Mystery Review: Striding Folly is a slender volume, more of an interest to those who prefer the family side of the LPW mysteries. Our three helpings include only one crime and are much more domestic than expected. Here we get a birth and then the sudden appearance of two more offspring, as Harriet Vane misses out on the first story, makes a momentary but momentous appearance in the second, and is in ample evidence in the third. "Striding Folly," the title piece, includes the only crime in the set, but is also the most negligible requiring a minimum of detection. As a matter of interest and oddity a couple games of chess occur, but my guess is that Dorothy Leigh Sayers was not a chess enthusiast herself. The second story, "The Haunted Policeman," is the most interesting and puzzling for the reader, but the ending while clever enough is something of letdown. Here we do get to see more of the adult aspect of Lord Peter, and the wide-ranging knowledge that enabled his success in detection. "Of its time" rears its head briefly but unpleasantly in this piece, reminding us how casually bigotry occurred and was accepted in those days. The final story is "Talboys," written in 1942, five years after the last LPW novel. Much more about the home life of Peter and Harriet than sleuthing, reminiscent of Shirley Jackson's domestic comedies. No crime fighting occurs, but there is a bit of commentary on child rearing, which might be less acceptable these days. As a collection the short Striding Folly is somewhat outdated and unnecessary, as all three pieces were also included in the complete collection of Sayers' LPW stories, Lord Peter (1972). Average, slighter than most, more personality driven than most of her work. [3★]
No comments:
Post a Comment