Asked by her new husband, the gentleman detective Lord Peter Wimsey, why she is having trouble writing her latest mystery novel, Harriet Vane explains, "When I needed the money, it justified itself. It was a job of work, and I did it as well as I could, and that was that. But now, you see, it has no necessity except itself. And, of course, it's hard; it's always been hard, and it's getting harder. So when I'm stuck I think, this isn't my livelihood, and it isn't great art, it's only detective stories. You read them and write them for fun." Is this a clue to the mystery of why Dorothy L. Sayers put aside her 13th full-length Lord Peter novel in 1938 and never finished it? She had made lots of money, and was much more interested in translating Dante and writing about religion. Or is it another excellent novelist, Jill Paton Walsh, speculating--in a perfect imitation of Sayers's voice--on what might have happened? Walsh was invited by the estate of Sayers's illegitimate son, Anthony Fleming, to finish Thrones, Dominations. She has done a splendid job, certain to please Sayers loyalists on the "dorothyl" listserv as well as those new to the Wimsey canon. Lord Peter has been made much more human and interesting by marriage; Harriet is a wise and acerbic companion; and the story, about the murders of two beautiful young women involved with a theatrical producer, is full of twists and connivance. There's also a fascinating subplot involving the soon-to-abdicate King Edward VII and a country on the brink of World War II. Earlier Wimseys in paperback include The Five Red Herrings, Gaudy Night, Murder Must Advertise, and Unnatural Death. Books in print by Walsh include a mystery called A Piece of Justice and a novel, The Serpentine Cave.


From Publishers Weekly
After Sayers married off Lord Peter Wimsey and Harriet Vane in Busman's Honeymoon (1937), she devoted herself to translating Dante's Divine Comedy. A few short stories later appeared, noting the arrival of three Wimsey sons, and there was a rumor that suggested Sayers had another Wimsey novel in the works. Forty years after Sayers's death, that book has been triumphantly completed by British novelist Walsh (a 1994 Booker Prize finalist for Knowledge of Angels), following the original outline. If it is true that Sayers wrote the beginning, Walsh has done her predecessor a great service. Once the cast and context are established through some long exposition, the pace picks up, particularly after theatrical producer Laurence Harwell, an acquaintance of the Wimseys, discovers his cherished wife Rosamund strangled. As the nation mourns the death of King George V, upper-class women purchase black wardrobes, some of which are augmented with stylish white collars, an element which later figures as a clue. Germany invades the Rhineland. Uncrowned, Edward VIII continues to socialize with Nazis and to rendezvous with Mrs. Simpson. Lord Peter is recruited to persuade Edward to accept his responsibilities, but abdication is inevitable. The mystery involves two cases of blackmail as well as a second murder. Despite a large cast of suspects, ranging from two inept felons to a society portrait painter, every lead seems to come to a dead end. Typical of Sayers's novels, the solution derives from coincidences and some awkward plot devices. But readers have always turned to her mysteries for other reasons, such as the way Peter and Harriet settle the tumult four months of marriage has visited upon them. Harriet uncomfortably accepts her position as Lady Peter, with money and servants, while maintaining her independent identity as a mystery writer. In fact, her discussion of a plot problem with Peter helps him break a suspect's alibi. Sayers fans will relish the cooperative sleuthing of Peter, Harriet and the self-effacing Bunter as Walsh deftly captures and subtley updates the spirit of the series, endowing the iconic characters with additional depth and complexity. Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From School Library Journal
YA-Lord Peter Wimsey is back. Walsh has completed a manuscript begun by Sayers but never finished. Readers already familiar with Lord Peter and his new wife Harriet Vane will not be disappointed and those who have yet to meet the pair will enjoy Harriet's discourses on writing mysteries for fun or profit and Lord Peter's "piffle." Here, the couple work to solve the murder of a society newlywed. The narrative includes much social commentary about England between the wars and even a fascinating trip through the London sewers. Walsh brings a fresh perspective, but remains true to Sayers's characters and tone. YAs interested in literary British mysteries or those just looking for a good historical novel will appreciate this recasting and may even be led back to the originals.Susan H. Woodcock, Kings Park Library, Burke, VACopyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From Library Journal
Sayers gave up mystery writing and her suave upper-class hero, Lord Peter Wimsey, after the publication of Busman's Honeymoon in 1937. She started on a 13th mystery, Thrones, Dominations, but abandoned the effort sometime between 1936 and 1938. Walsh was brave enough to take on the challenge of completing the manuscript. The resulting novel has a somewhat patchy plot, and the characters will not always ring true to fans of Sayers's earlier works. The story opens in 1936, with Edward VII flirting with Wallis Simpson and Wimsey embarking on the risky sea of matrimony at the advanced age of 45 with brainy, independent Harriet Vane. Establishing a conjugal household after so long as independent operators has both Harriet and Peter understandably tense. The last thing they need right now is a murder to investigate. That, of course, is exactly what they get: the beautiful and spoiled wife of an aristocratic theater angel has been murdered. The grief-stricken husband has an excellent alibi, but other suspects are both numerous and colorful: a lovelorn playwright, a philandering French artist, and two ex-convicts who are trying for a spot of blackmail. Actor Ian Carmichael's reading is easy and fluid, his light tenor voice providing just the right nuances. He has great fun with many of the secondary characters, making Lord Peter's snobbish sister-in-law so obnoxious that you wonder why she hasn't been murdered. The major problem with the reading arises during long passages of dialog between two characters, as when Peter and Harriet discuss matrimony, human psychology, or murder. Carmichael does not give either voice in these conversations enough tone or differentiation to make the characters distinct from one another. Therefore, it takes a lot of concentration on the part of the listener to tell characters apart. The twists and turns in the story will reward those who put in the effort, however, and most fans of Lord Peter or Golden Age mysteries will enjoy the trip down memory lane. Recommended for medium-sized or larger public library collections where mysteries are popular.ABarbara Rhodes, Northeast Texas Lib. Syst., Garland Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.


The New York Times Book Review, Joyce Carol Oates
Thrones, Dominations is a literary sport, and for the most part successful, wonderfully written in its descriptive passages (a trek through the London sewers is vividly rendered) and provocative in its pointed discussion of detective fiction.


The Wall Street Journal, Tom Nolan
Subtle and discursive in the classic Sayers manner, Thrones, Dominations is pure pleasure.


From AudioFile
Sayers never finished this Lord Peter Wimsey mystery, which she began in 1936. Here it is ably completed by Jill Paton Walsh. Peter and Harriet are married, living in London and working on an odd, high-society murder. Glimpses of their life together, the English class system and a bygone era combine for a most interesting period piece. Ian Carmichael, who has played Lord Peter several times for television, is excellent. Particularly enjoyable are his recreations of the self-proclaimed old lady/busybody who adds sparkle to the staid setting. Also his dramatic diary readings are a fun addition to the story. It is truly wonderful to have a new Sayers mystery worthy of her writing and characters, and Carmichael's outstanding presentation adds to the literary treat. S.G.B. (c) AudioFile 2000, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine


From Kirkus Reviews
Lord Peter Wimsey lives again, courtesy of Walsh's completion of a 170-page typescript Sayers abandoned in 1939. In a particularly happy accident for fans whose nostalgia has turned mystery's Golden Age into a historical retreat from the present, Wimsey's return from his honeymoon with mystery novelist Harriet Vane is given the most distinctive real-world political framework of all Sayers's novels: the death of King George V, which plunges England into mourning and into the round of Bertie Windsor's romances. As Wimsey and his bride feast on each other's wit and charm, and Bertie grazes more indiscriminately, news comes from Hampton that noted beauty Rosamund Harwell has been strangled at the cottage her besotted husband never had time to have decorated for her. When theatrical angel Laurence Harwell produces an alibi for his wife's murder, Wimsey, still shaken by his first look at the corpse of a personal acquaintance, makes the rounds of Rosamund's disgraced father, recently released from prison after serving time for fraud; of Streaker and Basher, the lowlife prison mates who were blackmailing him; and of the friends of vanished actress Gloria Tallant, who has a surprisingly close connection to Rosamund. Meanwhile, back in town, Harriet is vanquishing her husband's snobbish sister-in-law with a queenly ease worthy of Richardson's Pamela. The murder plot is ordinary, even creaky in its deceptions, but delighted fansravenous for their first glimpse in over 60 years of Wimsey's foppish relations, Harriet's professional friends, Bunter, Chief Inspector Parker, and the restwill be more than compensated by seeing all the old crowd present and faithfully evoked by Walsh (The Serpentine Cave, 1997, etc.). -- Copyright ©1998, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.


Review
"A superb job of seamless collaboration..subltle and discursive in the classic sayers manner, Thrones, Domination is a pure pleasure." --The Wall Street Journal

"Extraordinary...it is impossible to tell where Dorothy L. Sayers ends and Jill Paton Waslsh begins." --Ruth Rendell, The London Sunday Times

"[Walsh] has done a splendid job--certain to please the legions of Sayers loyalists as well as readers new to the Wimsey canon." --Chicago Tribune



Review
"A superb job of seamless collaboration..subltle and discursive in the classic sayers manner, Thrones, Domination is a pure pleasure." --The Wall Street Journal

"Extraordinary...it is impossible to tell where Dorothy L. Sayers ends and Jill Paton Waslsh begins." --Ruth Rendell, The London Sunday Times

"[Walsh] has done a splendid job--certain to please the legions of Sayers loyalists as well as readers new to the Wimsey canon." --Chicago Tribune



Book Description
Deemed "one of the greatest mystery writers of this century" by the Los Angeles Times, Dorothy L. Sayers first captivated readers nearly seventy years ago with her beloved sleuths Lord Peter Wimsey and Harriet Vane in the novel Stong Poison. In Busmans's Honeymoon, her last completed Wimsey/Vane novel, Lord Peter and Harriet culminated their partnership with marriage. Now Thrones, Dominations, Sayers' uncompleted last novel, satisfies the vast readership hungry to know what happened after the honeymoon. Here award-winning author Jill Paton Walsh picks up where Sayers left off, bringing Wimsey and Vane brilliantly to life in Sayers' unmistakable voice. Readers and reviewers are rejoicing at the return of this delightful sleuthing couple--as adept at solving a baffling murder mystery as they are a balancing the delicate demands of their loving union.



From the Publisher
Praise for Thrones, Dominations: "Engrossing, intelligent, and provocative." --The New York Times Book Review "Extraordinary...it is impossible to tell where Dorothy L. Sayers ends and Jill Paton Walsh begins." --Ruth Rendell, The London Sunday Times "[Walsh] has done a splendid job-certain to please the legions of Sayers loyalists as well as readers new to the Wimsey canon." --Chicago Tribune