Frances’s Comments (group member since Aug 21, 2017)

Frances’s comments from the Reading the Detectives group.

I've just finished and really enjoyed this one-overly complicated for sure, and I suppose Wimsey is asking himself whether the two (and almost three) additional deaths were worth stopping the killer-would she have lived quietly with her fortune, or gone on to kill again anyway?

Agreed that Miss Climpson is a delight, and a great acknowledgement that the apparently foolish Aristocrat detective is somewhat limited in what he can discover on his own.

There was an interesting discussion on a much earlier Shedunnit episode of the gay-coding in many Golden-Age mysteries, which is clearly used here-first with Agatha Dawson and Clara Whittaker-the latter following many "mannish" pursuits, both rejecting the idea of ever marrying and clearly uninterested in men, living a long and happy life together. This is then repeated in MW and Vera Findlater, and reinforced by "Mrs Forrest"'s revulsion when trying to seduce Wimsey (who I'm sure would otherwise have been irresistible to women!). Not something I would necessarily have noticed on an earlier read, but once it is pointed out it becomes rather obvious.

I am enjoying revisiting Sayers-must be 40+ years since I read them the first time around!

I also really enjoyed the setting-so much so that I added a trip to Shetland to my last trip to the UK and it was really worth it-I think at least half and probably more of my tour group (we were about 12) were there because of the TV series and we got to see some of the settings from the series which was fun. I had watched this part of the series after reading the first book but I think the series diverts from the novels after a while and so I didn't watch any more as wanted to read the rest first.

Also, is there a filmed version with a young Wimsey? The only one I know has a much older actor who is very good, but doesn't capture the youth and assumed fatuousness (is that even a word?) that is so clear in these earlier novels.

I'm about a third of the way in now and quite enjoying this one-particularly the whole idea of the hidden crimes that no one would ever know about-and therefore we have no idea how often these happen. Looking forward to seeing if there will be more suspects or if it will be more of a figuring out how and finding evidence sort of mystery. I'm sure I must have read this many years ago (I'm sure I read all of Sayers in my youth) but have absolutely no recollection of it at all.

I've just finished this one and enjoyed it very much. Is it supposed to be set in the 80's? It feels like the 50s or 60s to me but perhaps the countryside/farm community was still more "old-fashioned" in feel than the cities of the time.

What a clever idea-setting a body on a high roof in an already smelly area and hoping it might not be noticed for months-having many decades of mystery reading under my belt, it's always fun to have something completely new. We never do find out what happened to the head, though, do we?

Was it Sloan and his wife that had a baby in an earlier outing? There is no mention of his family, or I might be confusing him with another police detective-they do rather blur after a while.

Love the description of the walking club-as a sometime walking=club member myself, it's always fun to see us ever-so-gently mocked a bit, and to see ourselves from the perspective of the farmers/pub-owners etc.

Yay! This is the one Tey I don't think I've read so looking forward to this.

I'm also hoping to join this one but not sure when I'll get to it-too many good series I'm following here!

I will likely skip this one as I read fairly recently but do plan on joining the rest of the series.

I will be joining this read and should be starting soon.

I agree the murder was terribly complicated, but also quite an ingenious plot. I also love how Miss Marple plays up her spinsterish ways-getting Griselda to give her something to canvas for as an excuse to visit Basil and Dinah, and then shocking Dinah right back by revealing she knows they are married, and also showing kindness to the pair by warning them of what’s to come and saying she will help, and trying to smooth their path with the community-or at least the Bantrys-by revealing Basil’s war record.

I also love Dolly-what could that name be short for?-once I realized that her relish for meddling in the mystery is at least partly based on her clear-eyed understanding of what will happen to her husband if it isn’t solved. I think Miss Marple’s understanding of human nature must have been based on Christie’s own.

Can I try again for Tey’s To Love and be Wise? I think I nominated last month so I’m also OK to wait before trying again.

I’ve also finished this one, and really enjoyed the setting and weather/sheep-farming details, along with all the great characters. Not sure I fully understand the whole financial skulduggery/arson/manslaughter/murder/sheep rustling subplots but it was great to tramp across the hills with MacDonald and meet everyone from the old shepherd to the “young” squire. I do love Lorac’s settings and sense of place and time in her novels.

I am just starting this one now, and looking forward to the reread!

I quite enjoyed this one-did guess that Mrs Sprot was somehow involved but missed the Master Spy. I do enjoy seeing Tommy and Tuppence age, and agree with Jackie that her children couldn’t be that dense about their parents, could they? I love how Tommy and tuppence understand each other so well that they can get into scrapes and rescue each other!

Jackie wrote: "That was a fast read! off to the spoiler thread."

Same and same!

I agree with you, Sandy , the mystery itself didn’t quite seem to add up, but I really enjoyed the read and the character development. I particularly like that the attractive Max Mephisto has a relationship with someone his own age-or at least close- get tired of series in which the older hero ends up with a much younger woman. It’ll also be interesting to see how Edgar’s relationships unfold-there’s going to be some competition between Ruby and his policewoman colleague whose name escapes me, I assume.

I’ve also finished and really enjoyed it. I’ll meet you over on the spoiler thread now!

I have just now found time to start this one and am about 100 pages in. There is definitely an older, more melancholy feel to Shardlake-his friends and servants unwell or distant or barred from seeing him, so a lonelier and harder life. He is also aging with increasing physical difficulties and disability. I may have to intersperse reading this with something lighter!

What aboutTo Love and Be Wise? It seems to be the only Tey that the group hasn't done, and it looks like it's available much more cheaply.

I'd like to suggest Murder in the Museum but I suspect it may be too expensive. Do a lot of the BLCC books end up being quite expensive on Kindle? Seems a shame.