Sadly Dated.

The best I can say is that Jeeves and Wooster have aged much better than Lord Peter Wimsey.

The difficulty for the modern reader is to see past the class-entitlement, misogyny and overt racism that were totally acceptable when Dorothy L. Sayers wrote these short stories. I'm not one for trying to impose twenty first century standards on older books, and usually enjoy them is the spirit in which they were written, but Lord Peter does not have any of the endearing character that the likes of Bertie Wooster does.

The narration fails to bring the different characters to life and give them personality - which makes Lord Peter even more unlikeable.

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Robotic Wimsey

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

Very strange delivery by McDowell. Made me think of the Turing test and whether she would pass. Good for insomnia. Very disappointing.

What did you like best about this story?

Reading it for myself.

Would you be willing to try another one of Jane McDowell’s performances?

Not in a fit!

Was Lord Peter Wimsey: The Complete Short Stories worth the listening time?

Nope.

Any additional comments?

Nope.

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32 people found this helpful

Narration a bit duff

Someone reading without knowing how to read out pounds, shillings and pence (the Macawber quote from Dickens), Blackguard (should be "blaggard") and a few other grating examples. I will be avoiding the rest of her narration work.

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monotonous narration, good story spoilt by reader

I got the dramatise books and really enjoyed them so thought I'd give this a go. Hard going listening to the monotonous narration. Wish they'd re-record the series and use someone else who is capable of using different tones and accents to differentiate characters.

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5 people found this helpful

Great Stories

I was surprised to find that I so much enjoyed hearing these stories read in a female voice, but the reader has a clear voice and a lovely tone. my only tiny quibble was the regional accent (with its dropped aitches) that she gave to Chief Constable Parker. I can't imagine Wimsey's sister being in the least bit attracted to someone who sounded quite so provincial. On the whole, though, this production is excellent.

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Thoroughly enjoyable tales from the Golden Age

A treat for followers of Lord Peter Wimsey, all the short stories and a short, partial "biography" from his fictional uncle.

The narration is sympathetic and beautifully clear. There are a few slips of pronunciation, but these are few and far between, and don't mar the enjoyment of these cleverly crafted tales from the hero's bachelor days and on through to his later life as a family man.

Highly recommended!

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A mixed bag

Written over Miss Sayers’ LPW career this is a grab bag of tales. From peculiar to uninteresting to fun to brilliant… I get the feeling that if these had been turned in to a modern show runner, Miss Sayers would have been sent to re-write most of the lineup.

The language is as usually always elegant and enjoyable. The performance is middling - really good on occasion, very dull frequently.

The two final stories, The haunted policeman, and Tallboys, are delightful!

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Wonderful story, accurately but poorly rendered.

DLS’s stories are old favourites of mine, read and re-reread many, many, times. These Jane McDowell readings are accurate and the French well rendered but the lady, hard though she tries, has a poor command of the idiomatic. She rather breathlessly renders many phrases with incorrect emphasis. Many an old-fashioned phrase is less than perfectly interpreted. Rehearsal and editing might help. A great pleasure tinged with irritation.

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1 person found this helpful

not as well narrated as it could have been...

narrator not easy to listen to; made mistakes, some accents poor. still, a hard task + good try.

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Almost perfect

I love the detective stories of Dorothy L. Sayers, but the gloss is taken off this collection by the narration. I find nothing wrong with giving Inspector Parker a regional accent, but I simply cannot believe that it could be so broad. He was an educated man and had lived and worked in London for many years - a cosmopolitan place, where he would have been exposed to a variety of accents. In that situation any accent would fade to some degree.
I found this over-emphasised "Eee bah gummery" very jarring, particularly when every other working class character spoke with a similar accent. They can't all have come from the same part of the country surely?

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9 people found this helpful