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58th out of 134 books
—
39 voters
A Presumption of Death (Lord Peter Wimsey and Harriet Vane #2)
While Lord Peter is abroad on a secret mission, Harriet Vane, now Lady Peter Wimsey, takes their children to safety in the country. But there's no escape from war: rumors of spies abound, glamorous RAF pilots and flirtatious land-girls scandalize the villagers, and the blackout makes rural lanes as sinister as London's alleys. And when a practice air-raid ends with a young...more
Paperback, 384 pages
Published
August 3rd 2004
by St. Martin's
(first published 2002)
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"If anybody ever marries you, it will be for the pleasure of hearing you talk piffle."
Set in the early days of WW II, this book is an enjoyable, plausible continuation of the Wimsey-Vane marriage post Busman’s Honeymoon, Sayers’ last complete Lord Peter mystery. Walsh created reasonably faithful versions of both the central characters, but somehow was not entirely successful in recreating the spark between them, which for me has always been one of the most delightful aspects of the series since...more
Set in the early days of WW II, this book is an enjoyable, plausible continuation of the Wimsey-Vane marriage post Busman’s Honeymoon, Sayers’ last complete Lord Peter mystery. Walsh created reasonably faithful versions of both the central characters, but somehow was not entirely successful in recreating the spark between them, which for me has always been one of the most delightful aspects of the series since...more
A PRESUMPTION OF DEATH (Trad Mys-Harriet Vane-England-WWII) - Ex
Walsh, Jill Payton and Dorothy L. Sayers – Last in series (EMBRG Selection)
New English Library Ltd, 2003, US Paperback – ISBN: 978-0340820674
It’s WWII and Lord Peter is away on a mission. Harriet has moved the household to the country for safety. Emerging from shelter after an air-raid, the body of a land-girl is found in the street. It wasn’t bombs that killer her, but a quick lethal physical killing. The local police superintenden...more
Walsh, Jill Payton and Dorothy L. Sayers – Last in series (EMBRG Selection)
New English Library Ltd, 2003, US Paperback – ISBN: 978-0340820674
It’s WWII and Lord Peter is away on a mission. Harriet has moved the household to the country for safety. Emerging from shelter after an air-raid, the body of a land-girl is found in the street. It wasn’t bombs that killer her, but a quick lethal physical killing. The local police superintenden...more
Feb 12, 2013
Nancy McKibben
rated it
4 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
fans of English literary mysteries and Sayers in particular
A Presumption of Death
By Jill Paton Walsh & Dorothy L. Sayers
This is one of those distressing books written by not the author, but by a presumptuous (forgive the pun) upstart trying to ride the original author’s coattails, the original author being long since dead. Or so I thought, indignantly, until I read it. The book is actually based on The Wimsey Papers, a loose epistolary collection by Lord Peter and various family members written during World War II. (These are all fictional character...more
By Jill Paton Walsh & Dorothy L. Sayers
This is one of those distressing books written by not the author, but by a presumptuous (forgive the pun) upstart trying to ride the original author’s coattails, the original author being long since dead. Or so I thought, indignantly, until I read it. The book is actually based on The Wimsey Papers, a loose epistolary collection by Lord Peter and various family members written during World War II. (These are all fictional character...more
I loved this book. It had such an immediacy in its portrayal of wartime England, as well as finely detailed, interwoven stories that asked questions about the usual Lord Peter/Harriet Vane character dilemmas--love, death, class and family, and a pretty good mystery with a final twist to tie up the last loose end. And the humor of illegal pigs. Much of it must have come from Sayers' original source material, but there was certainly much research that Paton Walsh did into RAF flyers and the early...more
After finishing an unfinished Sayers draft in Thrones and Dominations, Paton Walsh bases herself on published Sayers articles to create this one and succeeds rather well. We are very much in the world of Busmans Honeymoon mixed with that last glimpse of Lord Peter and family that Sayers provided in the short story Talboys. We find Harriet and the kids, including Mary and Charles Parker's two evacuated from London to Talboys in the early days of WWII. The phony war is captured nicely and so are t...more
At Dorothy Sayers death, she left behind an unfinished Lord Peter Wimsey novel and notes on how the characters were coping with life during World War II. Sixty years later, Jill Paton Walsh finished the book and the result is a success. Set in 1940 at the beginning of the Blitz. Harriet Vane, Lord Peter Wimsey's wife, has moved with her two young sons to a small village to escape the dangers of the cities. During the village's first air-raid drill, no bombs were dropped, but a body was found lyi...more
I finished this book about 3:30am this morning, after checking it out of the library less than 12 hours earlier. It's been a LONG time since a book has kept me up that late! It doesn't get the 5th star because it starts slowly, and if you aren't already at least vaguely familiar with Harriet Vane and Lord Peter Wimsey, it would be far too confusing.
Note that this book isn't really written by Dorothy Sayers. A handful of the pages were written by her, but the vast majority of the book was written...more
Note that this book isn't really written by Dorothy Sayers. A handful of the pages were written by her, but the vast majority of the book was written...more
Like many of Sayers solo works this is a book about people and situations built around a Detective Novel and if read purely as a Crime Story will disappoint. If read as a novel of time, place and people however it will reward.
The book is, I think, best read with a knowledge of the time and place - having that background would definitely help as there is little explanation of issues of time and place that are well known to the UK reader but may puzzle those from overseas. Beware that at least one...more
The book is, I think, best read with a knowledge of the time and place - having that background would definitely help as there is little explanation of issues of time and place that are well known to the UK reader but may puzzle those from overseas. Beware that at least one...more
This is not Dorothy Sayers but until the newest incarnation of that formidable lady is identified, it will have to do.
The atmosphere is wonderfully done, showing with skill the conditions which prevailed in England at the beginning of World War II. I had to look up some of the more arcane items in order to be able to visualise them properly. This was an added delight since I greatly relish learning new and peculiar things.
The plot was sadly lacking, definitely playing second fiddle to the chara...more
The atmosphere is wonderfully done, showing with skill the conditions which prevailed in England at the beginning of World War II. I had to look up some of the more arcane items in order to be able to visualise them properly. This was an added delight since I greatly relish learning new and peculiar things.
The plot was sadly lacking, definitely playing second fiddle to the chara...more
A wonderful read, cleverly written and well-paced with period detail scattered throughout, A Presumption of Death is perfectly in tune with the current passion for stories set in WWII.
The popularity of TV shows set in 1940s and post-war England (Downton Abbey, Bomb Girls, Land Girls, Wartime Farm, Call the Midwife, etc.) show our convenience-addicted society the roots of our modern, gender-equal world. Looking back on an economy of scarcity, on changes in women's roles, on lives lost and famili...more
The popularity of TV shows set in 1940s and post-war England (Downton Abbey, Bomb Girls, Land Girls, Wartime Farm, Call the Midwife, etc.) show our convenience-addicted society the roots of our modern, gender-equal world. Looking back on an economy of scarcity, on changes in women's roles, on lives lost and famili...more
Another book with author credits for both Sayers and Paton Walsh, this is really Paton Walsh's but draws on Sayers's letters for the circumstances of Peter and Harriet's life at the start of WWII.
The story is set in the early days of the war, Harriet and the children are living in Talboys, Peter is away at the start on intelligence work. One night as the village practices the procedures for an air raid, a Land Girl is murdered. Harriet is asked by the police to help with the investigation.
It is...more
The story is set in the early days of the war, Harriet and the children are living in Talboys, Peter is away at the start on intelligence work. One night as the village practices the procedures for an air raid, a Land Girl is murdered. Harriet is asked by the police to help with the investigation.
It is...more
Eh, she's not Sayers by a long shot, but it's not too bad.
The characters aren't Sayers. They're random people with Sayers' character names. The plot is pretty thin, and all the wartime "historical" stuff didn't really add anything.
Pretty disappointing overall. I would not recommend this to a Sayers fan looking for more of the same.
The characters aren't Sayers. They're random people with Sayers' character names. The plot is pretty thin, and all the wartime "historical" stuff didn't really add anything.
Pretty disappointing overall. I would not recommend this to a Sayers fan looking for more of the same.
The second Lord Peter Wimsey by Walsh and based on the Wimsey Papers takes place during WWI. Although Peter is initially not present and Harriet has to work away at solving the mystery alone, Peter eventually does play a major role. The focus on Harriet solving a code which is essential to Peter's return from a secret mission and whether he will make it back ( well we know he will since there is a sequel ) lends tension to the first half of the novel. Harriet deals with the lack of his help by w...more
Alas! The Lord Peter Wimsey stories and novels are my favorite mysteries of all time, and Jill Paton Walsh did a beautiful job of completing Dorothy Sayers' unfinished novel, "Thrones, Dominations," after the writer's death. This novel is more completely from Walsh's imagination, and it shows. Its inspiration comes from several short articles and notes that Sayers published during World War II, describing the Wimsey family's challenges. However, its weak plot--Harriet and Peter working together...more
A PRESUMPTION OF DEATH by Jill Paton Walsh takes the Dorothy L. Sayers husband and wife protagonists Lord Peter Wimsey and Harriet Vane on to the opening year of the Second World War. With two young sons (Bredon and Paul – ages 3 and 1), Harriet is looking after nieces, nephews and other youngsters of the family on a farm in Hertfordshire while Wimsey attempts to get back into intelligence work in Europe. Unexplained deaths and tensions of war involving the RAF and battles in the sky over Britai...more
Jill Paton Walsh does a fair job of re-creating Sayers's original characters and world, though her novels lack the tidiness and depth of Sayers's. This is my second JPW (after The Attenbury Emeralds) and I definitely prefer this one. The WWII setting made it more palatable (i.e. historically intriguing) and kept my interest better than a stodgy aristocrat's missing heirlooms. (Note: I do not appreciate her attempts to imitate Sayers's philosophical musings. I can forgive a lot of authorial sins...more
Normally I am dead-set against authors continuing the efforts of another author. However, there are always exceptions, and Jillian Walsh is one of them.
A Presumption of Death is a very fast, satisfying read. I do enjoy Harriet Vane, and Walsh does an almost-seamless job picking up where Sayers left off. The part of the book I thought felt least Sayers-like, the letters (I thought they came off too forced) turns out to be the only part entirely written by Sayers, so that goes to show how much I...more
A Presumption of Death is a very fast, satisfying read. I do enjoy Harriet Vane, and Walsh does an almost-seamless job picking up where Sayers left off. The part of the book I thought felt least Sayers-like, the letters (I thought they came off too forced) turns out to be the only part entirely written by Sayers, so that goes to show how much I...more
(Original review http://hill-kleerup.org/blog/2010/05/...)
An original Peter Wimsey novel based very loosely on the “Wimsey Papers” war-time correspondence that Sayers wrote during the early years of WWII. Walsh does a serviceable job of fleshing this out in to a 1940-based novel, with Harriet and her children in the countryside during the Blitz, and dealing with a murder during an air raid. Some lovely period detail about live in that time, and Peter does make appropriate appearances when not on...more
An original Peter Wimsey novel based very loosely on the “Wimsey Papers” war-time correspondence that Sayers wrote during the early years of WWII. Walsh does a serviceable job of fleshing this out in to a 1940-based novel, with Harriet and her children in the countryside during the Blitz, and dealing with a murder during an air raid. Some lovely period detail about live in that time, and Peter does make appropriate appearances when not on...more
This made me fele that it might be time to re-read the original seires. this was reasonably good but just not the quality of plot that Dorothy Sayers brought to murder mysteries. The setting is after the original series, and here is in 1940--Harriet is in the country, Peter is working in espionage, and there is rampant shortages and everyone is doing their part for the war. in the midst of the recent financial downturn, I think we may get the opportunity to see days like this again, and I am not...more
This is the Peter Wimsey & Harriet Vane story carried on by another writer. She uses some source material from Dorothy Sayers but most of it is new. I feel like it did feel a bit different from a 'real' Sayers, but then, I knew coming in that it was another author - so I think the difference was mostly in my mind. Really well done in any case. The mystery was pretty solid, if a little less complex/subtle than usual.
EDITED TO ADD: changing my mind a bit the more I think about this one. I did...more
EDITED TO ADD: changing my mind a bit the more I think about this one. I did...more
Aug 04, 2012
Hannah
added it
O, fie on you, Jill Paton Walsh! The ersatz Sayers on offer here is about as convincing as a cubic zirconia - for example, the way Walsh spells every damn thing out makes it clear that she doesn't trust her readers to be intelligent, where Sayers alludes to literature without attribution and makes the occasional important point in untranslated French or Latin (placet?). What's worse, reading Walsh's fake Sayers makes me more critical of the real Sayers, to the point of not enjoying it as much. O...more
Aug 08, 2011
Bev Hankins
rated it
1 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
historical-mystery,
mystery
Ruth Rendell wondered, "Will Paton Walsh do it again?" My answer? Unfortunately, yes. Paton Walsh does not have the classic background of a Sayers. One of the delights of reading Sayers' work is all the quotations she would sprinkle through the pages. Not just to say, "look what I know" but as a natural part of the characters of Peter and Harriet. Paton Walsh may write very good mysteries of her own...but she really doesn't do Lord Peter well. I've read the Wimsey papers that this story is based...more
I loved Lord Peter Wimsey and Harriet Vane in the D.L Sayers books, so was quite excited to discover that Walsh had written several 'new' novels by Walsh, and maybe a tad apprehensive. Read them voraciously & quickly in virtually one sitting. I can see the organisation of the novel being very reminiscent of the originals. I thought the prose wasn't quite the elegant, laconic tone and texture of the original but still very readable and hugely enjoyable. Yes, the happy famiy core throws a diff...more
It wasn't Dorothy L. Sayers all the way through, but it was good. I was slightly less than satisfied by the way that the Wendy-plot was wrapped up in the end, but I did quite love seeing all of my favorite Sayers characters back (Bunter! Harriet! The Dowager!). It was like a reunion of sorts - so long as your idea of a reunion involves spies, Nazis, and the British countryside. Of course, this is one of the reasons that it didn't feel like Sayers -- she only wrote the novels before WWII, so the...more
A practice air raid ends in real murder in the quiet English village where Harriet Vane is waiting out the Blitz while her husband, Lord Peter Wimsey, is away on a secret mission. Building on a series of letter written by Sayers herself, Walsh does a solid job of reviving beloved characters, though it is a disappointment that Peter is absent for so long. His eventual arrival brings that extra spark, not to mention a second corpse. The period is beautifully portrayed, from the petty annoyances to...more
In a way I can't quite put my finger on, I almost think Paton Walsh is more successful with this book than Thrones, Dominations. Interesting look at the early years of World War II in any case, and fairly well plotted. There are still times when she seems to repeat things from earlier books as if to compensate for a possible lack of plausible continuity, but overall it's an engaging read, albeit not one with quite Sayers' flair (it's a bit like someone more or less following Grandma's classic re...more
Harriet and family, minus Lord Peter Wimsey, have settled for the duration of WWII in their country home in the village of Paggleham where Harriet grew up. An excessively flirtatious girl laborer is found dead during a practice air raid. The local police being busy with blackouts and food rationing offenses, Harriet is asked to find out what happened to Wicked Wendy. Until Peter gets home, she is lacking some essential pieces of the puzzle. It was rather fun to meet the Paggleham characters from...more
A good book written in England during WWII. I liked the historical parts and also reading a book set in another country. I'm not sure if it was the author's tone or the different time period, but some parts of it were kind of difficult to understand. I had to recall a lot of history and "slang" terms to understand a lot of the undertones of the book!
The characters, especially more than the two or three main characters, seemed really underdeveloped to me. I'm not sure if the author wanted you to...more
The characters, especially more than the two or three main characters, seemed really underdeveloped to me. I'm not sure if the author wanted you to...more
A wonderful addition to the Wimsey canon. Walsh developed this story from letters published in papers during WWII. Sayers wrote exchanges purportedly from Harriet to Peter and vice versa so Walsh picked up from there.
This story has Peter on a secret spy mission and Harriet evacuated to their country home with her own children as well as the Parker family. One night during a practice air drill, one of the girls who have also been evacuated to the village is killed. Harriet begins working on the...more
This story has Peter on a secret spy mission and Harriet evacuated to their country home with her own children as well as the Parker family. One night during a practice air drill, one of the girls who have also been evacuated to the village is killed. Harriet begins working on the...more
With Thrones and Dominations and Presumption of Death, Jill Paton Walsh manages to accomplish two demi-miracles--to provide worthy successors to the memorable novels of Dorothy L. Sayers and to write a passionate account of a marriage between two intellectual equals. I particularly enjoyed the second novel, set in a village in wartime England. Lord Peter is off on a secret mission and Harriet is not only keeping the home fires burning, but investigating a murder of a land girl whose unsolved dea...more
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Jill Paton Walsh was born Gillian Bliss in London on April 29th, 1937. She was educated at St. Michael's Convent, North Finchley, and at St. Anne's College, Oxford. From 1959 to 1962 she taught English at Enfield Girls' Grammar School.
Jill Paton Walsh has won the Book World Festival Award, 1970, for Fireweed; the Whitbread Prize, 1974 (for a Children's novel) for The Emperor's Winding Sheet; The...more
More about Jill Paton Walsh...
Jill Paton Walsh has won the Book World Festival Award, 1970, for Fireweed; the Whitbread Prize, 1974 (for a Children's novel) for The Emperor's Winding Sheet; The...more
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