A PRESUMPTION OF DEATH

The legions of readers who regularly reread Sayers's 1930s mysteries can take heart. Jill Paton Walsh has produced a new Lord Peter Wimsey and Harriet Vane book based on notes left by Sayers. Don't let loyalty to Sayers make you resist. This, the second "Sayers" novel written by Paton Walsh, is tremendously good. It's witty, subtle, and full of WWII period detail. In fact, it's well-nigh perfect. Edward Petherbridge's BBC television role as Lord Peter Wimsey is widely regarded as the best of the best. He captured the character's nervy brilliance and his mix of fragility and strength. A narrator, of course, is called upon to make every character come alive. Petherbridge succeeds admirably, a particularly impressive feat with a story in which Lord Peter, who is off to war, hardly appears. This audiobook delights. May Jill Paton Walsh write many more. A.C.S.
(c) AudioFile 2004, Portland, Maine [Published: FEB/ MAR 04]