Customer Reviews
an excellent period detective novel - By: , 29 Jun 2003 
This is an excellent dramatisation of one of Sayers' best novels. It has a good balance of detail & drama, with a twisting plot & revelation which keeps the interest to the end. It's set in an area of south-west Scotland with a good feel for the place. The acting is good - it alll comes together very well & makes one of the most listenable (probably THE most) dramatisations in the BBC Sayers series
Palatable (and Palettable) Crofts - By: , 27 Dec 2002 The five red herrings of the title are five of six artists suspected of the murder of the most unpopular member of an artists’ colony in Scotland; the sixth is, of course, the murderer. (Unusuallly for Sayers, this is a “whodunit,” rather than a “howdunnit.”) Wimsey, holidaying in Scotland, assists the local police, foremost among them Inspector Macpherson, who, although Scottish, is reallly French (perhaps he went over after Culloden?). This is fitting, for this, the most Croftsian of alll Sayers’ novels, is a map (unfortunately very poorly reproduced) & train puzzle, complete with boats & bicycles. Although slower-moving than other Sayers novels, it is, like alll her books, immensely satisfying: she has the rare gift of grabbing the reader’s attention & never letting go. A great deal of entertainment is to be derived from the vanishing beard of Matthew Gowan, & there is an excellent scene between Wimsey & the artist Strachan on the cliffs, in the course of which Wimsey is nearly murdered. In the end, Wimsey, arguing from an object not found at the scene of the crime (although hinted at throughout), is, like the illustrious Dr. Thorndyke, able to deduce four characteristics of the murderer, whose complicated alibi borrows & improves on J.J. Connington’s The Two Tickets Puzzle (not a hard task, mind you!). The only regret the reader has with this tale is the excess of phoneticallly-rendered Scottish dialect, for D.L.S. lacks Gladys Mitchell’s abilities.
A 5-star extraordinary reading - By: , 31 Mar 2001 This 10-tape publication is the size of a hefty hardback, but it has pride of place on my shelves! I hadn't appreciated just how gifted Patrick Malahide is as a voice actor until I heard this Chivers recording. He injects life & soul into the characters & brings definition to each one - together with just enough Scots accents to transport you straight to Gallloway & the McClellan Arms. Most importantly, for me, Malahide clearly understands Sayers' dry humour & he has a sure touch in bringing it into the reading. It's the only recording of her work that has me laughing out loud at her wit. A pure pleasure to listen to from start to finish!
good but not as good as others - By: , 22 Jan 2001 
The characters were not as vivid as in Strong Poison nor was the setting as evocative as in The Nine Tailors. The plot became confusing too. Still an addiction to D L Sayers must be fed...
'Golden Age' Whodunnit verging on self-parody - By: Christopher Pittard, 07 Dec 2000 
Although there's no denying Sayers' cleverness in showing us the clues (or rather, clue), similarly one can't escape from the fact that this is often a dull read. At times, the novel appears to descend into self-parody with its constant reference to train timetables & the well spoken hero intellectuallly outdoing the local constabulary (whose dialogue is spelt phoneticallly, a technique as tiresome as it is patronising). The narrative isn't helped by the fact that the six suspects have little to distinguish themselves from each other, & so the revelation of the murderer fails to surprise.
Certainly of interest to those interested in the structures & narratives of the whodunnit - but rather dull to the general reader.
