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WALSHED_OUT
March 3, 2023
Jill Payton Walsh scored a nice gig writing
additional Peter Whimsey novels after the
BBC productions of the 1970s brought them
back into general consciousness.
It turns out there were actually four of
these Walsh Whimseys, though I had only
heard of one of them: there were three
more after the "Thrones, Dominions" which
I read soon after publication in 1998.
The internet archive has audio recordings
of all of these novels, so I'm familiar
with them now-- and rarely have I
encountered a tribute with so few of the
virtues of the original. Dorothy Sayers
may have seemed a bit self-indulgent in
places (e.g. discoursing on British
bell-ringing in the middle of a murder
mystery), but in retrospect it's clear how
remarkably tight and on-point she was.
Walsh's dialog invariably runs on for
twice the length it needs to, reiterating
her not-very-dramatic dramatic points with
determination.
Worst of all is the character of her Peter
Whimsey, who has none. There's none of his
old sparkle here, brave front or not-- one
longs even to be plunged into "Strong Poison"
again.
Walsh's central character is The War,
specifically the war on the home front.
Oh the worries and privation. The blackouts,
the bomb shelter drills, the unending
drabness. It's so exhausting. Exhausting.
Exhausting.
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