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The Late Scholar (Lord Peter Wimsey/Harriet Vane, #4)

Jill Paton Walsh

Start date: April 20, 2017

Finish date: April 28, 2017

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What Members Thought

Nov 07, 2014 Tracey rated it did not like it · review of another edition

Shelves: hist-myst, won-t-bother-with-the-series, completed-posthumously, mystery, another-author-s-characters, 1-star, period

It will not be a surprise to many that – yep, this is a long one.

There's a masochistic tendency in me that I never suspected. Why else would I keep reading what basically amounts to terrible fan fiction about some of my favorite characters? What is this compulsion that makes me keep getting, and reading, these books even though I know it's not going to be pretty?

Because this is classic bad fan fiction, in which the author pulls elements from all the canon works and tries to take ownership of t ...more

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Mar 07, 2017 Susan rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Having read the last (so far) in the novels featuring Peter and Harriet Wimsey (now the Duke and Duchess of Denver), by Jill Paton Walsh, I feel I have come to the end of a journey. Having stopped, and started, the series many times, I have finally now completed all of the Wimsey books and enjoyed being in the company of the characters created by Dorothy L Sayers. Some of the books I loved, others I liked, but I have not disliked any of them and that is the same for these continuing the series b Having read the last (so far) in the novels featuring Peter and Harriet Wimsey (now the Duke and Duchess of Denver), by Jill Paton Walsh, I feel I have come to the end of a journey. Having stopped, and started, the series many times, I have finally now completed all of the Wimsey books and enjoyed being in the company of the characters created by Dorothy L Sayers. Some of the books I loved, others I liked, but I have not disliked any of them and that is the same for these continuing the series by Walsh.

Peter and Harriet are now living at Denver, with Peter’s elderly, and increasingly frail, mother. One day, to his surprise, Peter receives a letter informing him that he is the Visitor for St Severin’s College, Oxford; and the Duke of Denver is obligated to perform certain functions. These include appointing fellows, a new Warden and also acting as a referee of last resort if there is irreconcilable conflict among the fellows. Now there is, indeed, conflict in St Severin’s. The problems began when the college was offered the chance to acquire land – as the College is in financial difficulties, they need to raise money. This led to the suggestion that they sell an invaluable manuscript, which is costly to insure and keep. This has led to a deep rift in the College and so Peter and Harriet set off to Oxford, accompanied by Bunter, to try to heal wounds and solve the dispute.

This is easier said than done, as the divisions in the College are deep. More worryingly, there have been disturbing incidents since the disagreement erupted – including Dr Dancy being locked in a bell chamber and a Senior Fellow who claims he had an intruder in his room… Will those trying to influence the decision resort to murder? Are they copying methods that have occurred in Harriet’s detective novels and Peter’s investigated crimes?

I enjoyed this novel, set in Peter and Harriet’s beloved Oxford. I felt that the essential characters were there, if changed by time and events. I liked the academic setting and the colourful crimes, which will lead to lovers of the previous novels looking for clues. I hope there will be another in the series as I have enjoyed them all and would be happy to read a new mystery featuring Lord Peter Wimsey.
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Dec 18, 2013 Damaskcat rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

The Duke of Denver – formerly known to everyone as Lord Peter Wimsey – discovers that one of his inherited duties is as visitor to an Oxford college. St Severin’s finds itself in the middle of an acrimonious dispute over whether or not to sell a valuable manuscript to finance the purchase of a piece of land which might or might not be worth a lot of money if planning permission can be obtained on it. Peter’s task is to make the decision and several of the fellows turn up on his doorstep to try a ...more

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Oct 17, 2020 Zander rated it it was ok

You can't go home again but you can go back to school especially if that school is Oxford. The setting is the highlight of the book. Walsh just isn't good at writing a mystery or having a detective that actual solves it. So if you are looking for Wimsey or Vane to solve a mystery you wouldn't find that here, you will get many scenes of them talking about how they don't have the solution and repeating the same facts over and over again as bodies pile up. I figure out the killers within minutes of ...more

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Dec 13, 2023 Lynnie rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: read-in-2023, crime, historical-mystery, post-war

The fourth and final book in the Wimsey/Vane series and this one was quite interesting. Still not really Peter and Harriet but I do love reading about them.

Overall, in this series which I read in quick succession, I did enjoy the social changes and I probably will reread these.

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Jan 02, 2014 Susan in NC rated it really liked it

I delight in every new book in this series and thank Jill Paton Walsh for being brave enough to assume the mantle of the great Dorothy Sayers - it is a real treat to visit again with Peter and Harriet Wimsey, Bunter, the Dowager Duchess (the first, delightful one, not Helen the second dowager and resident battle axe). We also get a glimpse of sons Bredon and Paul, up from Eton on a day trip to Oxford as the elder prepares to apply to university.

Along with an interesting and twisted puzzle full o ...more

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Jun 09, 2014 Becky rated it liked it

Shelves: 2014reviews

I enjoyed The Late Scholar enough while reading it, for the most part, but the more I think about it, the more disappointed I am. I have liked or enjoyed Jill Paton Walsh's sequels to Dorothy Sayer's Lord Peter mysteries. The Late Scholar is set in the 1950s. (I'm not sure if it's early, mid, or late 50s. But Queen Elizabeth is on the throne, I believe.) The novel opens with the Duke of Denver (aka Lord Peter Wimsey) learning that he is a Visitor at Oxford. He is being called upon to settle a di I enjoyed The Late Scholar enough while reading it, for the most part, but the more I think about it, the more disappointed I am. I have liked or enjoyed Jill Paton Walsh's sequels to Dorothy Sayer's Lord Peter mysteries. The Late Scholar is set in the 1950s. (I'm not sure if it's early, mid, or late 50s. But Queen Elizabeth is on the throne, I believe.) The novel opens with the Duke of Denver (aka Lord Peter Wimsey) learning that he is a Visitor at Oxford. He is being called upon to settle a dispute among the fellows. The person--ultimately one of many suspects, I suppose--who initially requested his interference comes to regret it. Lord Peter is thorough. He doesn't want to just cast a vote on a controversial topic without any thought. He wants to study the situation, learn both sides, draw his own conclusions about what is best. The dispute is about selling a medieval book to get the money to buy land next door that has come up for sell. Is land more valuable to the college than one book in the library? Or is the ancient book more valuable to the college than a piece of real estate? It wouldn't be a mystery book if it didn't turn to violence and murder. Lord Peter, Harriet Vane, and Bunter must follow all the clues to catch a murderer or two.

There were a few things that felt a bit off, that kept this one from feeling like a genuine, authentic Lord Peter/Harriet Vane mystery. I allow some change would be natural enough. Two decades would change a person, would change a couple. But the changes in a way have a very surface feel to them. I'm not sure the characters have the depth that they need, they are very much reliant on familiarity with the original.

I have not reread the whole (original) series, but, Lord Peter seems changed and not always for the better. I could not show you a passage where Lord Peter reveals a personal faith in God. But I have a feeling I would have remembered if Lord Peter revealed a cold mockery for Christianity and/or stated openly and unashamedly that he did NOT believe in God. There were a few uncomfortable scenes in Late Scholar where Peter's atheism comes to light, I suppose. It was done in an almost ha, ha, don't be silly, of course I don't believe in God kind of way. It just struck me as wrong. I'm not saying that I consider Lord Peter evangelical. But. I always got the impression that he believed there was a God, that at the very least he was agnostic. The reason this strikes me as wrong is that Dorothy Sayers was a Christian, she wrote Christian books. I've read some of her theological essays and they are quite good. I just don't see HER Lord Peter being one to make light of or mock Christianity or the Bible or the fundamental belief that there is a God. Of course times have changed. Decades have passed since his creation, so maybe modern readers assume that naturally Lord Peter is "smart enough" to have outgrown any idea of God. ...more

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Aug 29, 2014 Bev rated it liked it

Shelves: mystery, historical-mystery, bought-2025, british-mystery, mcpl-book, now-mine

At the end of The Attenbury Emeralds, Peter Wimsey finds himself in a new role as the Duke of Denver. The Late Scholar opens three years later with Peter discovering that his latest title also carries the responsibility of Visitor for St. Severin's College, Oxford. As Visitor, he is charged with such duties as overseeing the installment of new Wardens and fellows to the college as well as acting as a sort of referee of last resort in times of irreconcilable conflict. It is in this last capacity At the end of The Attenbury Emeralds, Peter Wimsey finds himself in a new role as the Duke of Denver. The Late Scholar opens three years later with Peter discovering that his latest title also carries the responsibility of Visitor for St. Severin's College, Oxford. As Visitor, he is charged with such duties as overseeing the installment of new Wardens and fellows to the college as well as acting as a sort of referee of last resort in times of irreconcilable conflict. It is in this last capacity that members of St. Severin's write to Peter and request his presence at Oxford.

It seems that the college is in rather desperate straits financially and one solution would be to sell a valuable manuscript to buy some land for development. The fellows are divided evenly on the issue and the Warden has previously case the deciding vote--but the Warden has disappeared. Peter, Harriet, and Bunter arrive at Oxford to find that not only has the Warden vanished, but there have also been attacks and "accidents"--some of them fatal--on various fellows of the college. Peter finds himself acting not only as Visitor, but as detective as well as he attempts to discover who is behind the attacks and why.

Four books into the revived Lord Peter Wimsey/Harriet Vane stories and Jill Paton Walsh is finally getting things more right than not. Given her own series featuring Imogen Quy, a nurse at St. Agatha's College, Cambridge, it may well be that she is far more comfortable with the academic setting and this story which takes place at Oxford has made her feel at home. Or perhaps she is just acclimating to her task of writing in Sayers's shadow--regardless, this story was much more enjoyable for this Sayers fan.

The banter between the Peter and Harriet sounds (for the most part) affectionate and smart and literary as Sayers intended. The relationship is easy and comfortable as it should be between two people who have loved each other this long. The quotations fit more comfortably into the conversations instead of sounding as if Paton Walsh had just opened a book of literary quotes, picked one at random that might fit the topic at hand, and dropped it in the mouth of Peter or Harriet. In fact, congratulations on the characters all round--from the Dowager Duchess to the Wimsey sons to the dons of Oxford. The mistakes in well-known (to LPW fans) characters are few and far between--the most glaring is having Miss de Vine commit such a blunder in reference to Harriet's past experience as a murder suspect. The Helen de Vine we all know and love from Gaudy Night would never drop such a social brick. Another problem that struck me quite forcibly was having Peter pull a revolver out of his pocket to shoot the lock off a stubborn locked door--Peter Wimsey is no hard boiled private eye; he doesn't go round with firearms in his pocket, shooting his way into places.

So...high marks--with a few reservations--for characterization. The plot, however, is a bit disappointing. While the basic problem of motive is new to the Wimseys, the methods of murder and attempted murder are not. Each incident is stolen from Harriet's mysteries (read Sayers here, since most of the murders referenced have been based on Peter's cases). Paton Walsh has no need to devise murder methods of her own...she just grabs them from Harriet's books. The motive is also a bit murky--I think I understand it (although I don't entirely buy it), but with Sayers I would have been sure. All-in-all, a much better outing and if Paton Walsh gives us another Peter and Harriet story, I have hopes that it may be even better still.

First posted on my blog My Reader's Block. Please request permission before reposting. Thanks. ...more

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Nov 02, 2022 Leslie rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: kindle, mysteries

3.5*

While the mystery was very good, Walsh doesn't quite seem to hit the mark with Sayers' characters, especially that of Lord Peter Wimsey. No regrets about reading this book (particularly as I already had a copy via my Mom's kindle) but I doubt that I will reread it... ...more

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Apr 14, 2014 Lark of The Bookwyrm's Hoard rated it really liked it

Shelves: arc, kindle, mystery, historical-mystery

Mini-review: Jill Paton Walsh returns with another mystery featuring Lord Peter Wimsey (now the Duke of Denver) and his wife Harriet. In this outing, the pair return to Oxford to solve a series of oddly familiar murders. Wimsey fans will enjoy the chance to see the couple in action once more. (Full review to come.)

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Dec 03, 2013 ShanDizzy rated it really liked it

Shelves: favorites

This was a pleasant read. I like that Walsh included things from past stories, like reference to Harriet's chess set which Lord Peter bought early on in their relationship. ...more

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