Dorothy Sayers writes a good mystery, with entertaining characters and wit. Lord Peter Wimsey, watching the trial of Harriet Vane, becomes convinced that he will marry her, despite her being accused of poisoning a lover with arsenic. He has a month to find the real murderer, and the means. The background is England in the late 1920's, and the witty interplay and remarks on the bohemian culture of the time are exquisite. The villain is too predictable, however ( )

Next on my list is Strong Poison by Dorothy L. Sayers. This was another super-cheap booksale impulse buy. I had seen reviews on LT of her works and decided it was worth trying one. This is a Lord Peter Wimsey murder mystery, somewhere in the middle of the series. I believe this is set in the late 1920s.

The book opens with Harriet Vane on trial for poisoning her ex-lover with arsenic, just before the jury is sequestered for a verdict, with the judge summing up the case. Harriet Vane is a moderately successful murder mystery author who recently researched arsenic poisoning for her latest novel. Lord Peter Wimsey apparently attended the trial and fell in love with the defendant and has decided to find the real murderer. He already has a reputation as a highly successful amateur sleuth with connections to Scotland Yard, not to mention great personal wealth and family connections as the brother of a duke.

The actual murderer was not difficult to figure out early on. The plot was not particularly complicated or subtle. This is very much a character-driven series. I must say that Peter's dialogue is quite odd, eccentric, idiosyncratic, full of literary allusions and period slang. It is worth reading the books, perhaps, just to hear him speak. Particularly amusing was his reference to Jeeves (as in P. G. Wodehouse's Jeeves and Wooster) when admonishing his valet, Bunker.

The other interesting item was the treatment of women. While Sayers's protagonist is male, many of the pivotal clues are discovered by his female allies/employees. In effect, he has created a detective agency employing strictly women (fondly called "The Cattery"), which allows him to inveigle someone into suspicious households and businesses in the guise of domestic servants, clerical employees, and so on to gather the important clues and evidence. This works because women are so often invisible, downtrodden, and otherwise suffer under the oppressive society that provides them so few opportunities to exist outside of marriage and well-to-do families. Many of the women employed by the agency would be destitute without this rare and discreet job opportunity. Hence they are certainly loyal to Lord Peter and very dedicated in their work. Regardless of its effectiveness as a plot device, it provides an interesting perspective on the society of the day. None of the characters is particularly deep, but they are individuals.

So I may try other books from the library, but I'm not interested enough to add this series to my own collections. I'll be giving this copy away. It was enjoyable enough, worth the read, but not a keeper for me. ( )

Our first introduction to Harriet Vane and one of the great romances of cozy detection. I know that many people now see Peter Wimsey as a foppish caricature but this is not my perception. Here he is the romantic hero of a quest for the fair lady with the looming deadline of Harriet's retrial setting a clear boundary to his investigation. In practice, the murderer can be deduced early in the novel, so it becomes a whydoit and a howdunnit until the end.

Written in the late 1920s about contemporary England, the book is filled with social commentary explored from various angles by using the viewpoints of several characters. Harriet's circumstances having been shaped significantly by the changing role of women. Modernism and spiritualism are mocked trenchantly in sharp aphorisms.

Most whodunnits do not bear rereading but Sayers' sharp with and incisive observation provide continuing rewards. ( )

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 ( )

Lord Peter No. 5, 1930, introducing Harriet Vane ( )

This was a fast, fun, literate, entertaining read. The premise is simple: mystery novelist Harriet Vane is on trial for the murder of her ex-significant other, and Peter Wimsey is determined to prove that she didn't do it, and then marry her. Wimsey and his supporting cast are eminently likable, and the mystery is puzzler, with Sayers nicely managing the pace of dropping clues. I can see why Harriet Vane is a popular character, although in this book she is more of an ideal than a real person. And the glimpses of intra-war England are worth the price of admission alone.

The biggest weaknesses are the string of coincidences that ultimately allow Peter to solve the crime and unveil the true murderer. The final piece of the "how he did it" puzzle felt a bit trite, but it may well be that is because so many other authors and screenwriters have copied an idea of Sayers' that was quite original back in 1930. And I must admit that I had a hard time buying Peter's "love at first sight" infatuation with Vane. The romance would have been more believable if it had evolved as he had gotten to know her at least a little bit. All in all, though, highly recommended. ( )

What fun! Fast-paced detective novel, loved the rolls of the women! Especially notable: The Cattery, what a cool place. I enjoyed the women, and I enjoyed Lord Wimsey because HE enjoyed the women. Interesting portrayal of life in Great Britian among the upper class in the early 20th century, too. ( )

The first in the trilogy of the love of Lord Peter Wimsey. A very good book with an excellent mystery. I adore the debate Miss Climpson has with herself on whether or not to fake Spiritualism to get the evidence she needs in the case. Also watching Wimsey as he falls in love. The resolution of the case is also very satisfactory. ( )

http://www.leftfield.org/~rawdon/book... ( )

Strong Poison is not one of Sayer's best. Ingenious solution to the puzzle but Wimsey is almost Bertie Wooster on crime. ( )

http://www.steelypips.org/weblog/2001... http://www.steelypips.org/weblog/2004/09/sayers_dorothy_8.php

I found a first edition hard copy of this in London, and it's a shame the cover is not available (unless I scan the bally thing). It's the two-penny-ha'penny "cheap" hardcover and in an obnoxious orange colour. Brilliant. I never get tired of reading and re-reading this. Really, though - "as my whimsy takes me?"

Despite my professed enthusiasm for detective fiction I've actually been a very selective reader. Well, perhaps not quite as selective as I should have been but anyway, I can't remember reading any of Sayers's novels before although I might have come across a couple of Lord Peter Wimsey short stories. And judging by Strong Poison it's a good thing I haven't because he's comes across as quite irritating. But irritating or not, I still want to read Gaudy Night at least. So, to the book - Harriet Vane, a writer of detective fiction, is accused of poisoning her ex-lover, writer Philip Bayes but the jury cannot reach an agreement. Lord Peter Wimsey believes she is innocent and sets out to find the evidence to get a nice undisputed verdict of "Not Guilty" in her second trial. Well written, a clever plot and some interesting characters. ( )

This may be one of my favorite Lord Peter mysteries. Not only is it rather delightful to see Lord Peter made vulnerable by love, the murder itself is fiendishly clever. I was completely stumped as to the method, and when it was finally revealed I shouted in delight and had to run and tell Dave (my partner) all about how it was done. I'm afraid he was probably not as fascinated as I was...

I think I read a review somewhere that mentioned that Harriet Vane is something of a Mary Sue, which may be true -- it's hard not to wonder when the object of Lord Peter's affection is an unconventionally attractive, witty writer of mysteries. I've always felt that Sayers had a bit of a crush on Lord Peter, after all. But then, can you blame her? We don't get to know Miss Vane very well in this mystery, because she spends most of the time in jail falsely accused, but I found that Lord Peter's admiration rubbed off on me, and I was personally rather delighted with her blunt refusal of Lord Peter's repeated proposals of marriage. ( )

The first of Sayers's Lord Peter Wimsey mysteries to include Harriet Vane; in this one, she stands accused for murder. I have yet to be disappointed by Sayers. As an aside, there are excellent radio-drama BBC adaptations of most of these. ( )