Thrones, Dominations

Library Journal

Sayers gave up mystery writing and her suave upper-class hero, Lord Peter Wimsey, after the publication of Busman's Honeymoon in 1937. She started on a 13th mystery, Thrones, Dominations, but abandoned the effort sometime between 1936 and 1938. Walsh was brave enough to take on the challenge of completing the manuscript. The resulting novel has a somewhat patchy plot, and the characters will not always ring true to fans of Sayers's earlier works. The story opens in 1936, with Edward VII flirting with Wallis Simpson and Wimsey embarking on the risky sea of matrimony at the advanced age of 45 with brainy, independent Harriet Vane. Establishing a conjugal household after so long as independent operators has both Harriet and Peter understandably tense. The last thing they need right now is a murder to investigate. That, of course, is exactly what they get: the beautiful and spoiled wife of an aristocratic theater angel has been murdered. The grief-stricken husband has an excellent alibi, but other suspects are both numerous and colorful: a lovelorn playwright, a philandering French artist, and two ex-convicts who are trying for a spot of blackmail. Actor Ian Carmichael's reading is easy and fluid, his light tenor voice providing just the right nuances. He has great fun with many of the secondary characters, making Lord Peter's snobbish sister-in-law so obnoxious that you wonder why she hasn't been murdered. The major problem with the reading arises during long passages of dialog between two characters, as when Peter and Harriet discuss matrimony, human psychology, or murder. Carmichael does not give either voice in these conversations enough tone or differentiation to make the characters distinct from one another. Therefore, it takes a lot of concentration on the part of the listener to tell characters apart. The twists and turns in the story will reward those who put in the effort, however, and most fans of Lord Peter or Golden Age mysteries will enjoy the trip down memory lane. Recommended for medium-sized or larger public library collections where mysteries are popular.--Barbara Rhodes, Northeast Texas Lib. Syst., Garland Copyright 1999 Cahners Business Information.