Wimsey is convinced he was murdered – and it isn’t long before he settles on a culprit – but how was the thing done? Peter knows there are three possibilities, he was murdered by Harriet Vane – we obviously know that is not the case, he committed suicide, or was murdered by someone else. Harriet certainly had motive – Boyes is shown to have been a thorough pig, and it doesn’t help that Harriet has been buying up arsenic as part of her research for her latest book. Over the previous few months Boyes had suffered from terrible attacks of gastritis, as evidenced by a friend who he holidayed in Wales with shortly before his death. A few hours later Boyes is taken ill shortly after drinking coffee with Harriet Vane in her flat. The victim Philip Boyes was Harriet Vanes former lover, murdered by arsenical poisoning – his last meal he shared with his cousin and the servants and they suffered no ill effects. Lord Peter is relieved to have time to investigate to truth of the matter, though will it be enough time? There is really very little in the way of defensive evidence. We see a good deal of the fair sex in this profession,’ said the clerk, with a sly smile ‘and very few of them are remarkable for possessing the legal mind.’” But juries are very unreliable, especially nowadays, with women on them. The judge – who is quite obviously seriously prejudiced against Harriet labelled an immoral woman leading a bohemian lifestyle – orders a new trial. An indomitable character Miss Climpson sticks to her guns throughout the jury deliberations and ensures that a verdict cannot be reached.
Thankfully Lord Peter’s employee Miss Climpson happens to be on the jury and although not prompted by Lord Peter – she too believes the prisoner innocent. Harriet is on trial for Murder Lord Peter in the public gallery is convinced she is innocent. She was to become a very important figure in many later Sayers novels.
It is in Strong Poison that we – and indeed Lord Peter – first meet Harriet Vane, a mystery writer she remains largely in the background in this novel, really only featuring in a couple of scenes. The heavier the lashing of the rain and the ghastlier the details, the better the flavour seems to be.” “Nothing goes so well with a hot fire and buttered crumpets as a wet day without and a good dose of comfortable horrors within. I really haven’t read enough Dorothy L Sayers – and yet this was a re-read – I first read it about five years ago, but it has served to remind me how I really need to read more by Sayers who was a superb writer. (I am amused by this vintage cover of Strong Poison – who the people in that image are supposed to be I can’t imagine.)
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