This is the second book in the Lord Peter Wimsey series and it is one of the best. Lord Peter is off on vacation with his manservant, Bunter when this story begins. They have just left Corsica after a month there, and landed in Paris when they learn that Lord Peter’s older brother Gerald, the Duke of Denver has been arrested for murder.
They rush back to England. The murdered man is Lord Peter’s sister Mary’s fiance. George Wimsey insists that he’s innocent and Peter believes him, but there’s a wealth of circumstantial evidence against him, and he refuses to say where he was at the time of the murder. This only makes the local police more suspicious. Add to this the fact that Lady Mary Wimsey is clearly lying in an attempt to protect someone, and the whole thing is a muddle.
Inspector Parker of Scotland Yard is assigned to the case. He’s a close friend of Lord Peter’s and he’s more than happy to have his help. They start working together and they find mysterious boot marks, motorcycle tracks, a jewelled brooch in the shape of a cat, a suspicious local farmer, and a host of other clues that only make things more confusing. And all the time things are looking worse for the Duke of Denver.
But Lord Peter keeps at it, following every clue with the help of Bunter who is as much an assistant sleuth, as he is a manservant, and Inspector Parker who is engaged in the routine police work of gathering as much information about the dead man as possible. Things get more and more involved until the book is brought to an unexpected, but satisfying conclusion.
Dorothy L Sayers has a special place among crime writers of her time for the sheer quality of her writing which is fully in evidence here. The characters are well drawn, the dialogue is witty, the plot is full of the kind of twists and turns dear to any crime fiction reader’s heart, and the prose is delightful.
between the pages 