Showing posts with label 1927. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 1927. Show all posts

Clouds of Witness

9:09 AM Nikki

Clouds of Witness. Dorothy L. Sayers. 1927/1966. Avon. 224 pages.

Lord Peter Wimsey stretched himself luxuriously between the sheets provided by the Hotel Meurice. After his exertions in the unraveling of the Battersea Mystery, he had followed Sir Julian Freke's advice and taken a holiday.

Lord Peter's holiday is disrupted by shocking news! His sister's fiance, Captain Denis Cathcart, has been murdered, and his brother, the Duke of Denver, Gerald, is the number one suspect. He was spotted standing over the dead body at 3AM outside his home. Lady Mary Wimsey, the sister, was too shocked to make much sense in her statements to the authorities.  Lord Peter Wimsey (and Bunter) arrive to help decipher the clues in this case, in this investigation.

His family isn't exactly helping him. His brother won't say a word in his own defense. Won't let anyone--not even his brother--know where he was on the night of the murder. And his sister? Well, Lord Peter has his suspicions--as does Parker (Scotland Yard)--that she's not telling the whole truth. In fact, her story is a string of lies. So Lord Peter begins to expand his search to the surrounding neighborhood...

Can Lord Peter find a way to free his brother? Can he find a way to help his sister? Can he solve the case so that justice prevails?

I love Lord Peter Wimsey. I do. I just LOVE him. (Just don't ask me to choose between Archie Goodwin and Lord Peter Wimsey--because at the moment, I don't know that I could!!!!) I would have loved to read all the Lord Peter Wimsey books in order, but, I didn't own them all when I first began my adventure into vintage mysteries. So I'm catching up now! According to Wikipedia, the proper order of the books are:
While I wouldn't say that Clouds of Witness is as good as say Strong Poison or Gaudy Night, I must say it is still a fun read!

Lord Peter to Inspector Charles Parker:
"True, O King. Well, you've sat on all my discoveries so far. Never mind. My head is bloody but unbowed. Cathcart was sitting here--"
"So your brother said."
"Curse you, I say he was; at least, somebody was; he's left the impression of his sit-me-down-upon on the cushion."
'That might have been earlier in the day."
"Rot. They were out all day. You needn't overdo this Sadducee attitude, Charles. I say Cathcart was sitting here..." (38)
Lord Peter to Inspector Charles Parker:
"I say, I don't think the human frame is very thoughtfully constructed for this sleuth-hound business. If one could go on all-fours, or had eyes in one's knees, it would be a lot more practical." (48)

Lord Peter to Inspector Charles Parker:
"Did you ever read The Lay of the Last Minstrel?"
"I learnt a good deal of it at school," said Parker. "Why?"
"Because there was a goblin page-boy in it," said Lord Peter, "who was always yelling 'Found! Found! Found!' at the most unnecessary moments. I always thought him a terrible nuisance, but now I know how he felt. See here." (52)

Sir Impey Biggs to the Dowager Duchess:
"Lawyers enjoy a little mystery, you know. Why, if everybody came forward and told the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth straight out, we should all retire to the workhouse." (62)
A solemn Peter...
With that instinct which prompts one, when depressed, to wallow in every circumstance of gloom, Peter leaned sadly upon the hurdles and abandoned himself to a variety of shallow considerations upon (1) The vanity of human wishes; (2) Mutability; (3) First love; (4) The decay of idealism; (5) The aftermath of the Great war; (6) Birth-control; (7) The fallacy of free-will. (71)

Lord Peter to Inspector Charles Parker:
"Mother said--well, I told you what she said. By the way, how do you spell ipecacuanhna?"
Mr. Parker spelt it.
"Damn you!" said Lord Peter. "I did think I'd stumped you that time. I believe you went and looked it up beforehand. No decent-minded person would know how to spell ipecacuanha out of his own head. Anyway, as you were saying, it's easy to see which side of the family has the detective instinct."
"I didn't say so--"
"I know. Why didn't you? I think my mother's talents deserve a little acknowledgment. I said so to her, as a matter of fact, and she replied in these memorable words: 'My dear child, you can give it a long name if you like, but I'm an old-fashioned woman, and I call it mother-wit, and it's so rare for a man to have it that if he does you write a book about him and call him Sherlock Holmes.'" (97)

© 2011 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews


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The Big Four

9:03 AM Nikki

The Big Four. Agatha Christie. 1927/2001. Penguin. 208 pages.

I have met people who enjoy a channel crossing; men who can sit calmly in their deck-chairs and, on arrival, wait until the boat is moored, then gather their belongings together without fuss and disembark.

Captain Hastings narrates this Hercule Poirot novel. First, I must say that it was GREAT to have him back as narrator. I'd missed him lately. Second, I must say that this Hercule Poirot is very different from others I've read. There is a big mystery to be solved. And there are plenty of little mysteries to be solved. The motives for these crimes are very different. More political, more conspiracy theory, more intellectual intrigue than the traditional murder mystery.

Who are the Big Four? Well, Poirot believes them to be a secret organization running the world behind the scenes. The masterminds behind several political upheavals. One from China. One from France. One from the United States. And the fourth, well, that's the mystery. For this "destroyer" is the most elusive of them all. An expert at disguise he certainly must be. For Hastings and Poirot believe they've encountered him at many, many of their recent crime scenes. But no matter how many times they catch a glimpse, they're never able to describe him.

At the beginning, they've only got a lead on the identity of one of the members. But they're hoping to find all four so they can be brought to justice. For the bodies do begin to pile up in this one--and each one gives them a little clue. It won't be an easy case to solve--for it's all a game with traps hidden within traps within traps. But if anyone can solve it, Poirot's the man for the job.

I liked this one. I didn't love it exactly. But it was a good read, a compelling one!

© 2011 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews


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Unnatural Death

6:45 AM Nikki

Unnatural Death. Dorothy L. Sayers. 1927/1995. HarperCollins. 288 pages. 

"But if he thought the woman was being murdered--"

Unnnatural Death begins with Lord Peter Wimsey overhearing a certain conversation. He becomes so curious, he asks the speaker to tell his story--the whole story. Dr. Carr is willing to comply--but, for him, the story does not have a happy ending. Because he followed his instincts, because he voiced his suspicions, he lost his medical practice in a small gossipy town. He is happy to tell what he knows. But he doesn't want to be a part of this new investigation.

Dr. Carr was the physician to an elderly woman, Agatha Dawson. The lady's great niece, Mary Whittaker, was her companion and caretaker. When it became too much for one woman--even a woman with training to be a nurse--to handle, the doctor provided a nurse (or two). The doctor became suspicious when his patient died suddenly. He was almost certain that she had more time to live. He thought for sure she had several months at least. The niece did call him telling him that her aunt was doing poorly, but, his subsequent examination of her didn't match that diagnosis. He definitely had doubts about how "natural" her death was. But he had no proof.

Can Lord Peter Wimsey and Mr. Parker--the 'official' detective from Scotland Yard--find the proof needed to reopen the case? Will this new case prove dangerous?

I liked Unnatural Death. I didn't like it as much as Whose Body? I still like Lord Peter Wimsey. I still like Parker. I still like Sayers' style, her narration. But Unnatural Death seemed more racist (to me) than Whose Body? While Whose Body? was not perfect--in that regard--it didn't seem as abrasive.

Here are a few of my favorite lines:

"I told you I'd be turnin' up again before long," said Lord Peter cheerfully. "Sherlock is my name and Holmes is my nature. I'm delighted to see you, Dr. Carr. Your little matter is well in hand, and seein' I'm not required any longer I'll make a noise and buzz off." (38)

"Who is Miss Climpson?"
"Miss Climpson," said Lord Peter, "is my ears and tongue," said Lord Peter, dramatically, "and especially my nose. She asks questions which a young man could not put without a blush. She is the angel that rushes in where fools get a clump on the head. She can smell a rat in the dark. In fact, she is the cat's whiskers."
"That's not a bad idea," said Parker.
"Naturally--it is mine, therefore brilliant. Just think. People want questions asked. Whom do they send? A man with large flat feet and a note-book--the sort of man whose private life is conducted in a series of inarticulate grunts. I send a lady with a long, woolly jumper on knitting-needles and jingly things round her neck. Of course she asks questions--everyone expects it. Nobody is surprised. Nobody is alarmed." (28-9)

© 2011 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews


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