Strong Poison

A Lord Peter Wimsey and Harriet Vane Mystery

By: Dorothy L. Sayers

Narrated by: Ian Carmichael

Length: 7 hrs and 34 mins

Publisher's Summary

Dashing detective Lord Peter Wimsey is caught up in the murder trial of mystery writer Harriet Vane. Her fiance has died of poisoning exactly as described in one of Harriet's novels, so naturally she is the prime suspect. As Peter looks on, he not only falls in love with the accused but eagerly helps with Harriet's defense when the first trial ends in a hung jury. Will she be convicted and executed for the crime, or can he save her life and win her hand in marriage?

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©1930 Executors of the Estate of Anthony Fleming (P)1989 Chivers Audio Books

Critic Reviews

"Dorothy Sayers is 'in a class by herself.'"(Chicago Tribune)

At Last

I have been waiting for more unabridged audiobook versions of the Lord Peter novels by Dorothy Sayers, preferably read by Ian Carmichael ever since I joined Audible several years ago. I love Dorothy L. Sayers's prose, I love Lord Peter and I love how Ian Carmichael interprets him. I hope the rest of the series will be added soon. (Please, Audible, do the entire series, including Five Red Herrings read by Patrick Malahide.)

For those new to Sayers and Lord Peter, this book is in the middle of the series, but the first that introduces his love interest, Harriet Vane, who is on trial for murder. Since at that time and place a swift hanging was the result of a guilty verdict, Lord Peter, who has fallen in love with her during the trial feels great pressure to clear her name in time! This book also contains Miss Climpson, one of my favorite secondary characters of all time. She and Miss Silver and Miss Marple are all spinster detectives invented within a year of each other by English mystery writers.

So a fairly good place to jump into the series, but I hope more will be available soon from Audible US.

At last Sayers read by Carmichael! Do the rest!

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

These are my all time favorite recorded books. I have them all on tape but now the world is digital and I have been begging the publishers to bring them out in digital format. Finally they have. I hope Strong Poison is only the first and the rest will be soon on the way. Ian Carmichael is the quintessential Lord Peter Wimsey and he does all the supporting voices to perfection from his perfect "Gentleman's gentleman" Bunter, to the barmaid at the pub with the Dowager Duchess along the way.

I would recommend these to anyone who wants an entertaining, well written story with clever references and perfect narration.

Free at last!!!!!

Audio recordings of Dorothy L Sayers "Lord Peter Wimsey" series have been unavailable for purchase in the US for years now (except used on CD or cassette if you can find them) especially the wonderful Ian Carmichael recordings. I believe this had something to do with some sort of tangle as to who owned the rights? The company that owned the rights went bankrupt, and it seemed that these wonderful recordings were going to be held hostage FOREVER. I have actually considered going to the UK or Canada personally to stock up on the entire series because it's easily available there and I love these recordings so much. I hope from the bottom of my heart that the fact that "Strong Poison" has finally appeared here at the US based Audible that soon we will have access to all these wonderful recordings here on this side of the pond. I can not wait (!!!!!!) to hear "Murder Must Advertise" read by Ian Carmichael again. I can't even find the CDs at the library anymore, these things have been tied up for so long!

More, please!

I've made requests to Audible.com several times to add the books of Dorothy L. Sayers. I hope this is the first of the full canon. They should promote this more as there are a lot of Sayers fans out there. This may even bring in new subscribers to Audible.

Carmichael + Wimsey + Sayers = Delight

Ian Carmichael reading Lord Peter Wimsey is a delight. He finds such joy in the iconic characters, and in Sayers's plots and canny voice -- and that joy is contagious. He recorded several books in the Wimsey series; so far, only this and Unnatural Death are available on Audible. Hoping to see the rest added soon!

At last!

I'm so glad to have another DLS novel on Audible. Ian Carmichael reads it wonderfully. Only the dodgy sound quality brought my overall review down to four stars. Please, Audible, get more Wimsey novels!

When an author finds a voice . . .

What did you love best about Strong Poison?

I find that the combination of Dorothy Sayers and Ian Carmichael is impossible to resist. Sayers creates such strong and fascinating characters and Carmichael's ability to bring those characters to life is amazing.

Ian Carmicheal is Lord Peter Wimsey

If you could sum up Strong Poison in three words, what would they be?

Perfect hilarious narration

Any additional comments?

Please offer more books narrated by Ian Carmichael if possible - especially Lord Peter Wimsey

Classic! I wish more were available

Would you listen to Strong Poison again? Why?

I'm a long-time fan of Dorothy Sayers. This performance is very good; I will definitely listen to it again.

Any additional comments?

It's too bad that more of the Ian Carmichael unabridged versions of the Lord Peter Wimsey mysteries aren't available from Audible. It looks like I can buy some of them on CD. I'm not s much of a fan of the full-cast dramatizations.

Lord Peter to the Rescue

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

It was an enjoyable listen that kept my attention to the end. But I did find Ian Carmichael's voice a bit too precious at times.

What did you like best about this story?

I love the interplay between Lord Peter and Harriet Vane

What three words best describe Ian Carmichael’s voice?

Cultured, mannered, privileged

Was Strong Poison worth the listening time?

It's by Dorothy L. Sayers so it's definitely worth a listen.

Any additional comments?

I wish Audible had the amazing Lord Peter Wimsey-Harriet Vane mysteries narrated by the amazing Edward Petherbridge. I find them far superior to the Ian Carmichael version. His version of "Gaudy Night" is masterful.