Book review: Lord Peter by Dorothy L. Sayers

When I read my last Lord Peter novel, it wasn't my last Lord Peter mystery.  Dorothy Sayers also wrote several short stories starring the noble sleuth which are collected in Lord Peter: The Complete Lord Peter Wimsey Stories.  The collection isn't the fortieth book I read in 2015, as I read the stories folded in with the novels in the order of their publication, but it was the fortieth book I finished.

A Lord Peter short story is a very different experience than a Lord Peter novel.  There just isn't room enough or time for the multitude of clues and characters that accrue in a longer work, and there's less of a deductive unraveling of the case and more of a flash of inspiration that solves it.  As such, the Lord Peter of the short stories comes across significantly more superhuman than he does in the novels.  The plots are rather more sensational, as well, perhaps to quickly seize the attention of a reader flipping through the pages of a magazine.  On the whole, I much prefer the novels.

The collection is chiefly notable for the last two stories, which take place after the last Lord Peter Wimsey/Harriet Vane novel and give us a glimpse of life after their honeymoon: "The Haunted Policeman" takes place the night their first child is born, and "Talboys" is set some years later when they have three young sons.  "Talboys" in particular sets the mind at rest about whether letting the romantic leads get married means the end of the line creatively; had Sayers chosen to continue writing books about Lord Peter, the quality of the story is reassuring that she could have done so with no drop-off in quality -- even if the mystery in question is only who stole the local farmer's peaches rather than a murder.