Busman's Honeymoon; Striding Folly; A Presumption of Death

Kliatt, Sept, 2003 by Jacqueline Edwards

BUSMAN'S HONEYMOON. Dorothy L. Sayers. 1937/1994. Read by Ian Carmichael. 8 tapes. 12.75 hrs. ChiversAudio, Audio Partners. 1-57270-317-2. $34.95. Cardboard, plastic; plot, reader, author notes. SA

STRIDING FOLLY. Dorothy L. Sayers. 1973/ 2002. Read by Ian Carmichael. 2 cds. 2.1 hrs. Chivers Audio, Audio Partners. 1-57270-223-0. $18.95. Cardboard, plastic; plot, reader, author notes. SA

A PRESUMPTION OF DEATH. Jill Payton Walsh & Dorothy L. Sayers. 2002/2003. Read by Ian Carmichael. 8 cds. 9.25 hrs. Chivers Audio, Audio Partners. 1-57270-323-7. $34.95. Cardboard, plastic; plot, reader, author notes. SA

An excellent writer, an excellent reader, and three excellent audios. Sayers always provides a good solid mystery that uses logical deduction to figure out how the dirty deed was done. Her classic detective genre works are especially appealing for their intelligence, for their wonderful evocation of time and place, specifically England between the world wars, and for her adept characterizations, particularly of the delightful amateur detective, Lord Peter Wimsey.

In the fifth of the series of full-length Wimsey mysteries, Sayers introduced the mystery writer Harriet Vane, an accused murderer, as Peter's love interest, finally marrying them off in her 12th, and last completed, full-length mystery, Busman's Honeymoon, subtitled "A Love Story with Detective Interludes." Along with solving the murder mystery, Sayers is equally interested in solving the mystery of how Peter, the idiosyncratic aristocrat, and Harriet, the Oxford bluestocking, blend their lives. Consequently, this frequently madcap audio is a treat for Sayers fans but not the best introduction to Sayers though interesting as an early work of feminist thought.

Striding Folly offers three short mysteries, all written after Honeymoon, each providing a neat puzzle for Wimsey to solve. Along with an especially pleasant family setting, "Talboys" presents a view of child-rearing sure to raise some eyebrows today. Presumption, written by Walsh in 2002 but set in 1940, is based on "The Wimsey Papers," descriptions by Sayers of English life at the beginning of WW II. With Peter overseas performing a hazardous spying operation, Harriet is pressed into beginning the inquiry into a local murder at home in the English countryside on her own. Interesting for details of life during wartime England, especially social and cultural changes.

Carmichael, who performed Wimsey for the earlier PBS series, gives a buoyant tour-deforce performance, both in his characterizations and in his range. Jacqueline Edwards, Bedford, MA