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Loading... A Presumption of Death: A New Lord Peter Wimsey/Harriet Vane Mystery (Lord…by Jill Paton WalshSeries: Lord Peter Wimsey (16), Wimsey sequels (2)
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will love Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book.  MusicMom41 | Jun 4, 2009 |  This book essentially stinks to high heaven. biblioeater32 | Feb 3, 2009 | This wonderful book was based on some of Dorothy L. Sayers last writings concerning Lord Peter Wimsey and his wife, Harriet. From November 1939 to January 1940 Dorothy Sayers made a series of contributions to the Spectator magazine consisting of mock letters to and from various members of the Wimsey family about war-time conditions. These contributions were referred to as "The Wimsey Papers". There was also a short story called "Talboys" contained in the volume "Striding Folly" which shows Peter and Harriet and their children living in the country in their farmhouse peacefully together in 1942. Jill Walsh took these papers and made a story around them and did a wondeful job! I loved this book and highly recommend it! (  ) Mom25dogs | Jan 11, 2009 | Of the two fragments of Lord Peter stories that Walsh finished, I prefer this one to "Thrones and Dominions" although this story focuses more on Harriet than Lord Peter. The plot is better developed as are the characters. Also, I like this story better. Although not as good as the best of the original novels it is certainly worth reading for the avid Lord Peter (and Harriet Vane!) fan. The story takes place near the beginning of WWII at the start of the Blitz in London. While Peter is on a secret mission for the foreign Office Harriet takes the children to safety in the country. However, evidence of war is here also with glamorous RAF pilots and Land Girls who scandalize the neighborhood and blackouts make the country lanes dangerous. When a body is discovered in the lane after the first air-raid practice the neighborhood is appalled to discover that it is not a war casualty but a murder. The police are under manned and over extended so Harriet reluctantly agrees to help with the investigation. I read the novel when it first came out and enjoyed it. I bought the audio version to listen to on a driving trip with my husband. Edward Petherbridge, the narrator, played Lord Peter in the 3 BBC episodes that feature Harriet Vane and I really enjoyed his narration (he was my favorite “Lord Peter” actor). Jim, however, wished that the narrator had been a woman because the story was so much about Harriet. (  ) MusicMom41 | Jul 8, 2008 | Paton Walsh was working with much less original material here than in Thrones, Dominations—just a set of letters Dorothy Sayers published in 1939 and 1940 in British periodicals. Ostensibly between members of the Wimsey family, they deal with the adjustment to times of war: rationing’ paternalistic, sometimes misguided and draconian, government policies; families separated. Helen’s insistence that Bredon, Peter’s son, be raised as if he was heir to the dukedom because Jerry, her own son, is a fighter pilot and danger-lover is one of the book’s moving instance of the impact of war. Others were the bond of loyalty between Bunter and Peter, back in action once again as a team and Harriet's regret that she missed out on so many years with Peter, and now their happiness is shaken by the war. On the whole, the book was a reasonable facsimile of a Wimsey mystery, but a modern sensibility intruded jarringly a few times—as in the multiple discussions of how the men might return to find their women changed. It just seemed a little saggier than early Wimseys, but much of that is probably not Paton Walsh’s fault. Like a TV show that has “jumped the shark,” (think Friends after Monica and Chandler get married) the Wimsey mystery series naturally starts to run out of steam when Harriet marries Peter. Faithful readers, though, are willing to hang on to “see what happens” to the characters they’ve known and loved. (  ) jholcomb | Apr 7, 2008 |  no reviews | add a review
Amazon.com Product Description (ISBN 0312291000, Hardcover)Sixty years after Dorothy L. Sayers began her unfinished Lord Peter Wimsey novel, Thrones Dominations, Booker Prize finalist Jill Paton Walsh took on the challenge of completing the manuscript---with extraordinary success. “The transition is seamless,” said the San Francisco Chronicle; “you cannot tell where Sayers leaves off and Walsh begins.” “Will Paton Walsh do it again?” wondered Ruth Rendell in London’s Sunday Times. “We must hope so.” Jill Paton Walsh fulfills those hopes in A Presumption of Death. Although Sayers never began another Wimsey novel, she did leave clues. Drawing on “The Wimsey Papers,” in which Sayers showed various members of the family coping with wartime conditions, Walsh has devised an irresistible story set in 1940, at the start of the Blitz in London. Lord Peter is abroad on secret business for the Foreign Office, while Harriet Vane, now Lady Peter Wimsey, has taken their children to safety in the country. But war has followed them there---glamorous RAF pilots and even more glamorous land-girls scandalize the villagers, and the blackout makes the nighttime lanes as sinister as the back alleys of London. Daily life reminds them of the war so constantly that, when the village’s first air-raid practice ends with a real body on the ground, it’s almost a shock to hear the doctor declare that it was not enemy action, but plain, old-fashioned murder. Or was it? At the request of the overstretched local police, Harriet reluctantly agrees to investigate. The mystery that unfolds is every bit as literate, ingenious, and compelling as the best of original Lord Peter Wimsey novels. (retrieved from Amazon Fri, 24 Apr 2009 07:58:05 -0400) The first test round has been closed. Visit the Open Shelves Classification group for details. |
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Wikipedia in English (1)
The story takes place near the beginning of WWII at the start of the Blitz in London. While Peter is on a secret mission for the foreign Office Harriet takes the children to safety in the country. However, evidence of war is here also with glamorous RAF pilots and Land Girls who scandalize the neighborhood and blackouts make the country lanes dangerous. When a body is discovered in the lane after the first air-raid practice the neighborhood is appalled to discover that it is not a war casualty but a murder. The police are under manned and over extended so Harriet reluctantly agrees to help with the investigation. (