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3rd out of 71 books
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17 voters
In the Teeth of the Evidence (Lord Peter Wimsey Mysteries #11.5)
All that was left of the garage was a heap of charred and smouldering beams. In the driving seat of the burnt-out car were the remains of a body...
An accident, said the police.
An accident, said the widow. She had been warning her husband about the danger of the car for months.
Murder, said the famous detective Lord Peter Wimsey--and proceeded to track down the killer.
Thi...more
An accident, said the police.
An accident, said the widow. She had been warning her husband about the danger of the car for months.
Murder, said the famous detective Lord Peter Wimsey--and proceeded to track down the killer.
Thi...more
Paperback, 294 pages
Published
1969
by New English Library
(first published 1939)
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Just finished up In the Teeth of the Evidence by Dorothy L Sayers. This collection represents the last bit of Sayers' fiction that I wanted to read...just so I could say I'd re-read all of her fiction this year. The collection is okay. Decent. But I don't think it represents her best work. I much prefer her earlier collections (Lord Peter Views the Body and Hangman's Holiday) and even her final stories found in Striding Folly. The writing itself isn't at fault--it's terrific as always--but the s...more
A good mystery story is like a magic trick. We all try to find out what the secret is, but we are happy if we are defeated, and a trifle disappointed if we win. The only difference is that the mystery writer reveals her trick at the end, while the magician does not.
If a full length mystery novel is a grand illusion with all the props, the detective short is a parlour trick. The illusion is cumbersome to set up and execute, but when properly done, very effective and hard to see through: the parlo...more
If a full length mystery novel is a grand illusion with all the props, the detective short is a parlour trick. The illusion is cumbersome to set up and execute, but when properly done, very effective and hard to see through: the parlo...more
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A collection of short stories that are long on eerie atmosphere but short on characterization. I enjoyed the audiobook, and feel this makes for great sequential, short-transit fare (Ian Carmichael reads beautifully) but not good single-sitting listening on something like a long, transatlantic flight. Perfect choice for October with some spooky, flesh-crawling tales. Hints of Hitchcock. Creepy felines.
The last story in the collection, "The Cyprian Cat", dips a toe into the supernatural, which is...more
The last story in the collection, "The Cyprian Cat", dips a toe into the supernatural, which is...more
Daniel says: "Happy, why do you like mystery novels so much?" And I respond indignantly: "What are you talking about? I don't like mystery novels that much!" and then I look at the books I have been reading and realize that maybe I do. And why? I have no idea. I fed Daniel some rigamarole about how I enjoy the puzzle aspect of them, but I expect it's actually just cause they tend to be englishy and their plots don't center on feelings.
A collection of short stories, a couple featuring Peter Wimsey, some Montague Egg, but most involving neither. Some are murder mysteries, others detective stories and a few are downright humorous or verge on melodrama.
I found them a mixed bag, some great (loved Scrawns, reminded me of Northanger Abbey), not keen on The Cyprian Cat which is the last story, but in all it was an enjoyable read as it's interesting to see Sayers playing with ideas.
I found them a mixed bag, some great (loved Scrawns, reminded me of Northanger Abbey), not keen on The Cyprian Cat which is the last story, but in all it was an enjoyable read as it's interesting to see Sayers playing with ideas.
This is a set of short stories. The first two, featuring Lord Peter Wimsey are pretty good. The next five or six feature a travelling salesman named Montague Egg. They're enjoyable but nothing special. The rest of them feature no one in particular and are frequently nothing more than misdirection masquerading as a mystery. It was a fun, quick read, but not something I'd recommend.
I have read these before, but reread them yesterday. There is but one Peter Wimsey tale in the book, so don't be fooled. The rating is based not on what a new reader would think of the book today, but on how a reader would have reacted when they were first published...
Sadly, Dorothy Sayers seems to be abysmal at short story writing. I braved through 3 of the stories before chucking the book. They all feel like first drafts or character studies and none of them have the distinctive dialogue or wit of her full blown novels.
Charming mystery stories from a variety of characters. I picked this up after reading a long discussion about Lord Peter Wimsey's love life - I can't say I'm that invested after reading three short stories about him, but I'd happily read more. Her other stories, both the traveling-salesman ones and the one-offs, were as good or better. Fun stuff all the way around.
I'm not sure I'd have ended this with the story it does (reminds me some of B movie from the 30s I saw once), but the story of the resourceful Mr. Budd was a particular favorite.
May 15, 2013
Alison
added it
short stories, some Monty Egg, a commercial traveller -DLS trying out her skills , very 1920s and in her milieu but little of the spark of the longer novels
Sorry, but to call this part of the "Lord Peter Wimsey Mysteries" is false advertising, IMHO. It's a collection of Sayers short stories, only a few of which feature his lordship. Not up to the standards set by the novels, I regret to say.
Some of the stories are Edgar Allan Poe-like, so are pretty weird. She writes well.
Mar 19, 2010
Auntiecatherine
added it
In the teeth of the evidence, and other stories by Dorothy L. Sayers (1948)
A collection of short murder mysteries. They are not quite as predictable as they felt on occasion.
2 stars for Lord Peter Wimsey's stories and another half star for the rest of the short stories.
The title's misleading...this is a collection of short stories and only 2 feature lord Peter. Other than that, a good collection of short stories although I confess I did not read them all, not being a huge fan of short stories.
Good collection of short stories even the ones not featuring Wimsey and Egg. :)
Sep 18, 2009
Jonathan
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
english-literature,
fiction
I really enjoy Sayers' writing. Witty, intelligent, and imaginative.
Nice collection of mystery short stories from Dorothy Sayers.
Much as I love Peter Whimsey, the stories featuring him were pretty lukewarm.
I enjoyed the ones featuring Montague Egg, the intrepid traveling wine and spirits salesmen.
The story featuring the self centered mystery writer and his enamored secretary was very cute and I would have loved to have seen a sequel.
Much as I love Peter Whimsey, the stories featuring him were pretty lukewarm.
I enjoyed the ones featuring Montague Egg, the intrepid traveling wine and spirits salesmen.
The story featuring the self centered mystery writer and his enamored secretary was very cute and I would have loved to have seen a sequel.
A fleeting killer's green mustache. A corpse clutching a note with misplaced vowels. A telephone with the unmistakable ring of death. A hopeful heir's dreams of fortune done in when nature beats him to the punch. A playwright's unwatered-down honor that is thicker than blood.In each case, the murder baffles the local authorities. For his Lordship and the spirited salesman-sleuth Montague Egg, a corpse is an intriguing invitation to unravel the postmortem puzzles of fascinating falsehoods, myster...more
definitely a wide variety of stories. I wish there had been more Peter Wimsey.
Good read. I particularly liked the stories not involving Wimsey and Egg.
Short stories are not my favorite, but this was fun!
Hit and miss. Sometimes very miss.
love this author
Good.
Oldies, of course - but still fund.
A few clunkers but worth the time.
A few clunkers but worth the time.
A few Lord Peter stories mixed with a variety of others: the Montague Egg stories, and some one offs, several of them very creepy with at least odd and seemingly paranormal plots. Like two of the other "big four" mystery writers (Allingham and Christie are the other two) of the mid-20th century, Sayers did paranormal very well when she chose to, leaving the mysteries largely unexplained, which, if well done, is the creepiest thing of all.
This was a really enjoyable collection of Dorothy Sayers stories. There were a few Peter Wimsey stories, a few detective stories featuring a traveling salesman named Montague Egg, who likes to end his summations with clever quotes from the Salesman's Handbook. The other stories departed from the detective genre, playing with humor, suspense and the supernatural. I really enjoyed them. I want to find more of her short fiction.
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Dorothy Leigh Sayers (Oxford, 13 June 1893 – Witham, 17 December 1957) was a renowned British author, translator, student of classical and modern languages, and Christian humanist.
Dorothy L. Sayers is best known for her mysteries, a series of novels and short stories set between World War I and World War II that feature English aristocrat and amateur sleuth Lord Peter Wimsey. However, Sayers herse...more
More about Dorothy L. Sayers...
Dorothy L. Sayers is best known for her mysteries, a series of novels and short stories set between World War I and World War II that feature English aristocrat and amateur sleuth Lord Peter Wimsey. However, Sayers herse...more
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