Late Scholar - (Lord Peter Wimsey/Harriet Vane) by Jill Paton Walsh (Paperback)

About the Book

"In Jill Paton Walsh's fourth installment in her inspired continuation of Dorothy L. Sayers's acclaimed mysteries, Lord Peter Wimsey and his detective novelist wife, Harriet Vane, revisit their beloved Oxford, where a long and literate courtship finally culminated in their engagement. To his surprise, Lord Peter, as the Duke of Denver, has been charged with settling a dispute among the Fellows of St. Severin's College, Oxford University. At first, the stalemate seems the result of a simple difference of opinion about a valuable manuscript. Some of the Fellows regard the book as nothing but an insurance liability that 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 die unexpectedly, Lord Peter and Harriet set off on an investigation to uncover what is really going on at St. Severin's."--

Book Synopsis

In Jill Paton Walsh's fourth installment in her inspired continuation of Dorothy L. Sayers's acclaimed mysteries, Lord Peter Wimsey and his detective novelist wife, Harriet Vane, revisit their beloved Oxford, where a long and literate courtship finally culminated in their engagement.

To his surprise, Lord Peter, as the Duke of Denver, has been charged with settling a dispute among the Fellows of St. Severin's College, Oxford University. At first, the stalemate seems the result of a simple difference of opinion about a valuable manuscript. Some of the Fellows regard the book as nothing but an insurance liability that 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 die unexpectedly, 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 with The Late Scholar.

Review Quotes

"In The Late Scholar, Ms. Walsh once more succeeds in emulating and extending her late inspiration's unusual mixture of drama and foolishness, poetry and prattle, local color and grim undercurrents. " --The Wall Street Journal

"Cleverly plotted....Walsh's pitch-perfect re-creation of the charismatic leads is a delight. Sayers fans can only hope for more." --Publishers Weekly (starred review)

"An entertaining and convoluted puzzle for readers who enjoy Golden Age mysteries." --Library Journal

"Delicious. " --Booklist (starred review)

"Fans will eagerly welcome back their beloved sleuth and enjoy seeing Harriet hold her own in a thoughtfully constructed mystery." --Kirkus Reviews

"Faithful to Sayers' legacy and amplified by Walsh's own considerable talents, The Late Scholar offers a smart plot, a look at beloved characters' later lives and an evocative examination of academia. Readers will hope that it's not the last installment in a rewarding and authentic continuation of a cherished series." --Richmond Times-Dispatch

"If you love the books of Dorothy L. Sayers as I do, you will be elated to learn that Peter Wimsey and Harriet Vane are at their scholarly and detective best in [The Late Scholar]....Somewhere Sayers is applauding." --Mystery Scene

About the Author

Jill Paton Walsh (1937-2020) was an award-winning author of many books for children, young adults, and adults including The Green Book, A Parcel of Patterns, the Booker Prize shortlisted Knowledge of Angels, and the Whitbread Prize winner The Emperor's Winding Sheet. She completed Dorothy L. Sayers' unfinished Lord Peter Wimsey and Harriet Vane mystery manuscript, the international bestseller Thrones, Dominations, and continued Sayers' series with A Presumption of Death, The Attenbury Emeralds, and The Late Scholar. In 1996, Walsh was awarded a CBE (Commander of the Order of the British Empire) for services to literature.

Dorothy L. Sayers (1983-1957), the greatest of the golden age detective novelists, was one of the first women to be awarded a degree by Oxford University. Her aristocratic detective, Lord Peter Wimsey, became one of the most popular fictional heroes of the twentieth century, but she considered her translation of Dante's Divine Comedy to be her best work.