Novel, 1927

Murder mystery which hinges round a change in the inheritance laws, and the efforts of Lord Peter Wimsey to solve it, and to keep his senses of wonder and vanity in check. This is a very decent read, with some jagged and hugely outdated attitudes towards gender and particularly towards race, which give almost as much historical context as anything else written and described in plot and settings. Wimsey’s character is very much to the fore, and while his behaviour and speech can be a little overbearing, on the whole, the writing pushes through and carries the story with aplomb. Overall, a well plotted and pretty clever novel, which is entertaining and harks back to a pre-internet, feet on the ground, genteel past.