Thrones, Dominations - Softcover

Sayers, Dorothy L

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0340684569 ISBN 13: 9780340684566

Publisher: New English Library, 1998

Synopsis

It is 1936 and Lord Peter Wimsey has returned from his honeymoon to set up home with his cherished new wife, the novelist Harriet Vane. As they become part of fashionable London society they encounter the glamorous socialite Rosamund Harwell and her wealthy impressario husband Laurence. Unlike the Wimseys, they are not in love - and all too soon, one of them is dead. A murder case that only Lord Peter Wimsey can solve.

About this title

Review:

Asked by her new husband, the gentleman detective Lord Peter Wimsey, why she is having trouble writing her latest mystery novel, Harriet Vane explains, "When I needed the money, it justified itself. It was a job of work, and I did it as well as I could, and that was that. But now, you see, it has no necessity except itself. And, of course, it's hard; it's always been hard, and it's getting harder. So when I'm stuck I think, this isn't my livelihood, and it isn't great art, it's only detective stories. You read them and write them for fun." Is this a clue to the mystery of why Dorothy L. Sayers put aside her 13th full-length Lord Peter novel in 1938 and never finished it? She had made lots of money, and was much more interested in translating Dante and writing about religion. Or is it another excellent novelist, Jill Paton Walsh, speculating--in a perfect imitation of Sayers's voice--on what might have happened? Walsh was invited by the estate of Sayers's illegitimate son, Anthony Fleming, to finish Thrones, Dominations. She has done a splendid job, certain to please Sayers loyalists on the "dorothyl" listserv as well as those new to the Wimsey canon. Lord Peter has been made much more human and interesting by marriage; Harriet is a wise and acerbic companion; and the story, about the murders of two beautiful young women involved with a theatrical producer, is full of twists and connivance. There's also a fascinating subplot involving the soon-to-abdicate King Edward VII and a country on the brink of World War II. Earlier Wimseys in paperback include The Five Red Herrings, Gaudy Night, Murder Must Advertise, and Unnatural Death. Books in print by Walsh include a mystery called A Piece of Justice and a novel, The Serpentine Cave.

From the Publisher:

Praise for Thrones, Dominations:

"Engrossing, intelligent, and provocative." --The New York Times Book Review

"Extraordinary...it is impossible to tell where Dorothy L. Sayers ends and Jill Paton Walsh begins." --Ruth Rendell, The London Sunday Times

"[Walsh] has done a splendid job-certain to please the legions of Sayers loyalists as well as readers new to the Wimsey canon." --Chicago Tribune

About this edition

• Publisher: New English Library
• Publication date: 1998
• ISBN 10: 0340684569
• ISBN 13: 9780340684566
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 384