Thrones, Dominations: A Lord Peter Wimsey / Harriet Vane Mystery
(Libby/OverDrive eBook, Kindle)

It is 1936. The old king is dying, there are ominous rumblings in Europe, and Lord Peter Wimsey detective, book collector, and occasional sub-rosa diplomat and his wife, the detective novelist Harriet Vane, are beginning their married life together in London. Sayers did not finish this last Lord Peter novel, but Walsh has done so and done it seamlessly. It is a dark and convoluted murder mystery (although the demise takes place fairly far into the story), and it is centered on the uses of beauty and money and theater and power. It is a nuanced description of the state of England when George V died, when his son became involved with a divorced American, and when disquieting bulletins about Hitler in Germany filled the news. But, above all, it is an intellectual and delicate examination of how two brilliant, strong-willed, and very different people learn to yoke themselves together without confounding their work and personhood. Harriet and Peter's shared passion is evident if discreetly described; readers will recognize her pregnancy long before she does. We are treated to letters from Peter's delightful mother, Honoria, and all ends with murders solved and marriages celebrated.--DeCandido, GraceAnne A. Copyright 2010 Booklist

After Sayers married off Lord Peter Wimsey and Harriet Vane in Busman's Honeymoon (1937), she devoted herself to translating Dante's Divine Comedy. A few short stories later appeared, noting the arrival of three Wimsey sons, and there was a rumor that suggested Sayers had another Wimsey novel in the works. Forty years after Sayers's death, that book has been triumphantly completed by British novelist Walsh (a 1994 Booker Prize finalist for Knowledge of Angels), following the original outline. If it is true that Sayers wrote the beginning, Walsh has done her predecessor a great service. Once the cast and context are established through some long exposition, the pace picks up, particularly after theatrical producer Laurence Harwell, an acquaintance of the Wimseys, discovers his cherished wife Rosamund strangled. As the nation mourns the death of King George V, upper-class women purchase black wardrobes, some of which are augmented with stylish white collars, an element which later figures as a clue. Germany invades the Rhineland. Uncrowned, Edward VIII continues to socialize with Nazis and to rendezvous with Mrs. Simpson. Lord Peter is recruited to persuade Edward to accept his responsibilities, but abdication is inevitable. The mystery involves two cases of blackmail as well as a second murder. Despite a large cast of suspects, ranging from two inept felons to a society portrait painter, every lead seems to come to a dead end. Typical of Sayers's novels, the solution derives from coincidences and some awkward plot devices. But readers have always turned to her mysteries for other reasons, such as the way Peter and Harriet settle the tumult four months of marriage has visited upon them. Harriet uncomfortably accepts her position as Lady Peter, with money and servants, while maintaining her independent identity as a mystery writer. In fact, her discussion of a plot problem with Peter helps him break a suspect's alibi. Sayers fans will relish the cooperative sleuthing of Peter, Harriet and the self-effacing Bunter as Walsh deftly captures and subtley updates the spirit of the series, endowing the iconic characters with additional depth and complexity. (Feb.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

YA-Lord Peter Wimsey is back. Walsh has completed a manuscript begun by Sayers but never finished. Readers already familiar with Lord Peter and his new wife Harriet Vane will not be disappointed and those who have yet to meet the pair will enjoy Harriet's discourses on writing mysteries for fun or profit and Lord Peter's "piffle." Here, the couple work to solve the murder of a society newlywed. The narrative includes much social commentary about England between the wars and even a fascinating trip through the London sewers. Walsh brings a fresh perspective, but remains true to Sayers's characters and tone. YAs interested in literary British mysteries or those just looking for a good historical novel will appreciate this recasting and may even be led back to the originals.-Susan H. Woodcock, Kings Park Library, Burke, VA (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

The legion of Sayers fans will rejoice at the release of this new Lord Peter Wimsey novel 61 years after the publication of Busman's Honeymoon. So revered is the creator of the Wimsey novels that there is even a library mystery listserv called Dorothy-L. While perhaps not vintage Sayers, this novel fragment, completed by English novelist Walsh from Sayers's outline, takes up where the honeymoon left off: Now murder intrudes on the newly domesticated Lord Peter and Harriet Vane as one of their acquaintance, also newly married, is murdered. This has all the requisite stock characters, witty dialog, social satire, and red herrings of a classic Sayers, though perhaps marriage has mellowed the characters a bit too much. Highly recommended for all collections. (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Lord Peter Wimsey lives again, courtesy of Walsh's completion of a i 70-page typescript Sayers abandoned in 1939. In a particularly happy accident for fans whose nostalgia has turned mystery's Golden Age into a historical retreat from the present, Wimsey's return from his honeymoon with mystery novelist Harriet Vane is given the most distinctive real-world political framework of all Sayers's novels: the death of King George V, which plunges England into mourning and into the round of Bertie Windsor's romances. As Wimsey and his bride feast on each other's wit and charm, and Bertie grazes more indiscriminately, news comes from Hampton that noted beauty Rosamund Harwell has been strangled at the cottage her besotted husband never had time to have decorated for her. When theatrical angel Laurence Harwell produces an alibi for his wife's murder, Wimsey, still shaken by his first look at the corpse of a personal acquaintance, makes the rounds of Rosamund's disgraced father, recently released from prison after serving time for fraud; of Streaker and Basher, the lowlife prison mates who were blackmailing him; and of the friends of vanished actress Gloria Tallant, who has a surprisingly close connection to Rosamund. Meanwhile, back in town, Harriet is vanquishing her husband's snobbish sister-in-law with a queenly ease worthy of Richardson's Pamela. The murder plot is ordinary, even creaky in its deceptions, but delighted fans--ravenous for their first glimpse in over 60 years of Wimsey's foppish relations, Harriet's professional friends, Bunter, Chief Inspector Parker, and the rest--will be more than compensated by seeing all the old crowd present and faithfully evoked by Walsh (The Serpentine Cave, 1997, etc.). Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

It is 1936. The old king is dying, there are ominous rumblings in Europe, and Lord Peter Wimsey—detective, book collector, and occasional sub-rosa diplomat—and his wife, the detective novelist Harriet Vane, are beginning their married life together in London. Sayers did not finish this last Lord Peter novel, but Walsh has done so and done it seamlessly. It is a dark and convoluted murder mystery (although the demise takes place fairly far into the story), and it is centered on the uses of beauty and money and theater and power. It is a nuanced description of the state of England when George V died, when his son became involved with a divorced American, and when disquieting bulletins about Hitler in Germany filled the news. But, above all, it is an intellectual and delicate examination of how two brilliant, strong-willed, and very different people learn to yoke themselves together without confounding their work and personhood. Harriet and Peter's shared passion is evident if discreetly described; readers will recognize her pregnancy long before she does. We are treated to letters from Peter's delightful mother, Honoria, and all ends with murders solved and marriages celebrated. Copyright 2010 Booklist Reviews.

The legion of Sayers fans will rejoice at the release of this new Lord Peter Wimsey novel 61 years after the publication of Busman's Honeymoon. So revered is the creator of the Wimsey novels that there is even a library mystery listserv called Dorothy-L. While perhaps not vintage Sayers, this novel fragment, completed by English novelist Walsh from Sayers's outline, takes up where the honeymoon left off: Now murder intrudes on the newly domesticated Lord Peter and Harriet Vane as one of their acquaintance, also newly married, is murdered. This has all the requisite stock characters, witty dialog, social satire, and red herrings of a classic Sayers, though perhaps marriage has mellowed the characters a bit too much. Highly recommended for all collections. Copyright 1998 Cahners Business Information.

After Sayers married off Lord Peter Wimsey and Harriet Vane in Busman's Honeymoon (1937), she devoted herself to translating Dante's Divine Comedy. A few short stories later appeared, noting the arrival of three Wimsey sons, and there was a rumor that suggested Sayers had another Wimsey novel in the works. Forty years after Sayers's death, that book has been triumphantly completed by British novelist Walsh (a 1994 Booker Prize finalist for Knowledge of Angels), following the original outline. If it is true that Sayers wrote the beginning, Walsh has done her predecessor a great service. Once the cast and context are established through some long exposition, the pace picks up, particularly after theatrical producer Laurence Harwell, an acquaintance of the Wimseys, discovers his cherished wife Rosamund strangled. As the nation mourns the death of King George V, upper-class women purchase black wardrobes, some of which are augmented with stylish white collars, an element which later figures as a clue. Germany invades the Rhineland. Uncrowned, Edward VIII continues to socialize with Nazis and to rendezvous with Mrs. Simpson. Lord Peter is recruited to persuade Edward to accept his responsibilities, but abdication is inevitable. The mystery involves two cases of blackmail as well as a second murder. Despite a large cast of suspects, ranging from two inept felons to a society portrait painter, every lead seems to come to a dead end. Typical of Sayers's novels, the solution derives from coincidences and some awkward plot devices. But readers have always turned to her mysteries for other reasons, such as the way Peter and Harriet settle the tumult four months of marriage has visited upon them. Harriet uncomfortably accepts her position as Lady Peter, with money and servants, while maintaining her independent identity as a mystery writer. In fact, her discussion of a plot problem with Peter helps him break a suspect's alibi. Sayers fans will relish the cooperative sleuthing of Peter, Harriet and the self-effacing Bunter as Walsh deftly captures and subtley updates the spirit of the series, endowing the iconic characters with additional depth and complexity. (Feb.)

YA-Lord Peter Wimsey is back. Walsh has completed a manuscript begun by Sayers but never finished. Readers already familiar with Lord Peter and his new wife Harriet Vane will not be disappointed and those who have yet to meet the pair will enjoy Harriet's discourses on writing mysteries for fun or profit and Lord Peter's "piffle." Here, the couple work to solve the murder of a society newlywed. The narrative includes much social commentary about England between the wars and even a fascinating trip through the London sewers. Walsh brings a fresh perspective, but remains true to Sayers's characters and tone. YAs interested in literary British mysteries or those just looking for a good historical novel will appreciate this recasting and may even be led back to the originals.-Susan H. Woodcock, Kings Park Library, Burke, VA