Strong Poison

By Dorothy L. Sayers

Book Overview

A young woman stands accused of poisoning her lover with arsenic-and the evidence against her is damning. She had motive, opportunity, and intimate knowledge of the poison that killed him. The jury fails to reach a verdict, but a retrial looms, and the Crown seems certain of a conviction.

A nobleman-detective attends the trial on a whim and leaves utterly convinced of the accused's innocence-and rather more than convinced of her other merits. With only weeks before the retrial, he must unravel a web of literary circles, disputed wills, and a victim whose past conceals secrets far darker than anyone suspected.

Racing against the calendar, he enlists a network of unconventional allies to find the real killer before an innocent woman goes to the gallows-while grappling with the uncomfortable realization that he has fallen hopelessly in love with a woman who may yet hang.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1667665731
• ISBN13: 9781667665733
• Release Date: March 2026
• Publisher: Wildside Press
• Length: 220 Pages
• Weight: 0.99 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 6.0" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

This is the first Book in the Harriet Vane series.

I have always been an Agatha Christie fan. My first encounter with Dorothy L. Sayers was the Mobile Mystery Theater series showing on PBS. Naturally, the TV media cannot capture all the details you would pick up from reading the book, so I read the book. That added more depth to the story, and now I appreciate Dorothy L. Sayers more than Agatha Christie. Dorothy not only fleshes out her characters better but also takes side trips into philosophy and psychology, making the story much more interesting. And just when you say, "What is the relevance to this conversation?" it is wrapped up in the final solution. This is the first of a four-book series. The story is complete and can be used as a stand-alone story. The notorious Harriet Vane is on trial for poisoning her previous live-in lover. Naturally, Lord Peter Wimsey, falling in love with her, is determined that she is innocent and will prove this. To save her reputation, he must find the real culprit (if there is one) because if Harriet gets off on a technicality, she will always be under suspicion.

There's nothing wrong with it, except the girl's innocent

A lot of women want to poison their ex-boyfriends. Only a few actually do it. But the suspicion is enough to land a woman in the dock in "Strong Poison," the first of a string of mysteries about eccentric detective Lord Peter Wimsey and his romantic interest, crime writer/murder suspect Harriet Vane. While Peter's feelings for Harriet spring up rather suddenly, this seemingly airtight mystery is a solid race against time to discover the poisoner, with few clues about who may have done the deed -- and a lot of clues about who didn't. Lord Peter Wimsey becomes interested in the trial of Harriet Vane, a mystery writer who lived with her boyfriend until he proposed marriage (it had all been a test). Six months later, after a brief visit, her ex dropped dead of arsenic -- and all the evidence points straight at Harriet. But Peter is sure that Harriet didn't do the crime -- and he's fallen in love -- and so becomes determined to break this watertight case against her. And so he turns his attention to suicide, since there was plenty of motive for that. But the most promising lead turns out to be the dead man's cousin, a successful lawyer whose motives and opportunity remain unknown -- as the court tells us, the only food that the deceased ate was also eaten by the suspect. But the brilliant Wimsey knows he can find the answer, before Harriet's retrial. "Strong Poison" probably had a special signficance for Dorothy Sayers. First, it introduced her alter-ego, Harriet. Secondly, some of the events that happened to Harriet -- living with a boyfriend, the "test" -- really happened in real life, although presumably Sayers didn't come under suspicion of having murdered her ex. The murder itself is very intriguing, if very slow-moving and roundabout. The case against Harriet is practically foolproof, so it's intriguing to see Wimsey carefully pulling the chinks out of it, and exposing another motive for the dead man's death. But they include some funny (if too brief) moments, like Peter having tea with a hilarious lesbian couple ("Philip Boyes was always determined to be a victim, and it was very irritating of him to succeed in the end"), or the fake seance. Not to mention some great dialogue ("Why not slap the manly thorax and say, `Peter, my dear old mangel-wurzel, I have decided to dig myself into the old family trench and be a brother to you'?"), including Sayers' needling at double standards for women ("You're bearing in mind, aren't you, that I've had a lover?" "Oh, yes. So have I, if it comes to that. In fact, several. It's the sort of thing that might happen to anybody. I can produce quite good testimonials"). Sayers does stumble by having Wimsey instantly fall for her avatar, to the point where he asks her seriously to marry him at their first meeting. But the two characters mesh well -- he's witty, brainy and very unorthodox, while she's a "fallen woman" with brains and a prickly, clever personality. And there's a slew of lovable side ch

First in the Harriet Vane series

Personally I have always been an Agatha the Christie fan. My first encounter with Dorothy L. Sayers was the Mobile Mystery Theater series showing on PBS. Naturally the TV media cannot fill in all the details that you would pick up from reading the book. So I read the book. This added more depth to the story, but now I appreciate Dorothy L. Sayers more than Agatha Christie. But Dorothy not only fleshes her characters out better but her side trips into philosophy and psychology make the story that much more interesting. And just when you say what is the relevance to this conversation it is wrapped up in the final solution. We are in luck as they still make the audio recording of "Strong Poison" The reader Is Ian Carmichael the first TV Lord Peter Wimsey. It makes a good compliment to the book. This is the first of a fourth book series. The story is complete and can be used as a stand-alone story. The notorious Harriet Vane is on trial for poisoning her previous live in lover. Naturally Lord Peter Wimsey falling in love with her, is determined that she is innocent and will prove this. To save her repartition he must fined the real culprit (if there is one), because if Harriet gets off on a technicality, she will always be under suspicion. have his Carcase

Comparing the Petherbridge and Carmichael recordings

This review is geared more toward reviewing the quality of two audio editions of the book than the book itself (which I think highly of). First published in 1930, this book introduces Harriet Vane to Lord Peter Wimsey's life. The abridged edition narrated by Edward Petherbridge came out when PBS first televised the BBC adaptation of the story with Petherbridge as Lord Peter. The MYSTERY! airing of the series in the U.S. was my introduction both to this book and to Dorothy L. Sayers' work. Petherbridge is the best physical match for Wimsey I've ever seen, and he's a fantastic narrator with an immense command of accents. (I highly recommend the DVD of that adaptation, in addition to the book itself.) On the other hand, Ian Carmichael, who played Wimsey in all the BBC adaptations up to that point, narrates the unabridged edition. He specializes in Bertie Wooster-ish characters, like Wimsey's defensive public persona, and is also an excellent actor and narrator who given the chance can drop smoothly into a variety of characters with all kinds of accents. Once in a while Carmichael speaks tongue-in-cheek during 3rd-person narration where playing it deadpan straight would be more appropriate, but he generally keeps that under control. I favor Petherbridge as Wimsey, but both recordings are worth the money. The story begins with the judge's summation to the jury at the end of R. vs. Harriet Vane for the murder of her lover, Philip Boyes, as Lord Peter looks on. (He didn't assist with the investigation, but his attendance at the trial is perfectly plausible: his ally Miss Climpson is on the jury, and his best friend Parker handled the police case). I prefer Petherbridge's narration of judge Crossley to Carmichael's; he manages to convey Crossley's disapproval of the irregular Boyes/Vane living arrangements quite neatly. Lord Peter is not only convinced of Harriet's innocence; he's convinced he's found the only woman he could possibly spend the rest of his life with - if she'll accept his offer of marriage, considering that they've never met before. Not to mention that her relationship with Boyes ended *very* badly (even discounting her being tried for his murder afterwards), so Peter's timing is *terrible*. The Petherbridge audio abridgement eliminated several blind alleys from the investigation, along with much of the development of various subplots not bearing directly on the murder (Boyes' family background; his and Harriet's social circle; Parker's relationship with Lady Mary, which began in CLOUDS OF WITNESS; Christmas with the family and their maddening observations about the Vane case). The long Wrayburn and Urquhart investigations have been compressed, but both Miss Climpson and Miss Murchison's roles remained intact.

Miss Sayers administers the dose.

Few would argue with the contention that no better writer has ever tried her hand at writing detective fiction than Dorothy L Sayers. I happen to like good writing, and I don't mind if it features more strongly than the puzzle component in a mystery novel. "Strong Poison" abounds in wit, charm, characterization, and literary excellence. This is the one that begins with two whole chapters of a judge's summing up. On trial is Harriet Vane, accused of killing her lover by administering arsenic. All believe she is guilty except one jury member, Miss Murchison, who prevents the jury from bringing in a "guilty" verdict, and someone attending the trial, Lord Peter Wimsey, who determines to prove Harriet's innocence and make her his wife. Dorothy L Sayers then makes little pretence at hiding the identity of the killer. Instead she unfolds a fascinating investigation into how the crime was committed and how Lord Peter and one or two helpers collected the evidence to convict. Neither as long nor as long-winded as some of Miss Sayers' later detective fiction, this one offers rich and pure pleasure all the way. The additional luxury of hearing it read by Ian Carmichael in audio book form is well worth investigating.

Harriet Vane's Debut Enchants

Dorothy L. Sayers' Lord Peter Wimsey books are diverting detective fiction, set in a 20s and 30s England in which an aristocrat who is much less silly than he sometimes pretends to be goes about solving well-thought-out literary puzzle mysteries. As the saying goes, if Lord Peter did not exist, we would have to invent him.Strong Poison marks the introduction of Ms. Sayers' love interest for Lord Peter, Harriet Vane. Ms. Vane, a curious mix of 19th Century ideas and 20s era feminism, is a mystery writer (and, in this volume, accused murderess) in her own right.Apparently, some of those folks they call "purists" took a dislike to Ms. Vane, much preferring Lord Peter to be assisted only by his Jeeves-like gentleman's gentleman, Bunter. In fact, Sayers' Harriet Vane is a thorough delight. This book is the first of a set of subplots in a love story notable for the fact that its heroine is frequently described as "not pretty", the affair is one of the head as well as heart, and the enchanting quirkiness of the couple makes the chase a bit winding but the result inevitable.Is the plot a bit of whimsy? Absolutely. But, after all, it is Lord Peter Wimsey, and that makes it all come out right.If you've not read this, I strongly recommend. If you have read this, take a good afternoon, and return to the Wimsey/Vane world.