Classic crime

I’ve always enjoyed the Wimsey books since first reading them as a teenager. This recording didn’t quite live up to expectations as the performance felt a bit dry. Wimsey’s humour and passion was there to some degree and Miss Climpson was a joy, but poor Charles Parker came across as a cardboard cutout.

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Good classic murder mystery

Good story of intrigue and murder in a bygone era of England with a bit of entertaining wit and melodrama. Good performance.

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Lord Peter does it again

Easy listening... Best narrator yet for Lord Peter Wimsey ... hope there are more planned please

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2 people found this helpful

Robert Bathhurst's Reading - brilliant stuff

As with books one and two, I have been surprised by the excellence of the writing and the very modern and liberal outlook of the author. And with Robert Bathhurst's fantastic characterisations of all human life, the writer finally has the narrator she deserves. (That said, i do love the Ian carmichael recordings but they are a bit rough around the edges, quality-iwise). Please hurry with recording the rest of the Lord Peter Wimsey books. I can't wait!

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2 people found this helpful

Please do more!

Great author and story. Very hard to read as an audiobook but this was great

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At Last

At last audible are offering a good narration of the Lord Peter Wimsey books. More please!

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2 people found this helpful

At last!

Great story great narration to rival that of Ian Carmichael
Look forward to more in the future

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3 people found this helpful

Beautifully read, be prepared for antique attitudes

This is a fascinating book from 100 years ago (more or less) beautifully read by Robert Bathurst.

The story is what we’ve come to expect from mystery writers of the period but the characters and their situations make this book more. The writer seems to take lesbian relationships completely for granted in a way it’s difficult to imagine anyone doing today (we tend to be much more self conscious about everything). There are at least 2 such relationships central to the narrative, although the author doesn’t describe them as such, they’re just key relationships characters are having.

At the same time, the racism is blatant in a way that is quite shocking to us in this period. To be fair to the author, she seems to condemn racist attitudes and her one mixed race character is positive, with a reasonable (and interesting) back story albeit somewhat stereotypical. But the racism is there, be warned.

Having said that, the authenticity of the period and the characters is the real strength of this book - it’s a marvellous window into that time, almost familiar but really not.

I love the narration and very much hope that Robert Bathurst will be reading more of these. He’s so easy to listen to and gets the tone just right for modern audiences. I’ve listened to other versions and found them quite alienating with their almost incomprehensible, exaggerated upper crust accents. I find the gentle humour emerges more readily with the more understated style.

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1 person found this helpful

Excellent!

Great narration makes all the difference! Hope we don't have to wait too long for the next in the series.

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1 person found this helpful

DLS shows off her medico legal knowledge

DLS switches the tone in This third in the LPW series. She shows off her medico legal knowledge. The audience is engaged as Wimsey unravels a mystery from an anecdote of a Doctor, again not being afraid to rely on his intuition. The story sees the introduction of Miss Climpson, who I think may have provided the inspiration for Patricia Wentworth's Miss Silver, another enjoyable golden age of detection character. I sincerely hope that this production team produces all of the remaining LPW series, I wait with eager anticipation for the next book.

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