A good read and a good listen

I am always a bit nervous of reading a follow-on to a classic series written by another author. There certainly were odd moments when the story jarred, but mostly it was good. The performance wasn't perfect - the characterisation and accents were a bit uneven - but that is perhaps the most difficult aspect of recording an audio-book and I wouldn't want to make an issue of it. (Years ago I recorded several books for my mother, who was blind, and I didn't even try to adopt accents - I knew my limitations.)
So, read the novel, listen to the audio version, and I think you'll enjoy it.

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Pitch perfect.

You always fear that an author 'after' the style of a such a strong stylist as Sayers will grate at least a few times but really this didn't happen for me at all. A great plot, characters that have matured but not altered, themes that are so familiar it's like wearing an old but faithful winter coat.

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Not as good as the two earlier stories in the series

This is the book that I really could not get into. I recognized the characters but it just didn't ring true. For someone who has read and listened to all Of Dorothy L Sayers Lord Peter Wimsey's books, it was still difficult to follow the character's development or to relate to the plot. It's a pity because I enjoyed the earlier two books that this author had written. So I guess two out of three is not bad for Ms Patten.

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Didn't disappoint

I was a bit wary that this would be major let down by both the author (not DL Sayers) and the narrator (not Ian Carmichael) but I was very pleasantly surprised. Great plot, major characters well written and true to their creator. Well done to Ms Walsh, she pulled it off,

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4 people found this helpful

Slightly disappointing

In my opinion the least good of JPW’s stories of Peter Wimsey. Quite a good story but impossible to reproduce DLS’s depth of character. Pity Edward Petherbridge wasn’t available to read this one.

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1 person found this helpful

Kevin

beautiful. I think that ms sayers would have loved this. I certainly did. than you.

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The Late Scholar

This is a brilliant Lord Peter Wimsey mystery very entertaining with loads of great mysteries running through out. Read with great feeling by Gordon Griffin.

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Well worth the wait.

Any additional comments?

Any fans of Dorothy L Sayers detective Lord Peter Wimsey will not be disappointed with this book. The characterisation of the more mature Peter and Harriet is extremely well done.

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5 people found this helpful

Good

I've enjoyed listening to all Paton-Walsh's Wimsey books, she's followed the originals well and provided some excellent additional storylines. The only disappointment for me was the narrator this time, not a patch on Edward Petherbridge or the incomparable Ian Carmichael

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3 people found this helpful

Enjoyable, but not the best

I've enjoyed Jill Paton Walsh's previous recreations of the Wimsey detective stories and although this is a welcome addition, I must admit I don't think it's her best. SPOILER: The device of having a murderer using methods of murder inspired by Harriet's books (who, rather unbelievably, has apparently started to take her own inspiration from LPW's 'real-life' cases, as created by DL Sayers' books) must have seemed a fun idea in theory, but in practice it didn't work for me. It merely kept calling my attention to the fact I was reading fiction about other works of fiction. And sadly Gordon Griffin's narration did nothing to dispel the ghost of Ian Carmichael's wonderful readings of the other books. No light, quick witted tones here, but ponderous and slightly pompous speeches, which do tend to irritate. I know Peter Wimsey is meant to have aged since our last meeting with him, but in this reading he sounds like an elderly judge, while Bunter sounds so aged that I wondered if he was intended to expire before the end of the book. I'm sure Gordon Griffiths would be a great narrator for some books, but not this one.
I hope this review doesn't sound too negative. It's still an entertaining novel, and it's always good to catch up with Wimsey and Harriet. Although it's not the best, I have no regrets about buying it.

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2 people found this helpful