Five Red Herrings cover art

Five Red Herrings

Lord Peter Wimsey, Book 7

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Five Red Herrings

By: Dorothy L. Sayers
Narrated by: Jane McDowell
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The best of the golden age crime writers, praised by all the top modern writers in the field including P. D. James and Ruth Rendell, Dorothy L. Sayers created the immortal Lord Peter Wimsey. His eighth appearance takes him to an artists' colony (based on a real one) in Scotland during the 1920s.

Lord Peter Wimsey could imagine the artist stepping back, the stagger, the fall down to where the pointed rocks grinned like teeth.

But was it an accident or murder? Six members of the close-knit Galloway artists' colony do not regret Campbell's death.

Five of them are red herrings.

©1931 Trustees of Anthony Fleming (deceased) (P)2015 Hachette Audio Crime Fiction
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Critic reviews

"She combined literary prose with powerful suspense, and it takes a rare talent to achieve that. A truly great storyteller." (Minette Walters)
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I like this series and have really enjoyed all the ones Robert Bathurst has narrated. When I ran out I wanted to continue. I have listened to Jane McDowell narrate other series and am not a fan, but thought I should try. It was dire. The monotone, the affected pronunciation, the awful accents - I couldn’t focus on the story and had to give up. So disappointing and I wish I could get my money back!

Please ask Robert Bathurst to record this

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there are far to many suspects in this tale, too complicated for me x

too many suspects

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

Yes. It's a good tale, as one would expect from Dorothy L.Sayers and is generally well read, but the reader is clearly not a Scot. While her Scots accents for various characters are not too bad, she gets the pronunciation of the town "Girvan" completely wrong, putting the emphasis on the second syllable when it should be on the first. It sounds rather exotic every time it's said!

Have you listened to any of Jane McDowell’s other performances? How does this one compare?

No.

Did you have an emotional reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

No. It was entertaining, though.

Get the place names right!

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Yet more brilliance in detecting, with loads of facts to get confused with. Just Brilliant

Five Red Herrings

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Lots of twists and much tabulation of timetables required! I've read the book and knew who the murderer was but even so I couldn't work out how Lord Peter came to the conclusion until the grand reveal. Jane McDowell rather strangles the Scots accents, but it (mostly) doesn't detract from the pleasure of listening. I'm getting used to her unusual reading style by now, and she at least pronounces Kirkcudbright properly!

Great story shame about the accents!

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