Robert M. (shotokanchef) reviewed The Five Red Herrings (Lord Peter Wimsey, Bk 7) on + 813 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
Sayers is a stickler for details. To wit her mystery The Nine Tailors in which she impresses the reader with her intimate knowledge of the ringing of church bells. This, to many, is tedious at the least. I may have struggled through that, but her constant iteration of railroad timetables and itineraries for the murder had me ready to walk on the ceiling. Fortunately, glancing by these passages did not cause me to lose the thread of the story. (Readers of The Nine Tailors probably survived the same way.) Needless to say, she sets forth a theory of the crime for each red herring and for the murderer. This too might conceivably drive the reader towards insanity. Expect twists and turns seven ways from Sunday each bringing you back to the start without passing "go".
Carillion T. (mysterymama) reviewed The Five Red Herrings (Lord Peter Wimsey, Bk 7) on + 50 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
Slightly more tedious than some of the other Wimsey mysteries, but still excellently written and quite memorable.
Joy L. (vintagejoy) -
Helpful Score: 1
Another excellent Lord Peter Wimsey Mystery. You'll never geuss "who done it!"
Kerrigan M. (kerriganm) reviewed The Five Red Herrings (Lord Peter Wimsey, Bk 7) on + 20 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
How bad can a Lord Peter Wimsey mystery be? Not bad at all. Sayers was a mystery writer par excellence. Her Lord Peter Wimsey is delightful, and all her characters are fully three-dimensional. This mystery varies from her other stories as being a timetable-based mystery. I'm afraid these always make my brain glaze over. But Sayers is always engaging, and even her anti-climax is exciting to read.
