Busman’s Honeymoon by Dorothy L. Sayers
Mar. 30th, 2008 01:02 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
quippeThe Blurb On The Back:
They plan to have a quiet country house honeymoon. Then Lord Peter Wimsey and his bride Harriet Vane find the previous owner's body in the cellar.
Set in a country village seething with secrets and snobbery, this is Dorothy L. Sayers' last full-length detective novel. Variously described as a love story with detective interruptions and a detective story with romantic interruptions, it lives up to both descriptions with style.
In comparison with the other Wimsey stories, this is a much more intimate and passionate examination of Peter and Harriet's relationship. Now that they are married, Sayers is much more willing to show Harriet's feelings in particular and I had mixed feelings about it. In the previous books, Harriet has always been concerned about her independence but now that she's married, she falls into the traditional wifely role of supporting her husband. In many ways, she defers to her husband and his needs and whilst Sayers also features an emotional compromise on the part of Peter as he learns that there are aspects of his life that he has to share - the good and the bad parts of his character - I'm not sure that it's truly a marriage of equals.
There's also an examination of Bunter's role in the family and Sayers takes time to show the awkwardness that Harriet feels at effectively interloping in his relationship with his master. Sayers doesn't have it run smoothly and it's interesting to get Bunter's perspective on the love affair and how he views Harriet. In fact, Bunter suffers a great deal in this book as his love of control and having everything perfect is challenged by the spiteful and unthinking Mrs Ruddles. In fact, my least favourite part of the book is when Bunter (admittedly under great pressure) finally loses his temper with Mrs Ruddles after she disturbs some very expensive port and makes it undrinkable. For the first time, Bunter's veneer drops and he descends into Cockney abuse. For me, this just seemed completely out-of-character for him and I did feel very disappointed in him.
Sayers gives some detail on Peter's background - alluding to what happened to him in the war and how he and Bunter came to hook up and I found this interesting. This particularly comes through in the final section of the book where Peter's attitude to the death penalty really comes out, giving him a psychological depth that has not really been present in the other books in the series. The book also begins with the attitude of Peter's family to his marriage and when Harriet visits his ancestral home for the first time, Sayers sneaks in some paranormal activity, which would be distracting in less competent hands.
The mystery element was for me rather perfunctory. Sayers is really more interested in her main characters than the mystery element, but the book is interesting nonetheless and there are enough red herrings to keep readers guessing. For Wimsey fans, this is a must-read.
The Verdict:
Fans of Wimsey and Vane will have to read this because there's so much detail on their relationship and Wimsey's background. However, Bunter fans are likely to be very disappointed by his sudden lack of self-control and there may not be enough of a mystery element for those who are solely interested in a good murder.
They plan to have a quiet country house honeymoon. Then Lord Peter Wimsey and his bride Harriet Vane find the previous owner's body in the cellar.
Set in a country village seething with secrets and snobbery, this is Dorothy L. Sayers' last full-length detective novel. Variously described as a love story with detective interruptions and a detective story with romantic interruptions, it lives up to both descriptions with style.
In comparison with the other Wimsey stories, this is a much more intimate and passionate examination of Peter and Harriet's relationship. Now that they are married, Sayers is much more willing to show Harriet's feelings in particular and I had mixed feelings about it. In the previous books, Harriet has always been concerned about her independence but now that she's married, she falls into the traditional wifely role of supporting her husband. In many ways, she defers to her husband and his needs and whilst Sayers also features an emotional compromise on the part of Peter as he learns that there are aspects of his life that he has to share - the good and the bad parts of his character - I'm not sure that it's truly a marriage of equals.
There's also an examination of Bunter's role in the family and Sayers takes time to show the awkwardness that Harriet feels at effectively interloping in his relationship with his master. Sayers doesn't have it run smoothly and it's interesting to get Bunter's perspective on the love affair and how he views Harriet. In fact, Bunter suffers a great deal in this book as his love of control and having everything perfect is challenged by the spiteful and unthinking Mrs Ruddles. In fact, my least favourite part of the book is when Bunter (admittedly under great pressure) finally loses his temper with Mrs Ruddles after she disturbs some very expensive port and makes it undrinkable. For the first time, Bunter's veneer drops and he descends into Cockney abuse. For me, this just seemed completely out-of-character for him and I did feel very disappointed in him.
Sayers gives some detail on Peter's background - alluding to what happened to him in the war and how he and Bunter came to hook up and I found this interesting. This particularly comes through in the final section of the book where Peter's attitude to the death penalty really comes out, giving him a psychological depth that has not really been present in the other books in the series. The book also begins with the attitude of Peter's family to his marriage and when Harriet visits his ancestral home for the first time, Sayers sneaks in some paranormal activity, which would be distracting in less competent hands.
The mystery element was for me rather perfunctory. Sayers is really more interested in her main characters than the mystery element, but the book is interesting nonetheless and there are enough red herrings to keep readers guessing. For Wimsey fans, this is a must-read.
The Verdict:
Fans of Wimsey and Vane will have to read this because there's so much detail on their relationship and Wimsey's background. However, Bunter fans are likely to be very disappointed by his sudden lack of self-control and there may not be enough of a mystery element for those who are solely interested in a good murder.
