A rousing Golden Age read. Our introduction to Dorothy L. Sayers and enjoyed by all of us in the discussion group ( )

Strong Poison is the first book in the Lord Peter mysteries that introduces the character of Harriet Vane, and it's a very well-executed mystery. Harriet Vane is a mystery novelist who is standing trial for the murder of her lover Philip Boyes, who died by arsenic poisoning. They were estranged at the time of the murder, and all the evidence points to Harriet as the murderer. But Lord Peter is in the courtroom, and he doesn't think she did it, though he hasn't a shred of proof. The jury is unable to reach a verdict, and the retrial is postponed for a month. Lord Peter immediately offers his services to Miss Vane's lawyers, and his undying personal devotion to Miss Vane herself. Surely a prison visiting room is a most unusual place to receive a proposal!

I thought Harriet's relationship with Boyes was fascinating. He had cajoled her to live with him, but he wouldn't marry her because he didn't believe in formal marriage (though she did). They lived together about a year and seemed fairly happy, but when Boyes actually did offer her marriage, Harriet broke off the relationship. It seems that he only asked her to live with him to see if her devotion was abject enough, if she would crush all her personal scruples to do his bidding. When she had, he decided she'd "earned" the reward of formal marriage (which he did believe in after all) — and the worm turned. It is about a year later, after an unhappy interview with Harriet, that Boyes dies of arsenic poisoning. And Harriet is writing a mystery about arsenic poisoning at the time, and knows all about it...

Harriet has a wonderful sense of humor and she comes across as a very realistic character, despite the fact that she doesn't get much screentime in this story (unavoidable, I suppose, as she is in prison the whole time). I made the mistake of reading Gaudy Night, the third novel featuring Harriet and Lord Peter, before this one so I was slightly spoilered for the final result of the trial, though I didn't know the details. I wish I had read this one first, because Sayers creates a fantastic character arc with Harriet and it starts here.

Lord Peter is quite fun as usual, though certain things that would at first seem endearing are actually done for very selfish reasons (see his painfully honest confession in Gaudy Night — wow). I haven't seen much of his mother in the books I've read so far, and she was wonderful for the quick peek we got. I also really liked how Peter asked Inspector Parker what his intentions were regarding Peter's sister. Good stuff!

I am rather proud of myself for figuring out the murderer long before the end, and even a plausible way the arsenic could have been consumed. In some ways I like my solution better than Sayers'! I don't think this puzzle was about figuring out whodunit so much as howdunit. All in all, this is an excellent mystery with first-class characterizations. Highly recommended. ( )

Wonderfully evocative and introducing Harriet Vane, the love of Lord Peter Wimsey's life. ( )

Our introduction to Harriet. ( )

Superb mystery with lively characters and witty dialogue, Agatha Christie meets P.G. Wodehouse ( )