The Late Scholar

The Lord Peter Wimsey and Harriet, Book 4

By: Jill Paton Walsh

Narrated by: Matthew Brenher

Lord Peter Wimsey and his detective novelist wife Harriet Vane return in Jill Paton Walsh's brilliant new continuation of Dorothy L. Sayers's classic mysteries.

When a dispute among the fellows of St. Severin's College, Oxford University, reaches a stalemate, Lord Peter Wimsey discovers that as the Duke of Denver he is "the Visitor" - charged with the task of resolving the issue. It is time for Lord Peter and his detective novelist wife Harriet to revisit their beloved Oxford, where their long and literate courtship finally culminated in their engagement and marriage.

At first, the dispute seems a simple difference of opinion about a valuable manuscript that some of the fellows regard as nothing but an insurance liability, which should be sold to finance a speculative purchase of land. The voting is evenly balanced. The warden would normally cast the deciding vote, but he has disappeared. And when several of the fellows unexpectedly die as well, Lord Peter and Harriet set off on an investigation to uncover what is really going on at St. Severin's.

With this return to the Oxford of Gaudy Night, which many readers regard as their favorite of Sayers's original series, Jill Paton Walsh revives the wit and brilliant plotting of the golden age of detective fiction.

©2013 Jill Paton Walsh and the Trustees of Anthony Fleming, deceased. (P)2015 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Another Good Lord Peter and Harriet story

I love reading about Peter and Harriet in the post-war world. Unfortunately the narration is sub-par, especially when it is a woman character.

For die-hard Wimsey fans

Any additional comments?

Jill Paton Walsh continues her brilliant evocation of Dorothy Sayer's detective series. However, this book is a paired continuation of Gaudy Night - in my opinion the most difficult and dense of the Sayer mysteries. Walsh has written a lovely book, and it is nowhere near as confusing as Gaudy Night. I am glad to have it in my library, but I enjoyed Walsh's previous novels more. I look forward to more books in Walsh's series.

Good plot but too many mispronunciations

The narrator has good voice tone and pacing, but ought to have made more of an effort to get words and names right!
Just a very quick online check today (2024) found pronunciations for Bredon, Balliol, and Keble.

narrator spoils the story. reads "ms" as "ms"

This is not a bad story, considering it's faux Sayer, but the Brenher reading makes it sound like a children's book. The most amazing anomaly in the reading is the narrator's reading "ms." (manuscript abbreviation) as "m" "s"-- literally he says the letters "ms" instead of saying "manuscript." This is a book about a missing manuscript, so you are constantly hearing the characters talking about the missing "ms"!

I Quite Like This Authors Slant on Dorothy L Sayers Work

It was an enormous undertaking to write behind such a well known and beloved author… not only did she do well, but quite surpassed Dorothy in my humble opinion,.. it has a more modern feel,.. even though it was in the identical time frame… Brava..