Strong Poison

I originally read this years ago and was just reminded of it recently, prompting a reread. I probably would have given it 4 or 5 stars then, I remember that I loved the Harriet Vane books more than the others in the series.

This time around... kinda boring. Very expositiony, no emotional growth. I did like some of the minor characters like Miss Climpston and Bill Rum, but Peter seemed rather static. I may just have to reread more of the series!

I wonder if I wouldn't have enjoyed this more if I'd read the previous books in the series.

As is, I don't much care for Lord Wimsey. He's both silly and smart in a way that I don't find charming, not nearly as charming as to justify his flippant attitude. And I think that's something I'm supposed to enjoy about this book. That's not a literary criticism. It's really just my personal taste, I think.

Otherwise, this book is fine. I think the structure – beginning with a trial rather than ending – is very interesting. And there are lots of fun, cultural items from the time that I found entertaining.

But the plot is fairly pat and I just couldn't feel much tension in this book.

Not that it matters for the book itself, but the sound on the audiobook version is not very good.

Second Reading

I read the final book of the Lord Peter Wimsey mystery series last week, and that inspired me to go back and listen to the audiobook of Strong Poison, the book where Harriet Vane was introduced. Unfortunately, I continue to not really be a fan of Ian Carmichael's audiobook. They are fine, but not as well narrated and engineered as I think they should be.

There is not much different from this second reading of Strong Poison than my thoughts after the first reading. I was mostly interested in getting the details of the book, so I could read the books between Strong Poison and Busman's Holiday over the next couple of weeks. I also wish that Harriet was more present in this book. She is basically a damsel in distress here. She is in jail for virtually the entire book. People know her and reference her, but she is not a strong character. She is more present in Have His Carcase, but that is still mostly told from Peter's perspective. I still have not read a number of the short stories, and I am currently in the middle of Gaudy Night (which is told from Harriet's perspective). Gaudy Night and Busman's Holiday prove that this could have been a good series that focuses on the two of them, not just Harriet as a sidekick.

At some point, I will probably read the Jill Paton Walsh series based on this one. Jill Paton Walsh turned a draft of Sayers into Thrones, Dominations and then wrote an additional three books about the married life of the Wimsey's.
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Short Review: This is my favorite of the series that I have read so far. I skipped books 3 and 5 although I will probably go back and read them eventually. I didn't really like book 4 (short story collection) so I needed something to make sure the series was worth continuing and this was the best reviewed of the next couple of books.

In this book, Lord Peter is watching a trial of a crime novelist accused of poisoning her former lover. Wimsey is convinced that she is innocent and once the jury comes back without a verdict, he decides to take the case and prove her innocence before the re-trial can start. In the meantime, Lord Peter falls in love with Harriet Vine and has the added pressure of needing to solve the crime to save the woman he loves.

There is quite a bit of speculation about how much of herself that Dorothy Sayers was writing into the Harriet Vine character. And there are several places where I wonder if the idea that seems a bit cliche to me know originated in this book or was adopted by Sayers. I just don't know enough about the history of mysteries to know.

My full review is on my blog at http://bookwi.se/strong-poison/