Mostly these are technical mysteries, concerning things like the breaking of alibis and so on, rather than on the characters involved in the murder. A few of the stories involve Wimsey but most do not. ( )

This is a nice collection of short stories by Dorothy Sayers, each of which presents a clever and puzzling mystery that is solved. Several of the stories include Lord Peer Wimsey. Others involve the entertaining Montague Egg, a traveling salesman who gets caught up in a number of mysteries. Although I enjoyed the character of Montague Egg, the stories did not satisfy me as her novels. ( )

Half the detective stories are Lord Peter half are Montague Egg, the traveling salesman. I don't think you could enjoy even the Lord Peter stories without having read at least one Lord Peter novel. Montague Egg is barely a character, and never got a novel, so his stories are interesting only as period pieces. Some Lord Peter short stories are actually rather enjoyable; but those in this collection, with the exception of "The Incredible Elopement..." are middling. The two short stories at the end are just by-the-numbers exercises in dramatic irony. ( )

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Title: Hangman's Holiday
Series: Lord Peter Wimsey #9
Author: Dorothy Sayers
Rating: 1 of 5 Stars
Genre: Mystery
Pages: 234 /DNF@120
Words: 63K /DNF@32K

Synopsis:

From Wikipedia:

Lord Peter Wimsey stories:

"The Image in the Mirror" - Wimsey must help a man with situs inversus, who believes he is going mad after being haunted by a doppelganger.

"The Incredible Elopement of Lord Peter Wimsey" - A man studying Basque culture enlists Wimsey's help in saving an expatriate American woman whom the villagers believe is bewitched.

"The Queen's Square" - Wimsey attends a fancy dress ball during the Christmas season, where several people dressed as chess pieces become suspected of killing a female blackmailer.

"The Necklace of Pearls" - Wimsey tries to avoid scandal when a fun-filled Christmas Eve at Sir Septimus Shale's house turns into an uncomfortable affair after a priceless pearl necklace goes missing.

Montague Egg stories:

"The Poisoned Dow '08" - Mr. Egg arrives at a client's house to find him dead, and the police in need of evidence about a shipment of bottles Mr. Egg delivered earlier.

"Sleuths on the Scent" - Mr. Egg uses his knowledge of various professions to flush out a murderer hiding in a pub.

"Murder in the Morning" - Mr. Egg finds himself one of those suspected in the murder of a client, and gives evidence at inquest.

"One Too Many" - Mr. Egg's knowledge of the train ticket system helps the police find an absconding banker and his secretary.

"Murder at Pentecost" - While trying to win a bet against an Oxford University student, Mr. Egg discovers the motive and opportunity of a very clever murderer.

"Maher-Shalal-Hashbaz" - After helping an impoverished child sell her cat, Mr. Egg discovers the cat has run away from its new home and in tracing it back discovers the brutal murder of more than fifty cats and an elderly man.

Other stories:

"The Man Who Knew How"- A man becomes obsessed with finding and stopping what he believes is a serial killer.

"The Fountain Plays" - A man being blackmailed tries to figure out how to rid himself of his tormentor, but finds himself at the mercy of a second blackmailer.

My Thoughts:

This is the book where Sayers and I part ways. I realized it was her, and her writing style, that grated on me and not necessarily the character of Lord Peter Wimsey. I figured this out because half this blasted book wasn't EVEN ABOUT Lord Wimsey. I felt cheated and tricked.

When Sayers can be bothered, she can tell a great story. The problem is that she messes up her stories by making it all about the mystery and the process instead of the story itself being the central point. I don't want to solve the mystery or have every blasted detail etched into my brain. I want a good story. Apparently Mrs Sayers disagrees with me and I'm forced to believe that so do her adherents.

Be that as it may, I'm done. This wasn't the first LPW book that I wished was finished quicker, but the fact that I simply quit after the second Montague Egg story was enough. Enough is enough is enough.

★☆☆☆☆ ( )

This is a collection of mystery short stories, including 4 featuring lord Peter Wimsey. Dorothy Sayers is a master of this genre, and you can only wonder what we would have been given had she not decided to do other things.

The short stories are not quite as intriguing as longer novels as the author moves very quickly from problem description to problem explanation but there is still that gap that allows the reader to make their own guess. ( )