Summary: Lord Peter’s brother is accused of murdering his sister’s fiance and Peter has to find the truth.
Dorothy Sayers is best known as an early 20th century crime novelist. But she was also a well known apologist, one of the intellectual founders of the modern classical education movement (which is popular among many Christian homeschooling groups) and was a friend of CS Lewis, Tolkien and many other better known authors.
Clouds of Witness is the second of the Lord Peter Wimsey books. It can be read as a stand alone books (and it is in the public domain so it can be found for free or cheap in ebook formats.)
Lord Peter is the middle child in an aristocratic family. His older brother is a Duke and a Peer of the Realm. His younger sister is an eligible young woman and engaged to married. Lord Peter has a hobby, solving crimes, especially murders. Being a detective is not particularly encouraged by his brother, but once his brother is accused of murder, it is a needed skill.
What I like about Dorothy Sayers is that she is writing fallible characters. Lord Peter is far from perfect. He is not the brilliant Sherlock Holmes type of detective that knows everything. He is brilliant, but he doesn’t know everything. He has a good insight into the world, however, he often doesn’t know what is going on but keeps plugging away until things become clearer. I said this with my last review, but I really think that Castle from the TV show, is the best modern equivalent to Lord Peter. He has good humor, is a bit of a goof, is rich and carefree, but really wants to help.
This was a much more subtle mystery than I thought it would be after a few chapters. The real problem is that there are too many people that could have killed the fiance and too many people that had an opportunity and motive. Of course the solution came at the very last moment. It was a good climax and finale. Well worth reading especially given the price of the ebook.
Clouds of Witness by Dorothy Sayers Purchase Links: Paperback, Kindle Edition
