Thrones, Dominations (G K Hall Large Print Book Series) - Hardcover

Dorothy L. Sayers

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0783884389 ISBN 13: 9780783884387

Publisher: G. K. Hall & Company, 1998

Synopsis

MysteryLarge Print Edition*A Mystery Guild Main SelectionAnnouncing the long-awaited return of newlyweds Lord Peter Wimsey and Harriet Vane in Dorothy Sayers never-before-published final mystery. When Dorothy Sayers died in 1957, she left behind an incomplete manuscript of a final Wimsey/Vane novel. Here is that novel completed by Jill Paton Walsh in a remarkably true and completely faithful voice. The result is as satisfying a puzzle and portrait of a marriage as any Sayers fan could have hoped for.

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

Edition details

• Publisher: G. K. Hall & Company
• Publication date: 1998
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0783884389
• ISBN 13: 9780783884387
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 492