abrswf's review against another edition
5.0
A delightful series of short stories with recurring themes such as playful old gentlemen who turn their estate planning into puzzles. These books have many signs of age including antiquated cultural references and casual sexism, classism, anti-Semitism etc, but the charm persists nonetheless.
suzannalundale's review against another edition
3.0
3.5
Lord Peter tales are always good. I had a deep emotional affaire de cœur when first I encountered his exploits, such that my loyalty leads me to enjoy this collection of stories, despite the fact that I don't find the short story to be the best medium for his particular brand of sleuthing (sleuthery?). (I don't knownwhy this should be, as Sherlock Holmes shines beautifully in the short story.)
As with any story collection, some are better than others. "The Learned Adventure of the Dragon's Head" was particularly strong, I thought, and it was fun to meet his nephew the viscount as a child, having experienced him as a college man of similar maturity level later in the series. "The Piscatorial Farce of the Stolen Stomach" was quite clever in its absurdity.
All told, I would recommend this collection to the Lord Peter fan, for the sake of getting as much of the man as one can, but not for the casual Wimsey reader, nor for the newcomer to the series.
Lord Peter tales are always good. I had a deep emotional affaire de cœur when first I encountered his exploits, such that my loyalty leads me to enjoy this collection of stories, despite the fact that I don't find the short story to be the best medium for his particular brand of sleuthing (sleuthery?). (I don't knownwhy this should be, as Sherlock Holmes shines beautifully in the short story.)
As with any story collection, some are better than others. "The Learned Adventure of the Dragon's Head" was particularly strong, I thought, and it was fun to meet his nephew the viscount as a child, having experienced him as a college man of similar maturity level later in the series. "The Piscatorial Farce of the Stolen Stomach" was quite clever in its absurdity.
All told, I would recommend this collection to the Lord Peter fan, for the sake of getting as much of the man as one can, but not for the casual Wimsey reader, nor for the newcomer to the series.
dawnsona's review against another edition
4.0
I did love most of these stories but some of them are just about alright. Lord Peter shines so much better in the novels, though.
ellenplum's review
mysterious
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
4.0
kaylamarie's review against another edition
3.0
I was a bit nervous about this book at first. I'm usually not a fan of short stories and the first couple in this collection left me wanting more from them. I was drawn in by the third story however - one in which she creates a crossword puzzle for the story.
There was only one story that I did not like at all as I found it too gruesome. It very much reminded me of the first book in this series - Whose Body?. This collection made for great bedtime reading and I do plan to pick up more of these short story collections.
There was only one story that I did not like at all as I found it too gruesome. It very much reminded me of the first book in this series - Whose Body?. This collection made for great bedtime reading and I do plan to pick up more of these short story collections.
iteechesinglish's review
mysterious
3.0
Unlike most of the Wimsey books, this is a collection of short stories a la Sherlock Holmes. It's a pretty entertaining collection, although some of the mysteries are more compelling than others. It was fun to read such a variety of stories, but I missed the more thought-out mysteries of the novels. There are a bunch of mysteries about mysterious and odd wills, and a finale where Wimsey goes undercover in a Holmes vs. Moriarty type story.
labajas5280's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
staticdisplay's review against another edition
4.0
I didn't realize this was a short story collection. It's also been, apparently, such a long time since I last read a Lord Peter story that I had kind of forgotten what his character is like. he is flippant, uncommonly observant, with a tendency to meander in speech, bold, and very wealthy. these short stories have some silly elements, although the tone varies. the gothic atmosphere of the story with the headless horses pulling a ghostly carriage was fun.
judyward's review against another edition
4.0
A dozen very well plotted short stories featuring Lord Peter Wimsey. These stories were the perfect length to pick up and enjoy when I needed a break from the events of the day.
tombomp's review against another edition
3.0
All pretty enjoyable because Sayers is a good writer, but the mysteries themselves are mixed quality. The crossword one is really impressive and a few of the others are interesting and comment on the mystery genre itself but the longest story is a bit silly (one of the main elements had no use at all and was actively dangerous to the plan, which relied upon a really major but highly unlikely thing another person did that everyone else in the story tried to stop, and that going exactly according to how they wanted it as well). Enjoyable but not a stellar collection. Worth reading if you enjoy mystery stuff though cause Sayers is great, even if she has her own ridiculous prejudices. She can convincingly write a charming detective and funny dialogue (not laugh out loud funny, but smile-raising), which is rare among detective writers.
A side note, an example of the bizarrely twisted morality at work in these sorts of books: an uncle makes a will leaving all his money to his sister and his niece, but hides it. His niece is a socialist and he doesn't like her. He makes an easily findable will that leaves all his money to an organisation promoting the Tories. Lord Peter Wimsey thinks this is hilarious and doesn't see why he should help find the first will, cause he doesn't like socialists (the author whines about socialism in other books in the series too, sadly). Yet there's no mention of the uncle's sister doing anything "wrong", and in fact she's disabled and needs an expensive operation! She was in fact a witness to the easily findable will, where she was given a silver teapot. That's it. The uncle seems like a cruel man who punishes his sister for no reason at all but I guess a woman possibly dying cause her rich brother is arbitrarily cruel to her is all fun and games to Lord Wimsey? Christ. It's just obnoxious. It's not like any of the golden age detectives cared much about this stuff other times.
A side note, an example of the bizarrely twisted morality at work in these sorts of books: an uncle makes a will leaving all his money to his sister and his niece, but hides it. His niece is a socialist and he doesn't like her. He makes an easily findable will that leaves all his money to an organisation promoting the Tories. Lord Peter Wimsey thinks this is hilarious and doesn't see why he should help find the first will, cause he doesn't like socialists (the author whines about socialism in other books in the series too, sadly). Yet there's no mention of the uncle's sister doing anything "wrong", and in fact she's disabled and needs an expensive operation! She was in fact a witness to the easily findable will, where she was given a silver teapot. That's it. The uncle seems like a cruel man who punishes his sister for no reason at all but I guess a woman possibly dying cause her rich brother is arbitrarily cruel to her is all fun and games to Lord Wimsey? Christ. It's just obnoxious. It's not like any of the golden age detectives cared much about this stuff other times.