Carillion T. (mysterymama) reviewed 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.
Robert M. (shotokanchef) reviewed 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".
Joy L. (vintagejoy) -
Helpful Score: 1
Another excellent Lord Peter Wimsey Mystery. You'll never geuss "who done it!"
Kerrigan M. (kerriganm) reviewed 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.
Lord Peter is on a fishing holiday in a Scottish artists' colony. He's drawn into a perplexing mystery complete with quirky locals, a variety of policefolk, amusing references to country life, and dialect thick enough to spread on a bun.
Dorothy Sayer is my favorite classic mystery writer. This one starts with a body on the poihnted rocks. Although the artist might have fallen while painting, there are too many suspicious elements -- he's been dead for half a day according to the medical evidence, but witnesses say him alive a scant hour earlier. As always, a complex plot starring Lord Peter Whimsey.
Kerrigan M. (kerriganm) reviewed Five Red Herrings (Lord Peter Wimsey, Bk 7) on + 20 more book reviews
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.
Grace M. (gracie-1936) reviewed Five Red Herrings (Lord Peter Wimsey, Bk 7) on + 9 more book reviews
As always, Dorothy Sayers does not disappoint! Lord Peter is his most amusing self, and quite the casual sleuth. And who could ignore Bunter, his faithful servant? Great who-done it, and a challenge to figure out just who!
This mystery is set in the Galloway section of Scotland. It was published in 1931. The dialogue is very amusing but hard to follow since Mrs. Sayers writes in dialect, something modern day writers shirk from. It was very hard to understand what was going on, also the use of Scottish slang words not familiar to US readers. I enjoyed the story but may not read anymore of her writing because of the problems with descriptions and terms I am not able to decipher.
