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Thrones, Dominations -- Dorothy L. Sayers and Jill Paton Walsh (F SAYERS) Between the years 1936 and 1938, Dorothy Sayers left off the writing of Thrones, Dominations, bringing the detecting career of Lord Peter Wimsey to a close. Jill Paton Walsh has taken up the unfinished manuscript, and brought Lord Peter back for a final case. Walsh has obviously read Sayers’ Wimsey mysteries closely. She makes numerous references to scenes and occurrences from the early works throughout Thrones, Dominations. This leads to one of the weaknesses of the work. In her attempt to maintain Sayers’ voice and style, Walsh fills her book too full of quotes and characters from other Lord Peter stories. People keep turning up in cameo roles. Walsh presents an intriguing mystery though, with enough possible suspects to keep the reader interested. Lord Peter works with his brother-in-law Charles Parker of Scotland Yard to solve two murders in the theater world of London. Walsh also contrasts the Wimsey’s marriage (a partnership of equals) with the marriages of other characters. At times, though not consistently, Walsh achieves the goal of writing a book in 1997 that appears to have been written in the 1930s. Despite some unevenness, Sayers fans will enjoy Walsh’s completion of Thrones, Dominations, and it should encourage those new to Lord Peter Wimsey to go back to Sayers’ earlier works.
(B.Trott)
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