Mystery writer Harriet Vane is on trial for murdering her ex-lover with arsenic, a poison she just happens to have been doing research about for a book she is working on. So she is quite knowledgeable about how to poison a person with arsenic.
Lord Peter Wimsey, famous amateur detective, has been attending her trial and has fallen love with Harriet and has decided she must become his wife. When the jury cannot reach a decision, the trial is postponed until after the Christmas season, to resume in January. Which gives Wimsey time to do his own investigation into the murder with the goal of finding the real killer and freeing the woman he loves from prison.
The victim was one Philip Boyes, who like Harriet was a writer, though not as successful as she was. Of course, his last movements were closely examined by the police investigators, with special attention paid to last things he ate and drank. His last meal was with a relative of his, Norman Urquhart. All the food and drink consumed at the meal were also consumed by other people, none of whom suffered any ill effects. However, Philip had stopped by Harriet's place to have a talk and had while there he consumed a cup of coffee. Thus the police concluded he must have been poisoned by Harriet. Now Wimsey has taken it upon himself to prove the police have arrested the wrong person.
This was an OK read. I thought it was kind of odd that Wimsey fell so hard for someone he had never actually met, beyond observing her in the courtroom. It just seemed so out of character for him, judging from what I know of him from previous books. Another problem I had was I already knew that people can build up resistance to arsenic by ingesting small amounts of it over a period of time. So it was pretty clear how the killer managed it.
Another thing is that we really don't get to know Harriet very well or come to an understanding about what Wimsey finds so irresistible about her. It was certainly an abrupt introduction to an important new person in Wimsey's life.
No comments:
Post a Comment