Busman's Honeymoon - Sayers Goal Met

I just finished Busman’s Honeymoon by Dorothy L. Sayers, and so I've met the goal of reading at least five Sayers Wimsey novels this year (having earlier this year read Strong Poison, The Five Red Herrings, Murder Must Advertise, and The Nine Tailors).

Hooray!

All told, I've now read in the past few years eight of her eleven complete Wimsey novels, having previously read Whose Body?, Clouds of Witness and Unnatural Death.

The three unread ones are The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club, Have His Carcase and Gaudy Night. I intend to read those at some point, though doing so is not a formal goal for this year.

As for Busman's Honeymoon, typical Sayers. Well-plotted, and with interesting characters and good character development. There's a depth not typical of too may by-the-numbers mysteries. As the last of the Wimsey/Vane novels, it brings the romance to a "happy" conclusion (okay, someone is crying, but they are together and clearly in love).

A good read. 

Oh, I have quibbles. Sayers includes a number of passages in French without offering translations. I read very rudimentary French, but it was too much work to translate it all. I suppose she was writing for an educated British audience, but that's not who I am!

There's a lot of witty dialogue and literary allusions. I found it tedious at times; it was too clever.

In addition, I thought there was a bit too much of the mushy romance passages. They tended to overshadow the mystery. Again, she was bringing the romance to a conclusion, but I also wonder if this was her own romantic dreams.

Whatever the case, I recommend this book. And I do intend the other three she wrote, and perhaps even 
Thrones, Dominations, the unfinished Sayers manuscript completed by Jill Paton Walsherisp, Apparently this picks up the story after Peter and Harriet's honeymoon in Europe, but Sayers abandoned it and said she did not like it. Except for a couple of short stories, she never published any more Wimsey tales.

Pax et bonum