Friday 4 July 2014

CRIME THRILLER REVIEW: Lord Peter Wimsey Investigates: The Late Scholar - Jill Paton Walsh

Release Date: 05/06/14
Publisher:  Hodder

SYNOPSIS:

A new murder mystery featuring Lord Peter Wimsey - now a Duke - and his wife Harriet Vane, set in an Oxford college in the 1950s. Peter Wimsey is pleased to discover that along with a Dukedom he has inherited the duties of 'visitor' at an Oxford college.When the fellows appeal to him to resolve a dispute, he and Harriet set off happily to spend some time in Oxford. But the dispute turns out to be embittered. The voting is evenly balanced between two passionate parties - evenly balanced, that is, until several of the fellows unexpectedly die.The Warden has a casting vote, but the Warden has disappeared. And the causes of death of the deceased fellows bear an uncanny resemblance to the murder methods in Peter's past cases - methods that Harriet has used in her published novels .


REVIEW:

OK, I’m a new reader to the series so whilst this review is based upon Jill’s writing, I can’t say that I can speak for fans of the series written by Dorothy. Firstly, whilst I do realise that the characters have appeared in multiple novels before, I did feel that they were more a stereotype rather than something designed more for the modern reader, being characters more for the time period to which they were created written rather than a number of modern day counterparts that a number of readers will expect.

They are solid enough and whilst for me dated, they did give me a story that was a little different to my norm. It was an adventure, it was something that worked for me and whilst I probably won’t be revisiting for quite some time, was a book that I was pleased that I tackled as it gave me something to mull over whilst reading newer set crime titles. All round an interesting bit of fun but for me, not something I’ll be returning to any time soon.

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