Author: Dorothy L. Sayers –
Publisher: Page2Page –
Genre: Crime –
Overall rating: 5/5 –
Writing: 5/5 –
Duration: 7:33 h, medium –
Narrator: Stephen Scalon –
Narrator/performance: 4/5 –
Impressions: 3/5 –
Performance errors: 1/5 –
Complexity/reading level: 3/5 –
Audience: General
Commentary/review
Most often I cannot be bothered to review a bad crime novel, I read so many of them for relaxation. This one requires a recommendation though. It is a 1928 mystery novel from the Lord Peter Wimsey series. The book is a delight at every paragraph. It fortunately does not contain slurs (or I did not notice them) as some other books from this Author, bearing in mind the different epoch they were written in. As in other Dorothy L. Sayers books I have read so far, female characters are non-conformist and multidimensional. Yet this one also masterfully captures the complexities of societal life between both sexes without delving too much into descriptions of emotions. The ever-present British stoic, the elephant in the room, is almost palpable. The dialogues are composed almost entirely of idiomatic expressions. The opinions expressed in various dialogues are harsh and sound true. The legal problem included in the plot, as usual with this Author, sounds fascinating. The book seems not only well-researched but brilliantly thought-through, taking into account the diversity of characters, objects and places featuring in this coherent, clear piece of fiction. The writing is so good that the rather flat narration performance it was given does not spoil it. Unfortunately, the title will stay on my app only for a few more days.
These covers are rather nice, even though they seem hastily made. I quite like them, though it is difficult to say why.
Cover photo by Clem Onojeghuo on Unsplash