Lord Peter Wimsey Novels - pick one for me to read please!

[HollyGoHeavily]

My book group meets pretty soon and this month's choice is to read a Lord Peter Wimsey novel. I have never heard of him not yet had the pleasure so need some pointers. Which of the novels should I read? The first one? Or is there a stand-out one in the middle of the series?

My favourites are the ones with Harriet Vane in. The first of those is Strong Poison, then Have his Carcass, then Gaudy Night (my favourite).

I think Clouds of Witness is an early one that's quite good too.

yy to Strong Poison as a good starting point

Are they fairly easy to read? I'm a bit disorganised this month and only have a few days to read it in...

Yes they're easy reads. A bit like Agatha Christies but more satisfying. Also rather a lot of John Donne poetry quotes but you can skip those...

Oh- Gaudy Night! One of my favourite books of ALL TIME!

But you need to read Strong Poison first.

They are all, except, bizarrely Gaudy Night, really good audio books.

As for whether they are easy to read, it depends a bit on your tolerance for posh people period pieces. Personally, I love them, but I can see that it could easily grate.

I have a fairly high tolerance for posh people :)

Thanks all, i'll start with Strong Poison

After gaudy night read Busman's Honeymoon. Top class.

I am ridiculously excited that you're reading them for the first time. Please tell me what you make of it!

Someone described them as intelligent agatha christie but I don't think that does them justice.

Also, they assume you have fluency in French!! Only some paragraphs and I got the gist but I felt a bit stupid. I love Peter winery though!

Will do :)

Now I just need to find some time to actually do some reading.....

I was in love with Peter Wimsey as a teenager. He just seemed so lovely and it all seemed so romantic. Bizarrely, like Seeker, I'm quite excited about you reading them. I'd definitely recommend Strong Poison as a starter.

Might have to dig out my copy and indulge myself..

Thanks to this thread I am now going to go and reread all the wimsey/vane stories, I'm so excited!!

My iPhone changed wimsey to winery and to sunset! I can't type or proofread

I was in love with him as a teenager, too! Love Gaudy Night!! Was in Oxford the other day and dreamily looking at that bridge!

If I had been bright enough I would have applied to Balliol, Oulucky. Is that sad? Perhaps I shouldn't admit to it...

My dd is going to try for Oxford. I daren't tell her this is one of the reasons I'm encouraging her....

Or that it is the main reason I applied all those years ago. I suspect it might have been apparent to the interviewers though..........!

Murder must advertise is a great stand alone. And I love 5 red herrings.

I feel so much better, seeker.

I fancied Peter Wingfield as a teenager to (he was in Medics at the time) and wondered if I had a thing about men with the initials "PW". I think I thought too much as a teenager (and not about anything useful).

Did you get in, seeker, and if so, did it live up to it?

No I didn't get in. I read too much Golden Age detective fiction and not enough history!

I'd recommend The Nine Tailors myself - but only because I don't think of the books with Harriet Vane in as Peter Wimsey novels,they are filed in a different part of my mental bookshelves.

I love Gaudy Night,it is one of my favorite books,wish I could've gone to Oxford! I do sometimes wonder why DH bears so little resemblance to either Peter Wimsey or Francis Crawford of Lymond,my teen crushes...

I so wanted to be Harriet Vane ...

I think you've had enough advice - any PW good choice for a book group I'd have thought - they operate at various different levels.

(agree good idea to start with Strong Poison but Gaudy night was the one which sprang to mind first)

Lucky you! I buy old editions of these if I see them at bargain prices, just for the sheer joy.
I wanted to say that they often have dramatised versions on BBC iplayer or R4extra. I really enjoy them.