Frank H. (perryfran) reviewed Strong Poison (A Lord Peter Wimsey Msytery) on + 1194 more book reviews
This is the fifth novel featuring Lord Peter Wimsy and was first published in 1930. The novel starts out with Wimsey attending the trial of Harriet Vane who is accused of the murder of her former lover, Phillip Boyes. Harriet is a mystery writer who recently wrote a novel involving the use of arsenic. She had obtained arsenic to research the novel and arsenic poisoning is what killed Boyes who she had argued with prior to her arrest. Well right away Lord Peter thinks Vane is innocent and he also falls for her and wants to marry her! The trial results in a hung jury and therefore must be retried. This gives Wimsey the chance to prove Harriet's innocence before she can be tried again. Wimsey's friend, Inspector Parker from Scotland Yard is on the case and he was involved in Harriet's arrest. So can Wimsey prove Harriet's innocence in the the short time he has?
This was another enjoyable outing in the Wimsey series of mysteries. The story was made all the more fun with the involvement of Miss Climpson, a spinster who assists Wimsey by doing inquiry and undercover work and was first introduced in the novel Unnatural Death (which I need to read). In Poison, she participates in a very comic scene where she poses as medium and performs a seance with the nurse of Boyes' aunt who is near death, in order to find her will which could help to clear Harriet. Overall, this was a good mystery and I'll be looking forward to seeing how Wimsey's romance with Harriet evolves in the subsequent stories.
This was another enjoyable outing in the Wimsey series of mysteries. The story was made all the more fun with the involvement of Miss Climpson, a spinster who assists Wimsey by doing inquiry and undercover work and was first introduced in the novel Unnatural Death (which I need to read). In Poison, she participates in a very comic scene where she poses as medium and performs a seance with the nurse of Boyes' aunt who is near death, in order to find her will which could help to clear Harriet. Overall, this was a good mystery and I'll be looking forward to seeing how Wimsey's romance with Harriet evolves in the subsequent stories.
I don't think I'll ever get tired of reading and re-reading anything that Dorothy Sayers has written. (with the exception of her scholarly works - like her translation of Dante's Divine Comedy!) Lord Peter Wimsey is at the very top of my list of fictional characters I would most like to be able to have for a close friend! But I'm afraid it could only be a friendship because after all he is a married man! And this is the book where he first meets his future wife - the savvy Harriet Vane, writer of mystery novels who has been wrongly accused of poisoning her former lover. Lord Peter, ever on the scene when there is a mystery to be solved, immediately suspects she is innocent and steps in to prove it, especially since he has decided that she is the woman he wants to spend the rest of his life with. Harriet on the other hand, isn't so sure and as it turns out it takes two more books (Have his Carcase and Gaudy Night)before she makes up her mind. Like every other mystery I've ever read, the mystery part eludes me. I can never figure them out - even when all the clues fall into place at the end I'm usually still puzzled. But I love the characters and the time period and the wonderful way Dorothy Sayers has of drawing me right into the thick of things. I'll probably read this (and all the other wonderful Lord Peter mysteries) again and again - and each time I'll be just as confused as always but just as much in love with Lord Peter!
