Strong Poison (Lord Peter Wimsey)

A lot of fun to read. Wimsey is a witty character, and the women who actually did the sleuth work were wonderfully skillful & creative. The mystery itself was almost painfully obvious—I’m never great at guessing such things, but I was quite sure of the murderer’s identity & method the first time they were each mentioned. But I didn’t mind that, really. I don’t quite see how this book is held up as an example of feminist writing. To my eye, it’s both quite classist and masculinist in the way that Lord Wimsey gets the bulk of the credit for the brilliantly successful efforts of two working-class women. I suppose there’s some feminist representation, both in the competence of those women and in the bold autonomy of Harriet Vane (which I must assume will be further developed in subsequent novels). But as for the tone of the book itself, not least the official wrap-up section involving the authorities nabbing their perp, it’s certainly not breaking much feminist ground. Again, though, it really didn’t kill the enjoyment for me. It’s at least a bit ahead of its contemporaries, at least.