_Five Red Herrings_, by Dorothy L. Sayers
Kinda disappointing. As it happens, ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
kestrell and I ended up watching the mid-70s BBC TV adaptation of this before I read it. That adaptation took a lot of liberties, but ended up telling a much, much better story. It had far more characterization and humor in it. Also, a great deal more of Lord Peter himself, and of Bunter. The book spends many, many chapters on police procedural stuff without any particularly fun characters present.
This was quite a contrast, coming right after _Strong Poison_, which is *full* of character moments, humor, and even romance. Maybe Sayers was worried that she was getting too far away from the traditional core values of her genre. FRH does have an extremely intricate Fair Mystery in it. For my taste, *too* intricate. Railway timetables and maps are not (to me) obvious subjects for drama and excitement.
There are some bright moments, mostly revolving around Peter's personality: Taking a young girl for a fast ride in his car; throwing himself into a recreation of the murder -- in the role of the murderer -- with *utter* enthusiasm. But on the whole, I doubt I'll be re-reading this one. I might well re-watch the TV version, though, and I do recommend it.
kestrell and I ended up watching the mid-70s BBC TV adaptation of this before I read it. That adaptation took a lot of liberties, but ended up telling a much, much better story. It had far more characterization and humor in it. Also, a great deal more of Lord Peter himself, and of Bunter. The book spends many, many chapters on police procedural stuff without any particularly fun characters present.This was quite a contrast, coming right after _Strong Poison_, which is *full* of character moments, humor, and even romance. Maybe Sayers was worried that she was getting too far away from the traditional core values of her genre. FRH does have an extremely intricate Fair Mystery in it. For my taste, *too* intricate. Railway timetables and maps are not (to me) obvious subjects for drama and excitement.
There are some bright moments, mostly revolving around Peter's personality: Taking a young girl for a fast ride in his car; throwing himself into a recreation of the murder -- in the role of the murderer -- with *utter* enthusiasm. But on the whole, I doubt I'll be re-reading this one. I might well re-watch the TV version, though, and I do recommend it.