The Four Queens of Crime by Rosanne Limoncelli

 

First Line: Detective Chief Inspector Lilian Wyles stood behind her father as he sat in his wheelchair, facing the front window of their second floor sitting room in their home on the eastside of London.

It's 1938, and the four women the media have named "The Four Queens of Crime" (Agatha Christie, Dorothy L. Sayers, Ngaio Marsh, and Margery Allingham) have all agreed to attend a charity event at Sir Henry Heathcote's Hursley House. The elite of London society are there, and it's a brilliant success... until the next morning when Sir Henry is found dead in the library.

Now a fifth queen of crime, Detective Chief Inspector Lilian Wyles (the first woman to serve as a ranking officer in the CID at Scotland Yard) makes an appearance. Accompanied by DCI Richard Davidson, it is Wyles' task to sort through all the guests for potential suspects, and she thinks she has just the right sort of people to help her: the Four Queens of Crime.

~

In Rosanne Limoncelli's Preface, she introduces the real-life people she is portraying fictionally. I was already familiar with the four best-selling crime writers of their day-- Christie, Sayers, Marsh, and Allingham-- but I'd never heard of DCI Lilian Wyles, and I enjoyed watching these five characters work with each other. Wyles had a particularly difficult time of it because her male counterpart thought the four writers would have absolutely nothing worthwhile to add to the investigation. The five women had to learn how to work around him.

The mystery revolved around a typical British aristocratic family in a large country house just before the start of World War II. Although the whodunit was rather easily deduced, the upstairs-downstairs tension worked well. Those who are familiar with the four authors' books will also find amusing moments along the way, as in Agatha Christie getting the germ of an idea for And Then There Were None.

All in all, The Four Queens of Crime was a pleasant way to spend a few hours, but I really didn't find it to be a standout.

The Four Queens of Crime by Rosanne Limoncelli

eISBN: 9798892420617

Crooked Lane Books © 2025

eBook, 320 pages

Historical Mystery

Rating: C+

Source: Net Galley 

Clouds of Witness by Dorothy L. Sayers

First Line: Lord Peter Wimsey stretched himself luxuriously between the sheets provided by the Hôtel Meurice.

All is not well at Riddlesdale Lodge, a Wimsey family retreat for country pleasures and the thrill of the hunt. Lord Peter's brother-in-law-to-be is dead, and his accused murderer is Wimsey's own brother. Lord Peter has his hands full with this all-in-the-family murder.

I continue to stumble my way through Golden Age mysteries in an attempt to understand what so many other readers enjoy in them. So far, my only real success has been with Gladys Mitchell's Mrs. Bradley, but I am determined to emerge triumphant with Dorothy L. Sayers' Lord Peter Wimsey. I have to admit that it's been a bit of a hard slog. Perhaps I should just jump ahead to the book in which Harriet Vane makes her appearance?

The largest part of Lord Peter's investigation in Clouds of Witness seemed to be crawling around on the floor staring at the carpet, and I was about ready to admit defeat when Wimsey's sister finally decided to tell the truth. Then the mystery really began to get somewhere. 

I am glad that I soldiered on to the end because I do see glimmers of what this series will be in snippets of conversation between characters, and that "lost in the fog in the bog" scene is marvelous.  I do enjoy historical mysteries, but I am most definitely a 21st-century reader, so I do sometimes doubt the wisdom behind my dabbling into these fabled waters... but it is for the very reason that these mysteries are fabled that I can't leave them alone!
 

Clouds of Witness by Dorothy L. Sayers

ASIN: B00AOBIJCG

Amazon Digital Services © 2013

Originally published in 1926.

eBook, 279 pages

Private Investigator, #2 Lord Peter Wimsey mystery

Rating: C+

Source: Purchased from Amazon. 


  

Whose Body? by Dorothy L. Sayers

First Line: "Oh, damn!" said Lord Peter Wimsey at Picadilly Circus.

I irritate myself sometimes. Although I've tried a few times to read Golden Age mysteries, they just don't seem to be for me. However, time will pass and once again I'll begin to feel that I'm missing out on something. This is why I picked up Dorothy L. Sayers' very first Lord Peter Wimsey mystery, Whose Body? I've always had the feeling that-- if I liked any Golden Age mystery writer-- I would like her.

In this book, Lord Peter's mother the Dowager Duchess of Denver has called to tell him that the architect she's hired to do some work on her local church has stumbled across a body in his bath wearing nothing put a pair of pince-nez. London's Inspector Sugg is convinced that Thipps the architect is guilty. 

While Lord Peter begins his investigation for Thipps, he learns that his friend Inspector Parker is looking into the disappearance of Sir Reuben Levy, a famous financier. Lord Peter must find out what's happened to Sir Reuben as well as identify that body in Thipps' bath to get the mild-mannered architect out of hot water.

After reading the first few chapters of this book, I almost gave up in disgust. The pages were filled with dialogue that was supposed to be sparkling and witty but only sounded like dated, superficial piffle. (See? I may not have read Sayers before, but I've evidently been able to mine a nugget or two from various sources.)

Fortunately the book settled down and steered clear of conversational piffle throughout the rest of the story, and I actually enjoyed watching Wimsey figure out identities, timelines, and what actually happened. In fact I enjoyed it enough to start looking for the second book in the series. All you Golden Age mystery lovers-- there may be hope for me yet!
 

Whose Body? by Dorothy L. Sayers

ASIN: B00BX8U56M

Open Road Media © 2013

eBook, 208 pages

Private Investigator, #1 Lord Peter Wimsey mystery

Rating: B-

Source: Purchased from Amazon