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Title: Five Red Herrings by Dorothy Leigh Sayers ISBN: 0-8161-3044-2 Publisher: Thorndike Pr Pub. Date: 01 December, 1980 Format: Hardcover List Price(USD): $15.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 3.2 (10 reviews)
Rating: 4
Summary: Red Herrings or Mare's Nest?
Comment: I don't have a timeline in front of me, but I believe that Dorothy L. Sayers derived her Lord Peter Wimsey character from S.S. Van Dine's Philo Vance or was it the other way around? Maybe Philo Vance came first. Like Vance, Wimsey is a dandified, man-about-town with disposable income and an in with the police, and both use phrases like "don't you know," "interestin'" and "upon my word." For some reason, both are tolerated by police when nosing into crime scenes and showing off obnoxiously. But Vance is American (the stories written in NYC mostly in the Village) and Wimsey is British through-and-through. And obviously, Sayers was influenced by Arthur Conan Doyle as well and often tries to make Wimsey as clever as Holmes (which he isn't.)
Anyway, I'm reading all the Sayers/Wimsey books right now. This is her 7th Wimsey book, I believe, and has a basically good idea where an unpopular artist in Scotland is murdered and five artists are suspects. The problem is that Sayers, who is very erudite, tries to be too clever and doesn't succeed with the smoothness that Agatha Christie had. Christie was amazing, spinning out book after book with ingenious plots and murderers who were often impossible to guess. But Sayers really isn't as gifted as a mystery writer as Christie. She's much more self-indulgent, so in spite of her intellect or maybe because of it, she runs into trouble, winding up overly anal and overly clever and bogging down her plotline. Still, her books are great fun, just the same.
On the plus side, Dorothy L. Sayers uses rich description to create a feeling of a whole world. The dialects, for me, were a plus -- adding to the authenticity of the characters and region, but then, it was overkill, because at one point she adds a character who speaks with a lisp. And he says things like "puth-thycalith" (push-cyclist) as all these other characters are using words like "noo he gaers" or whatever, so it gets really ridiculous. But all these things are part of the book's charm, too.
On the other side of the excess are the train schedules. In order to be clever, Sayers has obviously the train schedules of every conceivable route known to man in Scotland in front of her as she is working out this plot and she banters them all around as possible routes a suspect might have taken. Again, this becomes hilarious when all the characters seem to have this whole network of train schedules memorized, so they can throw them around in conversation and at one point, an entire group of people is arguing what trains go where when like a "Who's On First" routine.
But all of this analness aside, the story is still great fun in a way that Golden Age mysteries alone are. It presents a classic puzzle, a mess of suspects, a somewhat conceited detective, and tongue-in-cheek humor -- and even better, a time when trains ruled. I enjoyed it immensely. Sayers might not be my own top choice for mystery plotting, but she is still a superb writer with a great command of the language and a good sense of fun. Her work can still be savored and Wimsey remains memorable.
Rating: 2
Summary: Confusing
Comment: This was the first Dorothy L. Sayers books I read and it took me FOREVER to read it. Not that it's a long book, it's just extremely confusing. One of the things I like about mysteries is trying to figure out whodunit, and with this book that was practically impossible. One of the other reviewers used the phrase "incessant clutter" and I have to agree with them.
On the other hand, the idea was good. An artist dies, and six people absolutely hate him. Five are red herrings. Also, Wimsey is a rather likeable character, so I give it two stars. Definitely not my favorite mystery book.
Rating: 4
Summary: Dorothy Sayers Gets Hooked on Phonics
Comment: As other reviewers have commented, this book has two strikes against it. First, Sayers transcribes most of the dialogue preserving the native Scottish accents of her characters. Occasionally she'll allow a character to have so thick a brogue that she'll simultaneously translate for the reader. However, it frequently takes several times through a conversation to make sure you're reading it properly. A glossary at the end of the book would have helped immensely (everybody say Imph'm). The other strike against the book is that five red herrings is a couple kippers too many. Combined with the dialectic nature of the book, there are simply too many people (suspects, police, railroad employees, servants, etc.) to keep track of at the same time.
Fortunately, Sayers doesn't get the fatal third strike. She weaves a complex web and sets master sleuth Lord Peter Wimsey in the middle of it. The obvious wit in her other novels is obscured somewhat by the accents, but enough shines through to keep the overall tone light. Bunter disappears about halfway through, but while he's on the scene he's as wonderful as ever. Tracking Farren and Wimsey's re-creation of the murderer's alibi were, for me, the high points of the story.
I'm sure Dorothy Sayers knew the risks she was taking in crafting such a detailed, complex mystery. That it doesn't entirely work for an American reader in the 21st Century probably isn't ruining her afterlife much. I've found myself hopelessly outclassed on several occasions when reading the Wimsey series, and under those circumstances I find it most helpful to get in Wimsey's Daimler with him and go along for the ride. The trip is always breathtaking (as most of Wimsey's passengers can attest), and while Lord Peter may know where he's going sooner than I do, he doesn't get there too far ahead of me. Don't let my criticisms of this book dissuade you from giving it a read; it's tough in parts, but well worth the effort.
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Title: The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club by Dorothy L. Sayers ISBN: 0061043540 Publisher: HarperTorch Pub. Date: 01 June, 1995 List Price(USD): $6.99 |
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Title: The Nine Tailors by Dorothy Leigh Sayers ISBN: 0156658992 Publisher: Harvest Books Pub. Date: 01 June, 1966 List Price(USD): $12.00 |
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Title: Unnatural Death (Lord Peter Wimsey Mysteries (Paperback)) by Dorothy L. Sayers ISBN: 0061043583 Publisher: HarperTorch Pub. Date: 01 August, 1995 List Price(USD): $6.99 |
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Title: Strong Poison by Dorothy L. Sayers ISBN: 0061043508 Publisher: HarperTorch Pub. Date: 01 April, 1995 List Price(USD): $6.99 |
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Title: Busman's Honeymoon by Dorothy L. Sayers ISBN: 0061043516 Publisher: HarperTorch Pub. Date: 01 April, 1995 List Price(USD): $6.99 |
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