The Documents in the Case

Although this isn't a Peter Wimsey story it's set in the same world (where Sir James Lubbock is the Home Office analyst). The story is told, firstly through letters, then through written statements, and finally in the first person. Its a story of suburban melodrama and eventually murder, and it's quite fascinating to see the story emerge from the multiple narrators, all of whom are unreliable, although eventually the focus coalesces to one sympathetic voice. The science is also fascinating, and is from the contribution by Robert Eustace, pen name for Dr Eustace Barton. Evidently Sayers was not satisfied with this work but I find it a worthy addition to her oevure.

An excellent example of the epistolary novel format where the story is gradually unveiled through letters and supporting documents rather than a prose narrative. Sayers presents distinctive voices and perspectives for each of the four main correspondents that establishes each as an unreliable narrator so you’re never quite sure where your sympathies should lie. The central mystery and solving of the crime itself takes a definite back seat to the human drama on offer here.

This is not a Lord Peter Wimsey mystery; it is a novel in letters set in the 1920-s. Even though the main female character turns out to be the “evil” one at the end and throughout the book a “good” character repeatedly gives a negative opinion of her, she still evokes more sympathy than the victim. The non-existent women’s rights of the period are portrayed only too well; the book is a very interesting source documenting the change in women’s role and place in society. Even the treatment of the subject itself by the author captures a particular moment in the evolution of women’s rights.

An "epistolary" novel, except that not every document is a letter. The front cover of the copy I checked out deceives with an image of Lord Peter.

No heroes to be found in this one. The narrators are all unreliable. Nobody really comes off well. The son is devoted and determined and despises the author. The author was fond of the dead man and dislikes everybody else, except his wife. etc. The adulterous letters are inexpressibly tedious.

Fun as a period piece; the mystery is resolved with the help of modern physics, which at the time was a very contemporary topic. Discussions of religion vs. science as is to be expected in a Dorothy Sayers novel.

Yet another book confirming my very high opinion of Dorothy Sayers. This is her take on an epistolary novel, although it's not composed of letters only. As the title suggests, the novel consists of a range of documents which together form a prosecution brief. As is so often the case with Sayers, the mystery is only a part of what the book is about. While there is a mystery, the point of it is the "how" rather than the "who". The novel is also a dissertation on creation and the origin of life. I will freely admit that the science largely went over my head, but it actually didn't matter. I understood enough to be impressed. And then there was the wit, the passion and that fierce intelligence which characterises Sayers. In short, I loved it.

A very different kind of work from the Lord Peter Wimsey novels, this book is presented as a dossier of materials prepared by the son of a murder victim in an effort to get justice for his father. It includes letters from a variety of different people, including the dead man’s wife, her companion, and their upstairs lodger, as well as individual statements. The variety of viewpoints challenges the reader as you feel yourself drawn to different characters at different times—and eventually learn that one witness has been institutionalized. By and large, most of the characters manage to present themselves as decent sorts, yet seen through each other’s eyes, they become a prig, an intellectual snob, a harridan, etc. It is more slow to show more develop than most mysteries; no one dies until halfway through, after some fairly elaborate stage setting. Still, for a reader who enjoys more intense character development, The Documents in the Case is both a satisfying mystery and something different from the usual entry in the genre. show less

Unlike her other mysteries, this one is told in an epistolary style, which sometimes doesn't work very well. In this case, though, it is pulled off to good effect.