Sixty years after Dorothy L. Sayers began her unfinished Lord Peter Wimsey novel, "Thrones Dominations," Booker Prize finalist Jill Paton Walsh took on the challenge of completing the manuscript---with extraordinary success. "The transition is seamless," said the "San Francisco Chronicle"; "you cannot tell where Sayers leaves off and Walsh begins." "Will Paton Walsh do it again?" wondered Ruth Rendell in London's "Sunday Times." "We must hope so." Jill Paton Walsh fulfills those hopes in "A Presumption of Death." Although Sayers never began another Wimsey novel, she did leave clues. Drawing on "The Wimsey Papers," in which Sayers showed various members of the family coping with wartime conditions, Walsh has devised an irresistible story set in 1940, at the start of the Blitz in London. Lord Peter is abroad on secret business for the Foreign Office, while Harriet Vane, now Lady Peter Wimsey, has taken their children to safety in the country. But war has followed them there---glamorous RAF pilots and even more glamorous land-girls scandalize the villagers, and the blackout makes the nighttime lanes as sinister as the back alleys of London. Daily life reminds them of the war so constantly that, when the village's first air-raid practice ends with a real body on the ground, it's almost a shock to hear the doctor declare that it was not enemy action, but plain, old-fashioned murder. Or was it? At the request of the overstretched local police, Harriet reluctantly agrees to investigate. The mystery that unfolds is every bit as literate, ingenious, and compelling as the best of original Lord Peter Wimsey novels.
Jill Payton has again made use of Dorothy Sayers notes and concocted a nice addition to the Whimsey tales. It has the period charm and many of the touches,(letters, riddles, misdirection and moral themes) along with the excellent prose and high standard of syntax that characterise Sayers' other work. Congratulations to Ms. Payton.
An enjoyable visit with old friends.
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 18 years ago
Those who love Dorothy Sayers should enjoy this book. Jill Paton Walsh is a good steward of Sayer's legacy, and the further adventures of Peter, Harriet, and Bunter are as satisfying as anyone has a right to expect. I sincerely hope a third Wimsey book will follow soon.
lord peter review
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 18 years ago
Great book. I loved all the lord peter books. Thanks for takeing me back to a time I wanted to learn more about. Great read great book.
Another View of Some Old Friends
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 19 years ago
I'm glad to read, in these reviews, that not every reader was so scrupulous about comparing Sayers and Paton/Walsh. I was so delighted to be returned to the locale and the characters, it didn't bother me at all that Paton/Walsh's style was different. It was as though another friend of the characters, writing about them in her own way, gave us the opportunity to visit with them once again.
A wonderful continuation of a treasured tradition
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 20 years ago
I have been avidly reading and rereading Dorothy L Sayers for for over 15 years after having been introduced to her writing by my mother just before I went off to college at Oxford. I thus approached Jill Paton Walsh's continuation of the Peter Wimsey series with a certain skepticism. In fact even after enjoying her first book "Thrones and Dominations" I tended to give all of the credit for the quality of that book to the notes Sayers had apparently left for the story. Having now finished Walsh's second book in the series, "A Presumption of Death", I have to give credit where credit is due. The book is wonderful and I really enjoyed reading it. Walsh is not Sayers and there are differences,(I think Walsh is a bit softer on people) but the original characters shine through and "A Presumption of Death" is well written with a well crafted mystery. In particular I enjoyed the way that this book, like Sayers' original mysteries, explores the moral questions of what drives a person to kill, and how society should best respond to that act, and the way the act affects all of the people connected to it, the people connected both to the victim and to the perpetrator. In addition, there is much delight to be found in the setting for this mystery. I found myself immersed in a believable English village coming to terms with the realities of being on the homefront during the early part of the Second World War.
ThriftBooks sells millions of used books at the lowest everyday prices. We personally assess every book's quality and offer rare, out-of-print treasures. We deliver the joy of reading in recyclable packaging with free standard shipping on US orders over $15. ThriftBooks.com. Read more. Spend less.