Hangman's Holiday: A Collection of Short Mysteries

Rating:
Summary: The Best of Sayers' Short Stories
Review: Few novelists write short stories with equal skill, and Dorothy Sayers (1893-1957) is no exception: given to a very wordy style, her talents do not show well in the form. HANGMAN'S HOLIDAY, however, collects the best of her short story work, and while she will never compete with the true masters of the genre fans will find this collection far superior to Sayers' short story collection LORD PETER VIEWS THE BODY.

HANGMAN'S HOLIDAY collects twelve Sayers stories: "The Image in the Mirror," "The Incredible Elopement of Lord Peter Wimsey," "The Queen's Square," and "The Necklace of Pearls," all featuring Lord Peter Wimsey; "The Poisoned Dow '08," "Sleuths on the Scent," "Murder in the Morning," "One too Many," "Murder at Pentecost," and "Maher-Shalal-Hashbaz," all featuring Montague Egg; and "The Man Who Knew How" and "The Fountain Plays," which are stand-alones without reliance on a continuing character.

Lord Peter Wimsey was Sayers' character of choice, and the four stories in which he features are enjoyably written, small sketches of the character who is better seen in Sayers' longer works. But the real prize are the six Montague Egg and the two stand-alone stories, which have never been widely available in any other collection.

Egg, a cheerful "commercial traveler" (i.e. salesman) representing a wine and port company, is quite different from Sayers' memorable Wimsey--clever but shallow all in one. The stories are also quite different in tone, emphasizing minute observation used to unravel highly specific puzzles. While all are of interest, "The Poisoned Dow '08" is easily the standout. The two stand alone stories are interesting for several reasons, most particularly because they show Sayers in the rare situation of working without a continuing character. Neither story is so much mystery as suspense with an ironic twist--one can imagine them being filmed, for example, by Alfred Hitchcock--with "The Man Who Knew How" quite possibly the single most disturbing thing Sayers ever wrote.

As previously noted, Sayers was not really a short story writer; her complicated constructions feel constricted by the form and her style seems forever straining against the restrictions of the genre. But fans will be greatly interested in this collection, and even a reader with only a casual interest in Sayers' work will find much to enjoy. Recommended.

GFT, Amazon Reviewer


Rating:
Summary: A delightful collection of Sayers' classics
Review: In several short stories, Dorothy L. Sayers narrated several entertaining mysteries.

Beginning with two tales of Lord Peter Whimsey, Dorothy L. Sayers played with the theme of gothic horror in The Image in the Mirror and The Incredible Elopement of Lord Peter Whimsey. Having been forewarned though, readers were less likely to feel entertained, though these stories had excellent settings for a Twilight Zone evening.

The Queen's Square though, is a classic though tedious challenge for mystery readers to keep track of characters in a fancy dress party when one flirtacious young lady guest was strangled but every suspect appeared to have an alibi.

Necklace of Pearls would make a good holiday mystery, when a string of fine pearls went missing during a Christmas party.

Sayers, while supplying sufficient clues, would require readers to visual the atmospheres of parties in the 1930s, a gay affair but very formal compared to the present in the 21st century.

Montague Egg made his appearances in several short stories that followed, entertaining readers with various maxims for his Salesman Handbook. First, his professional standing was called into question when one of his clients died of poisoning after drinking one of the ports purchased through Egg.

In another tale, Egg almost became the suspect when he discovered a potential client had thoughtlessly died before Egg could even introduce himself.

In yet another tale, Egg found himself playing the chivalrous role of a knight aiding a girl in distress.

Humourously told, Montague Egg was one excellent observer of human nature, though apparently more innocent compared to Agatha Christie's Mr Parker Pyne.

Two other tales rounded up the book without recurring characters. One involved a man who was told of a perfect murder through the bath, and started noticing unusual number of deaths in baths being reported.

Readers would quickly finished this book and want for more. Sayers did not furnish unnecessary details but managed to allow the readers feel uncheated of being narrated tales of mysteries from the 1930s era.

Rating:
Summary: A Deadly Dozen
Review: In the first story of this collection, Lord Peter Wimsey refers to a book he has been reading as "handy for reading a few pages when you're stuck [in a hotel] for the night. You can always take it up and find something entertaining." The same could be said of this slim book of twelve short stories.

It took me a couple stories to realize that there was no point attempting to solve the crimes as I read them: essential clues are not detailed until the denouement or it is left to Wimsey's vast intellect or Egg's street-smarts to arrive at the correct conclusion. These are simply short stories that are a joy to read because they are well-written and deal with interesting crimes, as well as plots that are as carefully crafted as Sayers' amateur detectives with their commitment to seeing justice prevail.

If you are unfamiliar with Sayers' longer fiction, this is a good place to make her acquaintance. These stories provide good examples of her wit and technique, and with no story longer than a couple dozen pages (and most quite a bit shorter than that) you can enjoy a story whenever you find yourself with a few minutes to spare.