Lord Peter Wimsey: The Complete Short Storiesby Dorothy L. Sayers
Rating: ★★★★
isbn: 9781473657632
Publication Date: February 13, 2018
Pages: 437
Genre: Fiction, Mystery
Publisher: Hodder Paperback
Presented in chronological order, these short stories see Lord Peter Wimsey bringing his trademark wit and unique detection skills to all manner of mysteries. From poisoned port to murder in fancy dress, Wimsey draws on his many skills - including his expertise in fine wine and appreciation of fine art - to solve cases far and wide, some even taking him to foreign countries and unexpected hiding places in pursuit of miscreants and murderers.
Containing 21 stories taken from Lord Peter Views the Body, Hangman's Holiday, In the Teeth of the Evidence and Striding Folly, now published together for the first time in one volume, this is the ultimate collection for fans of classic detective fiction and Dorothy L. Sayers.
My current distal discomfort being what it is, I thought a book of short stories would work for me, and I’ve been in the mood for some Whimsey.
Of this entire collection, I think the only one I’d read previously was The Necklace of Pearls. A few I didn’t much care for – The Queen’s Square pops immediately to mind, but that could be simply chalked up to my current attention span and the story being a fair-play mystery with maps are at odds. I liked the logic behind how Whimsey solved it, I just found the process tedious.
My favourites are far and away the easiest to identify:
The Fascinating Problem of Uncle Mileage’s Will: I loved this story and I think it’s a great example of superior writing, in that it was short but still contained all the suspense and entertainment many long stories struggle to achieve, and it was a nice departure from a ‘murder’ mystery.
The Learned Adventure of the Dragon’s Head: Another ‘no-murder’ mystery; less suspense but still oodles of fun with old books, maps, and a treasure hunt. Peter learning what happens when you poke a dragon in the eye was the cherry on top of this delightfully fun tale.
The Piscatorial Farce of the Stolen Stomach: Probably my least fave of the 4 I’m listing, but there was a whimsy about it I enjoyed, if the premise itself wasn’t totally disgusting.
Talboys: This one was just funny. Sweet too, but mostly just funny. The ending is sublime.
All in all a solid set of short stories, with very few disappointments.
Sounds like the same collection, under another name (just “Lord Peter”), that my mother had in the 70s. Does it have the afterword by John Curran? (With whom I violently disagree, for the record.)
I don’t think so – I don’t remember any afterward, except for a ‘biography’ of Lord Peter Whimsey that was at the very end, purported to be written by his uncle.
I’ve been back into reading Wimsey after giving him a break for a bit and I’m afraid that I’ll probably just stop the series. I don’t think it is Wimsey himself, but rather that Sayers makes the story tedious with all the details. I suspect she is writing for mystery readers who WANT to solve the mystery. Me, I just want to ride along on the coat tails 😉
She is rather detail oriented and it is sometimes tedious, I admit. If you like Whimsey, you might enjoy the short stories better; with the exception of one story in this collection they were all much more succinct and faster paced than the full length books.