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Strong Poison (Lord Peter Wimsey) by Dorothy…
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Strong Poison (Lord Peter Wimsey) (original 1930; edition 2012)

by Dorothy L. Sayers (Author)

Series: Peter Wimsey & Harriet Vane (1), Lord Peter Wimsey (6)

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4,4621212,583 (4.05)384
Fiction. Mystery. HTML:

Dashing detective Lord Peter Wimsey is caught up in the murder trial of mystery writer Harriet Vane. Her fiancĂ© has died of poisoning exactly as described in one of Harriet's novelsâ??so naturally she is the prime suspect. As Peter looks on, he not only falls in love with the accused but eagerly helps with Harriet's defense when the first trial ends in a hung jury. Will she be convicted and executed for the crime, or can he save her life and win her hand in marriage? Strong Poison is the first of a series of Lord Peter Wimsey and Harriet Vane mysteries in which their complex romantic relationship is revealed in detail. This superb classic was originally published in 1930.… (more)

▾Book information
Member:hirotani
Title:Strong Poison (Lord Peter Wimsey)
Authors:Dorothy L. Sayers (Author)
Info:Harper Paperbacks (2012), Edition: Reissue, 288 pages
Collections:Kindle (read)
Rating:***
Tags:Detective Fiction, Peter Wimsey

Work Information

Strong Poison by Dorothy L. Sayers (1930)

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    aulsmith: This explains much about Harriet's predicament that I didn't previously understand.
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English (116)  Spanish (2)  Danish (2)  Swedish (1)  All languages (121)
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Showing 1-5 of 116 (next | show all)
A page turning murder mystery where Lord Peter Wimsey first meets Harriet Vane, accused of murder, falls immediately in love, and decides he will solve the mystery and save her. Read on a plane at breakneck pace. ( )
  atreic | Apr 15, 2024 |
This wasn't my favorite Dorothy Sayers, but it was still an enjoyable read. ( )
  pianistpalm91 | Apr 7, 2024 |
"If anybody ever marries you, it will be for the pleasure of hearing you talk piffle." ( )
  raschneid | Dec 19, 2023 |
Good, fairly traditional, crime novel. A little jollier than I had expected. Looking forward to reading more. ( )
  thisisstephenbetts | Nov 25, 2023 |
Kind of... weird? It's written as well as you would expect from Sayers and I enjoy her characters but 1) the introduced "romance", such as it is, is kind of weird and creepy 2) the mystery isn't very exciting.

This is related to 1) and it's "spoiled" on the back cover but just in case The very first time Wimsey sees Vane, while she's imprisoned on a murder charge, he says "I want to marry you". Uhhhhhhhhhh. I think the only reason I was OK with it is because Vane is similar to Sayers - mystery writer etc - so it was like "oh if she's ok with the creepiness then fair enough". But it's a really bizarre plot, with no reason for his attraction to her or why this is a reasonable way of doing things. Given that it was the major character plot, so to speak, it bothered me

With 2, massive massive ending spoilers There are only 3 possibilities ever brought up, with no other suspects or even red herrings: Vane killed him, he committed suicide, Urquhart killed him. We know from the start the first isn't possible because it opens with the crown trying to prove it was true and Wimsey knows they're wrong (just because HE KNOWS no other reason), the second is constantly undermined with 0 evidence for it and eventually firmly disproved about halfway through, leaving the third as the only possibility. So the suspense is entirely in why and how he did it. "He did it for the inheritance" is the oldest motive in the book and becomes pretty obvious from early on but you only find out for sure late on. I didn't guess the how but I feel you could pretty definitely work it out and realise it if you have more experience with mystery/crime stuff if only as an "elimination of the impossible and whatever remains" thing. There are also a few things not explained in the end, like whether Urquhart intended to frame Vane - it feels it must have been deliberate but it's not mentioned. He'd been planning it for *years* though so it seems strange he'd have worked out who to frame for it - but the coincidental timings of attacks seem impossible otherwise. And it's not as if the earlier poisonings were at all necessary and in fact just created more suspicion. So it's weird. Not that elegant.

Other people have complained about Wimsey not always being the focus, but I like Climpson a lot - Sayers has a pretty funny and recognisable speech pattern down with the italics being surprisingly effective. Her attempts at spiritualism are funny and some of the most enjoyable parts of the book ( )
  tombomp | Oct 31, 2023 |
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▾Other authors

» Add other authors (23 possible)

Author nameRoleType of authorWork?Status
Sayers, Dorothy L.—primary authorall editionsconfirmed
Bayer, OttoTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Bleck, CathieCover artistsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Brand, ChristiannaIntroductionsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Carmichael, IanNarratorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
George, ElizabethIntroductionsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Griffini, Grazia MariaTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Lehtonen, PaavoTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Martens, Hilda MariaTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Michal,MarieCover artistsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
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▾Common Knowledge
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Canonical title
Strong Poison
Original title
Strong Poison
Alternative titles
Information from the German Common Knowledge. Edit to localize it to your language.
Geheimnisvolles Gift
Original publication date
1930-09
People/Characters
Peter Death Bredon Wimsey (Lord Peter Wimsey)
Harriet Deborah Vane
Mervyn Bunter
Charles Parker (Inspector)
Freddy Arbuthnot
Important places
London, England, UK
The Old Bailey, London, England, UK
HM Prison Holloway, Holloway, London, England, UK
110A Piccadilly, London, England, UK
Westmorland, England, UK
Important events
Megatherium Trust crash (1928)
Related movies
"A Dorothy L. Sayers Mystery" Strong Poison: Episode One (1987 | IMDb)
"A Dorothy L. Sayers Mystery" Strong Poison: Episode Two (1987 | IMDb)
"A Dorothy L. Sayers Mystery" Strong Poison: Episode Three (1987 | IMDb)
Epigraph
"Where got ye your dinner, Lord Rendal, my son?
Where got ye your dinner, my handsome young man?"
"--O I dined with my sweetheart, Mother make my bed soon,
For I'm sick to the heart and I fain wad lie down."

"Oh, that was strong poison, Lord Rendal, my son,
O that was strong poison, my handsome young man,"
"--O yes, I am poisoned, Mother; make my bed soon,
For I'm sick to the heart, and I fain wad lie down."
-- OLD BALLAD
Dedication
First words
There were crimson roses on the bench; they looked like splashes of blood.
Quotations
"I often wonder what we go to school for," said Wimsey. "We never seem to learn anything really useful...."
Last words
(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)
(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)
Disambiguation notice
Publisher's editors
Blurbers
Boucher, Anthony
Original language
Information from the German Common Knowledge. Edit to localize it to your language.
Englisch
Canonical DDC/MDS
Canonical LCC
▾References

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▾Book descriptions
Fiction. Mystery. HTML:

Dashing detective Lord Peter Wimsey is caught up in the murder trial of mystery writer Harriet Vane. Her fiancĂ© has died of poisoning exactly as described in one of Harriet's novelsâ??so naturally she is the prime suspect. As Peter looks on, he not only falls in love with the accused but eagerly helps with Harriet's defense when the first trial ends in a hung jury. Will she be convicted and executed for the crime, or can he save her life and win her hand in marriage? Strong Poison is the first of a series of Lord Peter Wimsey and Harriet Vane mysteries in which their complex romantic relationship is revealed in detail. This superb classic was originally published in 1930.

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Third printing, 2006
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WorldCat

Genres

Melvil Decimal System (DDC)

823.912Literature › English & Old English literatures › English fiction › Modern Period › 1901-1999 › 1901-1945

LC Classification

PR6037.A95Language and Literature › English › English Literature › 1900-1960

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