"BUSMAN'S HONEYMOON" by Dorothy L. Sayers (B+)

Dorothy L. Sayers was one of the great mystery writers of the of the Twentieth Century. Most of her mystery novels star the urbane English aristocrat, Lord Peter Wimsey, an intelligent bon vivant with the proclivity to find himself in the right place at the wrong time whenever a corpse turns up. 

The second son of the Duke of Denver and the brother of the current Duke of Denver, Wimsey had served with distinction during World War I in the British intelligence service, where his specialty was cracking codes. Stationed on the front, he came under attack many times and lived the horror of seeing the men under his command killed during their missions. At one point Wimsey had his own life saved by a Sergeant named Bunter, who had shielded him from a grenade attack. 

After the War he moved to a spacious apartment suite in London where he lived the life of the man about town. He also served the government as a diplomat for hire should the need arise for his unique intellectual gifts. As an English Lord who was conversant in many languages, he had an instant entrée into European society. One day Bunter looked up his old commanding officer and requested to be employed in whatever capacity that may prove useful, and Wimsey instantly accepted his offer. The plucky and resourceful Bunter became his manservant and all around right hand man, including his sleuthing assistant.

Sandy and I thrilled to the Lord Peter Wimsey detective series that were broadcast on PBS during the Seventies and Eighties. If you are older like us, you might have also enjoyed them, especially the first set starring the delightfully droll Ian Carmichael and the most perfectly cast Bunter. The Wimsey series was revived during the Eighties with three further episodes about his involvement with Harriet Vane, a mystery writer. By then, Carmichael was too old to play the romantic lead, so Edward Petherbridge was cast for this role. Sandy and I find Petherbridge to be a bit too effete for our tastes, but the series is delightful, nonetheless. Harriet Walter was cast in the role of Harriet Vane, and she is perfect for this role.

All of the Wimsey episodes are available on DVD, should you wish to view this series instead of reading the books.

"Strong Poison." Wimsey had fallen instantly in love with Vane after seeing a picture of her in a newspaper article about her being charged with the murder of her former lover, a disaffected poet and writer. He had died from arsenic poisoning. In spite of an airtight case against her based on strong circumstantial evidence, Wimsey resolved to defend her. Ultimately successful, he was rewarded for his efforts at saving her from the gallows by her rejecting his romantic attentions. Vane had made herself dependent on her former lover, and she was never going to do that again. 

Another Vane and Wimsey collaboration followed in "Have His Carcase," in which Vane went on a writing sabbatical to the English coast and she discovers the body of a dancing instructor from a nearby hotel lying on a rock about to be washed over by the rising tide. 

In "Gaudy Nights," Vane is called back to her Oxford college to solve a crime involving poison pen letters. Needless to say, Wimsey soon arrives to help out. After six years of hearing his often repeated proposals, Harriet Vane finally comes to realize that Wimsey is the only man in the world who would ever put up with her without trying to change her, so she finally accepts him at the end of this story.  

I had been wondering for years why there had never been a followup story about Wimsey and Vane as man and wife hot in the pursuit of solving a crime. They made such a cute couple and the series was always so entertaining that it seemed like a natural idea to me.

Little did I know until recently that Sayers had actually written just such a novel in 1937 titled, "Busman's Honeymoon." For some strange reason, PBS had never gotten around to filming it. I would surmise that perhaps Petherbridge and Walter had moved on to other things by then. 

In this story Wimsey and Vane decide to chuck their society wedding of the year and quietly marry at a small Oxford chapel. Instead of a honeymoon spent on the Riviera, they decide to honeymoon in Vane's hometown of Pagelford in Yorkshire. While growing up there she had always admired an Elizabethan farmhouse known as "Talboys," and Wimsey had generously and graciously purchased it for her as a wedding present. Without knowing the condition of the place and before laying eyes on it, they decided to honeymoon here. Unfortunately, the body of the former owner is discovered in the cellar the day after they arrive...

Sayers, who died in 1957, has a dated writing style like most of the authors of her era. This is just something that you have to live with, since this is the way that people wrote in those days. Not the succinct, Hemingway-esque sentences of today where every word is considered to be an unnecessary luxury. In those days language was a structure, and the more ornate, the better. Sayers is only annoying in her overuse of French phrases which she fails to translate since she assumed that her readers would also be conversant in this language. 

Otherwise this novel is a fun trip and a deeply gratifying close to the Wimsey-Vane series of mystery-romance stories. Both of these characters are fascinating literary personalities, and it is obvious that Sayers has crafted the Harriet Vane character as an independent woman after her own heart.

Enjoy, enjoy a good read whenever you can. Carl