Clouds of Witness cover art

Clouds of Witness

Lord Peter Wimsey Book 2

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Clouds of Witness

By: Dorothy L. Sayers
Narrated by: Jane McDowell
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About this listen

The best of the golden age crime writers, praised by all the top modern writers in the field including P. D. James and Ruth Rendell, Dorothy L. Sayers created the immortal Lord Peter Wimsey. His second appearance is a thrilling quest to save his own brother - the Duke of Denver - from the hangman.

The Duke of Denver, accused of murder, stands trial for his life in the House of Lords. Naturally, his brother Lord Peter Wimsey is investigating the crime - this is a family affair. The murder took place at the duke's shooting lodge and Lord Peter's sister was engaged to marry the dead man.

But why does the duke refuse to co-operate with the investigation? Can he really be guilty, or is he covering up for someone?

©1926 The Trustees of Anthony Fleming (deceased) (P)2014 Hodder & Stoughton Classics Cosy Historical Mystery Traditional Detectives Crime Fiction Detective Exciting Murder

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Critic reviews

"She brought to the detective novel originality, intelligence, energy and wit." (P. D. James)
"D. L. Sayers is one of the best detective story writers." (E. C. Bentley, Daily Telegraph)
"I admire her novels . . . she has great fertility of invention, ingenuity and a wonderful eye for detail" (Ruth Rendell)
All stars
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However she was good at the twists and turns of a plot. Her characters are of her day. They are real and solid if you can make the step into a very different world that would now only be recognised by the likes oof Boris Johnson and Michael Gove.

god the woman is a bore when she shows off

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I like this story for its background more than its plot - it is not as satisfying a mystery as some of the others, and has quite a few coincidental red herring - but it brings Peter somewhat closer to his family and sets up future plot lines nicely. As mentioned by other reviewers, the narration is rather irritating, I agree entirely with their comments so won't repeat them. However I'd say that I got used to the style after a while so it became less grating. Though the downright errors still did annoy (eg mispronunciations which would take just a little research to have got right, and saying "first" instead of "fist", and "word" instead of "Lord"). Saying all that, I would probably have overlooked these if it weren't for the price tag of over £20.

Good story, if you can get over the slightly annoying narration

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This is the first Lord Peter Wimpsy stories which are great detective stories, brilliantly read by Jane MaDowell

Clouds of Witness

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I was a little disappointed by the performance of the reader which brought little life to the familiar characters

Disappointing characterisation

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What did you like best about Clouds of Witness? What did you like least?

The twisting plot is interesting and you learn more of the history of the main character.

Any additional comments?

Like other reviewers, I really felt that the narrator was not the best choice for this book. The range of characters are not well demonstrated by the required dialects, or indeed changes in voice.

Maybe because this was written in a different era, but I found the story a bit boring in places, although the overall outcome was interesting.

Narrator Lets it Down

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This is a well produced and delivered piece of a classic Peter Wimsey. Always charming. Old style values and setting. Not too taxing. A pleasurable listen.

What you expect from as classic

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It’s a great story and on the whole I like this narrator. But she reads the Yorkshire accents (rendered phonetically in the book) as though she’s sight reading and has never heard a Yorkshire accent. I could barely follow the thread of the story at that point - and took to shouting the correct pronunciations at the speaker. This didn’t totally ruin the fabulous story but be warned!

The narrators reading of the phonetically writtenYorkshire accents made me cringe

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A classic crime story of the golden Age, but I did not take to the reading, lovely as the voice of the reader is. There were strange changes in emphasis mid-sentence causing the flow of the narrative to be spoilt. which is a shame. Also I may be old-fashioned but I think a male reader would have been better given the hero of the tale.

Not the best reading

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I really enjoyed this, even the ludicrous northern accents!! Can't wait for the next one, "Unnatural Death".

Exceptionally good story

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Marvellous story of its time but the narrator let it down big time ... She speaks French well but that's as far as it goes.
Several barely indistinguishable voices and the worst intonation I have ever heard. I will be avoiding anything else read by her.

Of its time, but why that narrator?

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