Rating: 
Summary: It's the L.H.S. she really wanted to show off
Review: Throughout the novel, the author had avoided passing absolute facts and instead sought to present various scenarios through the dialogues and statements of various characters.Interestingly, it is also one where the mystery is not definitely solved as the author used the Defence Counsel's arguments to present the supposed answer rather than stating it as a matter of truth or fact. A bit of grim humour was introduced in her description of the British Court trying a peer of the realm, having to back hundreds of years to find legal precedants and the office of the Lord High Steward. Here, the author appeared at one point to be revelling in writing about the exaggerated formalities and pomp of trying a peer that it seemed to be her climax and that the case was just an excuse to write about it. To be fair, she did write about a nice case.
The case itself, which appreared to be another who-dun-it murder, introduced many side plotlines. As in real life, most of the time, a person finds himself in numerous roles that often when something like a murder mystery occured, most writers neglect all other aspects of the person and present only the relevant ones. This author however, had managed to present the different roles a character has in "real-life" without falling into a rambling trap. Certainly for a fan of hard-core detective novels, this book may be rather disappointing in its conclusion. However, taken as a novel, it provided an interesting glimpse into the British aristocratic society and its interaction with other parts of society as a whole. Except for the conversational language used, Peter Whimsey could have been substituted by a certain Belgian detective and the entire novel would have appeared as a Christie's.
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