Strong Poison - 20-23 - the end of the book!

[shinyopals]

Strong Poison - chapters 20-23

WHERE WE LEFT OFF: Miss Climpson KICKS BUM and defrauds old ladies. Peter mopes.

Summary

Mr Pond: WOMEN ARE SO SILLY. *Takes letter from Miss Booth and Mrs Wrayburn’s will to Mr Urquhart*
Miss Murchison: *TOTALLY ACCIDENTALLY FORGETS TO KNOCK AND SEES MR URQUHART LURKING SUSPICIOUSLY BY THE WALL OF HIS OFFICE*

Comments

[holdouttrout]

Excellent! I read this for the first time EVAR--so far, I've read this, Whose Body?, and some of the LPW stories--and I have to say this has one of the bestest proposal scenes ever... though it isn't the one in this section. :-(

I just... LOVE the lighthearted tone. So much.

[colonial_abroad]

The tone is perfect, isn't it. I don't know if I've ever read anyone who's writing charms the pants off of you in quite the same way. =)

[holdouttrout]

Exactly! That's the perfect way to describe it. :-D

[shinyopals]

Which one is your favourite?

I think, cliche as it probably is, the Gaudy Night final proposal is one of my favourites because of the undertones to asking what he does. But that's for later!

[colonial_abroad]

I love the Cattery. They're just way too awesome.

At any rate- Wodehouse was writing around about the same time as Sayers was originally. The Jeeves books started during WWI, actually, even though the first novel wasn't published until 1934. Sayers, and thus Lord Peter and Bunter would have been completely familiar with them... but I still think it would be amazing if the two of them actually knew Bertie and Jeeves. After all she did do a Sherlock Holmes crossover!

Later on in Gaudy Night Peter and Harriet actually discuss her offer- but I won't say any more because of spoilers. Personally I agree with you though- it is a depressing exchange.

It's not my favourite Lord Peter book- but it is a pretty cracking one I think. A nice little mystery- and loads of character stuff, I love everything with Mary and Parker. I'm curious though, for the people who started with this one... did you think it was a good introduction to their world?

[mcsummer]

There's a really good Wooster-Wimsey fanfic crossover on the internet already called Green Ice.

[colonial_abroad]

Thanks for the rec. I checked it out, and it's just too giggle making!

[shinyopals]

It was my first book, because after seeing mrv3000 talk about it, I wanted Lord Peter and Harriet and I wanted it in the right order. But I sort of put off reading it forever because I tend to hate falsely-accused-and-must-prove-innocence in crime novels. But when I read it, I really liked it. I came from Agatha Christie land and while I still love her work, she doesn't do a lot of character work compared to someone like Sayers. The LPW books were pretty much exactly what I wanted: detective fiction of that era but with a large chunk of it about the characters.

[nineveh_uk]

I love the scene with Miss Murchison flirting with Urquhart at the butcher's. It's a brilliant little vignette.

On Harriet's offer to live with Peter. I don't really know why she makes it - perhaps because she doesn't think she's actually worth anything and at least that way he'll shut up about asking her to marry him, perhaps because she thinks she owes him and he is persistently asking for a price she can't pay (marriage), but she feels less in his debt if she offers what is to her a lower price (living together), and which she could argue offered the same result, either because marriage is just like living together, or because she thinks he only wants sex anyway because he can't really love her.

I can't really believe that had Peter said yes (perhaps hoping that she'd decide late that actually she was prepared to marry him, in a sort of reverse Boyes situation) she would have gone through with. Or indeed that he would since she was so obviously unhappy about it and presumably would have remained so.