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Busman's Honeymoon (Lord Peter Wimsey, #13)

Dorothy L. Sayers

Start date: December 1, 2016

Finish date: December 31, 2016

Discussion: Group Challenges

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What Members Thought

Jan 11, 2016 Teri-K rated it it was amazing

Shelves: mystery, mystery-golden-age

I love the way this book opens. In the previous one Harriet and Peter have agreed to marry, and this book covers the first few days of their honeymoon, but of course fans want to read about the engagement and wedding. Unfortunately that's often not all that satisfying to read, especially if it has to be rushed over to get to the main story. So Sayers opens with one chapter of excerpts from letters between friends and not-so-friendly people, and parts of the Dowager's diary for the days leading u ...more

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Aug 15, 2018 Jan C rated it really liked it

Shelves: rtd-2016-sayers-challenge, mystery, 2018, england

I've had multiple readings of this. Enjoyed it every time.

Had forgotten about the three short chapters at the end showing how Peter deals with the aftermath of his cases. ...more

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Jul 08, 2015 Bev rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: british-mystery, mystery, vintage-mystery

** spoiler alert ** So...Lord Peter finally gets the girl. Well, we knew that at the end of Gaudy Night...what with them kissing madly in the middle of Oxford and all. But this one seals the deal. The book begins with the details of the months leading up to the wedding, the wedding itself, and on to the honeymoon. Not that Sayers is so gauche as to reveal ALL about the wedding night, but it's abundantly obvious that our favorite lord and his new lady have quite a nice time of it.

The mystery fun ** spoiler alert ** So...Lord Peter finally gets the girl. Well, we knew that at the end of Gaudy Night...what with them kissing madly in the middle of Oxford and all. But this one seals the deal. The book begins with the details of the months leading up to the wedding, the wedding itself, and on to the honeymoon. Not that Sayers is so gauche as to reveal ALL about the wedding night, but it's abundantly obvious that our favorite lord and his new lady have quite a nice time of it.

The mystery fun begins the next day when the body of their neglectful host is found in the basement. It soon becomes clear that the reason the honeymoon house was not prepared was because Mr. Noakes has been dead for almost a week. Harriet rather wishes that Peter need not be bothered with all this murder business while on his honeymoon--if only because it will bring the mobs of reporters descending upon them--but soon realizes that his "job" is something they will need to come to terms with if theirs is to be happy marriage.

What follows is, as Sayers notes in the subtitle, A Love Story with Detective Interruptions. We follow Peter and Harriet as they sort out how their love story will begin and in the intervals they pick up clue after clue that will ultimately lead to the discovery of the culprit. However, the point of the story is not the murder. The point is love and marriage and what Sayers thought was the ideal way for two adults to sort things out.

The mystery isn't a very deep one and it shouldn't be hard for anyone to spot the criminal. But the detective story is not the reason I can read this novel (or any of Sayers' mysteries, for that matter) over and over again. I read them for the language and the characters and their interactions. Rereading Busman's Honeymoon, I was struck once more about how delightful the opening chapter is. It is told entirely in letters and excerpts from the Dowager Duchess's diary and I chuckle over it every single time. The voices of the various characters--from Peter's insufferable sister-in-law to the irrepressible Countess of Severn and Thames--are so distinct and vibrant. And the images they convey are such a hoot--can anyone who has read the stories not snort over the picture of the "hell-hound" reporters trying bribe Bunter? Or Peter and Harriet composing rude rhymes in order to get rid of Helen (the insufferable sister-in-law)?

I love this book. And can only regret that it is the last full-length novel written entirely by Dorothy L Sayers. The books penned by Jill Paton Walsh just aren't the same.

As I say, I love Dororthy L Sayers. I can't say it any better than that. I could read her Wimsey novels any time and I've already read them many times (more than I can count). I reach for Sayers when I need a pick-me-up, a soothing read, good writing, great quotes and references, a good dose of golden age mystery, any or all of the above. My only quibble is that I have already read them all and I have no new stories to look forward to. Oh to be in the position to pick up a Sayers for the first time--that would be bliss.

I could write pages and pages...but not nearly as well as Miss Sayers. I'll just leave it at this: If you enjoy good prose by an intelligent writer then you'll want to read these stories. ...more

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