepub Alert, 1/6/14.]-Sandra Knowles, South -Carolina State Lib., Columbia (c) Copyright 2014. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

*Starred Review* We know from internal evidence that it is 1952. The Duke of Denver, Peter Wimsey; his wife, the Duchess, who writes mysteries under her birth name, Harriet Vane; and the ever-present, ever-indispensable manservant, Bunter, are in receipt of a letter from St. Severin's, Oxford. It seems that Peter is the Visitor for the college, and a dispute has come up that he must adjudicate. Shall the college, in dire financial straits, sell a Boethius manuscript? This allows Walsh to write a love letter to Oxford, city and university; to illuminate the large and petty disagreements, both scholarly and personal, that then as now drive academe; to provide a rather alarming number of corpses; and to allow Peter, Harriet, and Bunter to do what they do best. Our beloved characters are not so much in evidence as Oxford itself is, but their words are taken with delight. There are glimpses, too, of Peter's mother, elderly and frail but adorable as ever; of their oldest son, Bredon, who struggles with a future that does not include Balliol; and of Peter Bunter, who has set his sights on the London School of Economics. It does not have quite the tie to Sayers as have earlier volumes in the series, nor does it possess the power of The Attenbury Emeralds (2011), but it is delicious nonetheless. Copyright 2014 Booklist Reviews.

Lord Peter Wimsey, now the Duke of Denver, receives a summons to St. Severin's College in Oxford. It seems that, along with his new title, he also inherited the position of Visitor at St. Severin's, a mediator who is called upon to settle disputes among the Fellows of the college when voting on an issue is unresolved. St. Severin's possesses a priceless book alleged to have belonged to Alfred the Great. One faction of the Fellows wants to sell the book in order to purchase land to later sell at profit, while the other opposes the sale on the grounds that the scholarly value of the volume far outweighs its monetary worth. Deadlocked, they call in the Visitor. Upon arrival, Wimsey finds the Warden of the college missing and a trail of mysterious deaths and accidents, with Fellows being picked off one by one. Believing these deaths and accidents are intended to tip the balance of votes to favoring the sale of the book, Wimsey and his wife, Harriet Vane, begin investigating. VERDICT Walsh took up the mantle of Dorothy L. Sayers in 1998 when she completed Sayers's unfinished manuscript, A Presumption of Death. Though die-hard Sayers fans may find this title lacks the witty flavor of the originals, this is an entertaining and convoluted puzzle for readers who enjoy Golden Age mysteries. [See Prepub Alert, 1/6/14.]—Sandra Knowles, South Carolina State Lib., Columbia

In Walsh's cleverly plotted fourth mystery featuring the titular husband-wife sleuthing team—her second wholly original effort authorized by the Dorothy Sayers estate—Wimsey has succeeded to the title of the Duke of Denver after the death of his elder brother, Gerald, in the previous book, The Attenbury Emeralds (2010). One of Wimsey's new responsibilities as duke is to serve as "the Visitor" for Oxford's St. Severin's College, a role that requires him to referee disputes among the college's fellows. Just such a controversy has sprung up. Some fellows want to sell a rare manuscript of Boethius's Consolations of Philosophy that may have belonged to Alfred the Great, who translated the work from Latin into Anglo-Saxon, in order to buy some land, while others believe that such a sale would betray the institution's values. A series of disturbing incidents—including a fatal fall down stairs suspiciously similar to a murder method that Wimsey's detective-story writer wife, Harriet Vane, has used in her fiction—causes the couple to suspect a killer is at work. Walsh's pitch-perfect re-creation of the charismatic leads is a delight. Sayers fans can only hope for more. Agent: Phyllis Westberg, Harold Ober Associates. (June)