Home Feed
Home
Search
Search
Add Review, Blurb, Quote
Add
Activity
Activity
Profile
Profile
Strong Poison
Strong Poison | Dorothy L. Sayers
She is lovely, smart, and talentedand only Lord Peter can save her from the gallows Lord Peter Wimsey comes to the trial of Harriet Vane for a glimpse at one of the most engaging murder cases London has seen in years. Unfortunately for the detective, the crimes details are distractingly salacious, and there is little doubt that the woman will be found guilty. A slightly popular mystery novelist, she stands accused of poisoning her fianc, a literary author and well-known advocate of free love. Over the course of a few weeks, she bought strychnine, prussic acid, and arsenic, and when her lover died the police found enough poison in his veins to kill a horse. But as Lord Peter watches Harriet in the dock, he begins to doubt her guiltand to fall in love. As Harriet awaits the hangman, Lord Peter races to prove her innocence, hoping that for the 1st time in his life, love will triumph over death. Strong Poison is the 6th book in the Lord Peter Wimsey Mysteries, but you may enjoy the series by reading the books in any order. This ebook features an illustrated biography of Dorothy L. Sayers including rare images from the Marion E. Wade Center at Wheaton College.
Amazon Indiebound Barnes and Noble WorldCat Goodreads LibraryThing
Pick icon
100%
review
ImperfectCJ
Strong Poison | Dorothy L. Sayers
post image
Pickpick

I admit, the mystery in this one was a little tough for me to follow at times. This isn't a bad thing, though, as it's due to the intricacy with which Sayers writes her plots. Plus, the mystery was less important to me in this one than the relationships between the characters, especially since I read a later book in the series and know where some of them are headed. And I just love Miss Climpson!

Photo of a delicious (mild) poison.

blurb
ImperfectCJ
Strong Poison | Dorothy L. Sayers
post image

Apt photo to go with the tagged book (although I guess jellyfish would be more "strong venom" than "strong poison"). Still sneaking in a few minutes of reading each evening once the adventures are done for the day.

Purpleness Ooo, I love moon jellies! 4mo
Clare-Dragonfly Moon jellies! 😍🪼 Is that the Baltimore Aquarium? 4mo
ImperfectCJ @Clare-Dragonfly Monterey Bay Aquarium. They have a fantastic jellies exhibit. I've not been to the Baltimore Aquarium yet. 4mo
Clare-Dragonfly They have a similar round window to look at the moon jellies at the Baltimore Aquarium! How fun. My husband lived in Monterey as a kid and keeps saying we should go back with our kid. 4mo
ImperfectCJ @Clare-Dragonfly I lived there as a kid, too, when my dad was at the Naval Postgraduate School, but that was before the aquarium. I've been back a few times. This was the second trip with my elder kid and the first for my younger (they're both adult-sized now). 4mo
56 likes5 comments
blurb
ImperfectCJ
Strong Poison | Dorothy L. Sayers
post image

Back with another vacation pic from the second stop on our road trip: a soaring turkey vulture. We were hoping to see a California condor, but no such luck this time. We did get to hike along cliffs and through a cave, though, and that rocked. And I even made some progress on the tagged book!

blurb
LeahBergen
Strong Poison | Dorothy L. Sayers
post image

Look at this #FolioSociety set that I found at a secondhand bookshop! Isn‘t it pretty?

I guess I should really get back to reading the series. 😆

Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks Beautiful 😍 9mo
BiblioLitten Loveeee it!! 9mo
Tamra Gorgeous! 9mo
See All 25 Comments
KadaGul @LeahBergen Adorable 💯 9mo
IndoorDame Stunning!!! 9mo
AmyG Wow…that‘s beautiful.😍 9mo
monkeygirlsmama Pretty 9mo
merelybookish Wow! Beautiful! 9mo
LeslieO What a find! 9mo
jlhammar Wow, just gorgeous!! 9mo
dabbe 🤩🤩🤩 9mo
AlaMich Those are amazing! 9mo
Ruthiella Oh my! Stunning 🤩! 9mo
ImperfectCJ Love!! 9mo
BarbaraBB Wow, what a catch 😍😍 9mo
youneverarrived So pretty! 9mo
Hooked_on_books It‘s gorgeous! 😍 9mo
batsy Oh my goodness, what a find! Lucky you ❤️ 9mo
MaureenMc 🤩🤩🤩 9mo
iread2much Lovely! 9mo
Aimeesue So pretty! Brilliant find! 9mo
CarolynM Great find! 9mo
Cathythoughts That‘s fabulous ♥️ 9mo
kspenmoll It‘s gorgeous! 8mo
MemoirsForMe Gotta love those secondhand stores! 😍 8mo
95 likes25 comments
review
Smarkies
Strong Poison | Dorothy L. Sayers
post image
Pickpick

The mystery was a little weak but I love Lord Peter Wimsey and the cast of characters... so it's still a Pick!
#roll100 #1930 #192025

review
BarbaraJean
Strong Poison | Dorothy L. Sayers
post image
Pickpick

I love a good Lord Peter Wimsey mystery, and this one is glorious. The dialogue is witty and hilarious, and Lord Peter has a delightful combination of flippancy and earnestness that‘s incredibly endearing. I also fell in love with Miss Climpson & her full retinue of “spinsters” who do most of the actual investigating this time around. This series just improves with each book. Looking forward to the next! #SeriesLove2023

TheSpineView Fantastic! 1y
Andrew65 Excellent 👏👏👏 1y
49 likes1 stack add2 comments
quote
BarbaraJean
Strong Poison | Dorothy L. Sayers
post image

“For the last five years or so,” said Wimsey, “you have been looking like a demented sheep at my sister, and starting like a rabbit whenever her name is mentioned. What do you mean by it? It is not ornamental. It is not exhilarating. You unnerve the poor girl.”

😂😂😂

review
merelybookish
Strong Poison | Dorothy L. Sayers
post image
Pickpick

My first Peter Whimsey mystery. I quite enjoyed it! #192025 @Librarybelle

Librarybelle I‘ve not read this one yet! 1y
batsy This is a good one! 1y
Billypar I read Whose Body at the end of last year, also as an audio book, and the Lord Peter Wismey performance made me laugh - something about the high pitched voice racing through the lines in that bygone British aristocrat accent 🙂 1y
See All 6 Comments
merelybookish @batsy Yes! Loved Miss Climpson and the "cattery". ? 1y
merelybookish @Billypar Yes, he's delightful! Silly but also aware of his silliness. 1y
55 likes6 comments
blurb
CogsOfEncouragement
Strong Poison | Dorothy L. Sayers
post image

Day 17 of #scarathlondailyprompts is poison.
I don‘t remember how I heard about this series written in the 1920s and 30s, (maybe from a Modern Mrs. Darcy blog) but I finally did in 2017. I read all of the books that have Peter‘s love interest, Harriet Vane. She is amazing, the two are quite a pair, and I LOVE these minimalist covers. #TeamSlaughter #scarathlon

review
Tonton
Strong Poison | Dorothy L. Sayers
post image
Pickpick

Re-read this yesterday to change pace from thrillers. Civilized and articulate in love and detection🌟❣️perfect with tea and shortbread biscuits.

CogsOfEncouragement Great series. 2y
Cathythoughts Gorgeous pic 💫 2y
24 likes2 comments
review
katasaurus
Strong Poison | Dorothy L. Sayers
post image
Pickpick

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ An all-time favorite (and the audiobook was perfect for a crochet project). Here we have the remarkable character of Harriet Vane, and of course the inimitable Lord Peter. But every character, even the minor ones, is so vivid. I felt like I stepped right into Lord Peter‘s world. As a side note, I‘ve never read a book about a gentleman detective where the ladies did so much of the sleuthing. Miss Climpson is a boss!

shanaqui Miss Climpson is absolutely the best. I'm sad she's in relatively few of the books! 2y
katasaurus @shanaqui I love her so much! she 100% stole the show on this one. 2y
2 comments
review
Brimful
Strong Poison | Dorothy L. Sayers
post image
Pickpick

I read this in preparation for reading gaudy night as it is the first of the Harriet Vane series. The plot is obvious and you hear little from Harriet herself other than she is an oddball. But what you get is an insight into womens experiences in post ww1 England. You can tell this is a frustrated clever woman writing about the limits on womens lives with bitter insight. I loved The Cattery. It was just a shame it was set up and funded by a man

quote
Brimful
Strong Poison | Dorothy L. Sayers
post image

The male detective,particularly when dressed as a workman, an errand-boy, or a telegraph-messenger, is favourably placed for ‘shadowing‘. He can loaf without attracting attention. The female detective must not loaf On the other hand she can stare into shop windows for ever.

review
Minervasbutler
Strong Poison | Dorothy L. Sayers
post image
Pickpick

Lord Peter Wimsey #6 and introducing crime novelist and murder suspect Harriet Vane. The pleasure lies less in working out whodunnit, which is fairly clear, than in the interplay between the characters. Great fun.

CaramelLunacy I love the Wimseys with Harriet 3y
61 likes1 comment
review
dodgygothbint
Strong Poison | Dorothy L. Sayers
post image
Mehso-so

Another fun mystery for Lord Peter Wimsey, but not my favourite. I was quite eager to read this as I've not previously read any of the books featuring Harriet Vane. However, I was a little disappointed that I didn't really get any sense of her character from this book, and that made it all the more unbelievable that Wimsey was so smitten, especially as he declared his undying love despite never having spoken to her before! ⭐⭐⭐

review
PickwickPlockPlock
Strong Poison | Dorothy L. Sayers
post image
Pickpick

Wimsey is really growing on me, even with his iffy insta-love. I'll have to read the next books with Harriet Vane. But Miss Climpson stole the show!

jillrhudy My favorite detective of all time. 5y
43 likes1 comment
review
AMVP
Strong Poison | Dorothy L. Sayers
post image
Pickpick

Another engaging adventure of Wimsey. Vane's perspective is unfortunately not made central as it would be in later works, but the cast on hand are quite winning all the same.

blurb
AMVP
Strong Poison | Dorothy L. Sayers
post image

Started this book to carry me into hour 3 of #24in48 . Not sure if I'll be able to hit a pace where I could meet the goal, especially since I've got to work tomorrow, but I'll stick with it as long as I can.

11 likes1 stack add
blurb
shanaqui
Strong Poison | Dorothy L. Sayers

"If anyone ever marries you, it will be for the pleasure of hearing you talk piffle." Or that's pretty close to the right quote.

Just wanted to share that me and my wife piffle at each other endlessly, and call it that due to this book, because Harriet is quite right about the pleasures of piffle.

One piece of our piffle is that daffodils are only yellow because rabbits secretly paint them.

I wish you all good piffle with the ones you love.

blurb
Lizpixie
Strong Poison | Dorothy L. Sayers
post image

#BookMail Pt5 I‘m slowly collecting the whole Lord Peter Whimsy collection by Dorothy.L.Sayers in these gorgeous paperback editions. Each volume is a different colour with an Art Deco border & an drawing that pertains to the story. I love them! The colour are very pastel or ice cream-like colours, The spines in a row will look amazing on my shelf. Plus, the stories are very much like Dame Agatha except Sayers Detective is a more real character.

bookandbedandtea I love Peter Wimsey, I adore Harriet Vane, and now I'm totally infatuated with these covers! I have the whole series but in a bunch of different editions that don't have anything in common but that they're old. I may have to get these. 6y
Lizpixie @bookandbedandtea they are gorgeous. I‘m trying to add them one or two at a time before they‘re sold out or discontinued. They only come in paperback though, it‘s the type that feels rough.👍 6y
55 likes1 stack add2 comments
review
thea-block
Strong Poison | Dorothy L. Sayers
post image
Pickpick

An interesting introduction to Harriet Vane in this installment of the Lord Peter Wimsey series. You really only see her from the moment of Peter‘s infatuation and don‘t get to know much about the woman herself. Having ready Gaudy Night and Busman‘s Holiday, I have heard her inner voice, but I‘m looking forward to future books to see her relationship with Peter developed.

Miss Climpson‘s role bumped this from 3.5 to 4 stars 🙂

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

review
erzascarletbookgasm
Strong Poison | Dorothy L. Sayers
post image
Pickpick


This book is apparently inspired by Sayers‘ relationship with John Cournos, a fellow-writer who believed in ‘free love‘ and wanted her to ignore social expectations and live with him without marriage. Their relationship did not work out.

☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️

An enjoyable instalment of whodunnit with some memorable characters, witty antics of Lord Peter and a bit of satire. Fun, quick read!

Gezemice Sounds like fun. I was thinking that I need a good, quick mystery! 6y
erzascarletbookgasm @Gezemice It is! Great golden age detective fiction. In the veins of AChristie and Wodehouse. Hope you‘ll enjoy. 6y
batsy I love Sayers 💜 6y
See All 6 Comments
Sarah83 Still need to read this series. 😊 6y
JazzFeathers I've been meaning to read this author. She was a friend of Agatha Christie's, wasn't she? 6y
erzascarletbookgasm @JazzFeathers Oh, I don‘t know about that..🤷‍♀️🤔 6y
67 likes3 stack adds6 comments
blurb
Leniverse
Strong Poison | Dorothy L. Sayers
post image

I have completely missed the list of prompts for #SeptemberDanes but how can I not jump in to show you that there is more than one queen of murder by #poison 😁 In addition to the tagged book, Dorothy L. Sayers has Lord Peter deal with “The Unpleasantness at the Belladonna Club”, and Harriet Vane is up against a “poison pen” in my most beloved “Gaudy Night”. ☠️ ❤️

Kalalalatja Nice to know Dame Agatha isn‘t the only Queen of Poison out there! 👏👏 6y
Cinfhen Thanks for sharing 🧡☠️🖤 6y
jillrhudy Actually love her MORE than Agatha—but she wrote a lot less. 6y
See All 8 Comments
Leniverse @jillrhudy Yes. I love them both, but everybody knows Agatha Christie. Sayers deserves more fame. 6y
Moray_Reads And Margery Allingham! She's my current favourite 6y
Leniverse @Moray_Reads I haven't heard of her! Same era? 6y
Leniverse @Moray_Reads Just looked her up on Goodreads. Added to TBR! 6y
Moray_Reads @Leniverse she's great. Albert starts off as a pretty obvious Lord Peter pastiche but he really comes into his own in later stories 6y
51 likes8 comments
review
shanaqui
Strong Poison | Dorothy L. Sayers
post image
Pickpick

I will never not adore these books, I think. I've probably told the story about how the audiobooks saved me -- in brief, I had my gallbladder out, but waking up from anaesthetic I had a panic attack and even with an oxygen mask, they couldn't get me oxygenated. Then my mum forced her way in with my teddy and put on one of the Ian Carmichael audiobooks. Slowly, I started to breathe. She left her ipad playing as she was kicked out of the ward.

shanaqui Pictured: Helen Hippo, the same teddy, six years later. She's been with me since I was two days old. She's had new fur sewn protectively over her body, her ears have been replaced, her remaining eye has been repainted half a dozen times in the last couple of years, and I cannot be without her long. She shares my taste in books, of course. 📚 7y
7 likes1 comment
blurb
shanaqui
Strong Poison | Dorothy L. Sayers
post image

A favourite, of course, and since I wasn't settling to anything else, I decided to spend some time with Lord Peter. Kinda wish my wife was awake so I could quote the bits that didn't make it into the BBC radioplays -- though by and large they're very faithful.

Bunny update! Here's Breakfast flopping on his favourite bookshelf. He's on another round of meds, but he's eating and binkying and cuddling as normal, so not too worried. #BunniesofLitsy

shanaqui Breakfast loves Ian Carmichael's voice when I listen to the radioplays. I had one on and he was just snuggling my leg and grinding his teeth the whole time. (Bunnies grind their teeth to show happiness, I hasten to add.) 7y
Karkar Glad to hear Breakfast is feeling better 🐰❤️ 7y
Bklover Breakfast is adorable!❤️ 7y
13 likes1 stack add3 comments
review
CogsOfEncouragement
Strong Poison | Dorothy L. Sayers
post image
Pickpick

My third, though out of order, in the series. I‘m going to dive right in to the next book which has Harriet Vane at the center.

25 likes1 stack add
quote
CogsOfEncouragement
Strong Poison | Dorothy L. Sayers
post image

#firstlines
New year, new read.

blurb
brandymuses
Strong Poison | Dorothy L. Sayers
post image

I love these covers and I want the whole series like this. All 15 of them. (I think it‘s 15.) 💸 #emojinov

brandymuses @writerlibrarian I have some of those but not a complete set. I need a complete set. 7y
9 likes1 stack add2 comments
blurb
writerlibrarian
Strong Poison | Dorothy L. Sayers
post image

1930s. Golden age of the mysteries. With masters of the genre. Dorothy Sayers, amazing. Agatha Christie, eternal. Ngaio Marsh, fantastic. Georgette Heyer, not where you thought you would find her. Dashiell Hammett, forbearer. Georges Simenon, infatigable. #uncannyOctober. On an interesting final note, Murder at the Vicarage, was first published in October 1930.

review
UnabridgedTomes
Strong Poison | Dorothy L. Sayers
post image
Pickpick

Harriet Vane and Lord Peter Wimsey, take me away...

blurb
AMVP
Strong Poison | Dorothy L. Sayers
post image

#anditsaugust #day1 - #mostanticipated

Nice to be back into the groove of a reading challenge again. July was a bonkers month for #manga , so this month I'll be looking to catch up on some literature.

review
Pasaal
Strong Poison | Dorothy L. Sayers
Pickpick

Listened to this and really enjoyed the reader, Ian Carmichael, who played Wimsey on the BBC series from years ago. This is the story where Wimsey meets Harriet Vane for the first time, while defending her from a murder charge. Old fashioned in the best way, at least for an Anglophile like me!

blurb
HardcoverHearts
Strong Poison | Dorothy L. Sayers
post image

Continuing with my course work for my Oxford week in the summer, it's time to dive into this as I start the Sayers series. The class is called Oxford Murder and it's a lit class with all sorts of mystery books set in the hallowed halls of Oxford. I chose it as a fun introduction to the programs offered at Oxford. I'll be living on campus with one of my oldest friends in a shared suite. I can not wait. But first I have to get through the syllabus!

Betty So exciting! 8y
LiteraryinPA Have a great time! 8y
28 likes2 stack adds2 comments
review
CaseyTheCanadianLesbrarian
Strong Poison | Dorothy L. Sayers
post image
Pickpick

A fabulous audiobook production of a fabulous book. I've enjoyed all the Peter Wimsey books up until this one, but the parts that wonderfully drawn side characters played in this one (Ms Climpson, Ms Merchison & Harriet Vane) make this a fav. A superb mystery, with excellent characterization and wit. I really appreciate how large a role women play in the sleuthing too. I can't wait to see what Sayers does with Harriet Vane's character. #Audiobooks

29 likes1 stack add
blurb
Brona
Strong Poison | Dorothy L. Sayers
post image
blurb
Thekelburrows
Strong Poison | Dorothy L. Sayers
post image

My on-going love affair with Lord Wimsey continues.

Desha Me too!!! BIG Dorothy Sayers fan lol 😜😍📚 8y
quirkyreader I love how this cover tried 8y
quirkyreader tries to make Lord Peter look like Mike Hammer and Sam Spade. 8y
See All 7 Comments
Thekelburrows @Desha I love them all. @quirkyreader Agreed it is a hilariously strange cover. 8y
Verity That cover is nuts. Kinda brilliant in its total not rightness though. I'm listening to Strong Poison on audio for the umpteenth time again at the moment. 8y
Pete I like how she's suspect but this dude is Cosby-ing her drink #doublestandard 8y
Thekelburrows @Pete you are a treasure, sir. 8y
37 likes2 stack adds7 comments
review
StaceGhost
Strong Poison | Dorothy L. Sayers
post image
Pickpick

Nothing like an excellent mystery and a warm fire-- especially in the fall! And Dorothy Sayers truly crafts a compelling mystery. I love when a mystery writer provides all the necessary clues and the case is still baffling!

blurb
ColleenLindsay
Strong Poison | Dorothy L. Sayers
post image

For reasons that baffle me, Amazon and Google Play appear to be having a price war over this very fine, very dead British mystery writer. Currently the ebook is on sale for SIX CENTS. Yes, you heard that right. Six. Cents.

melbeautyandbooks A steal! 8y
BethFishReads 💗💗💗💗💗💗💗My Lord Peter 8y
ReadingsByTheC Just scooped it up. Thanks for the tip! 8y
See All 9 Comments
Theresa Six cents?!?! Couldn't pass that up. Bought! 🤑 8y
mickeysirena Thanks for this! Going to buy it now. 8y
angrylilasian Can't pass that up! Got it! 8y
Viyan Awesome tip! Have had Dorothy Sayers on my TBR list for a while, thanks! 8y
EloisaJames Absolutely brilliant book!!! 8y
EloisaJames I think Open Road specializes in pubbing books out of print.. 8y
55 likes4 stack adds9 comments
blurb
Verity
Strong Poison | Dorothy L. Sayers
post image

Does Lord Peter Wimsey count as a #classiccharacter for #octbookchallenge ? If he does, then him! I listen to the audiobooks of his mysteries over and over.

Strong Poison is the first Peter and Harriet and it's devilishly clever and very very readable.

ColleenLindsay It's also on sale for six cents right now at Amazon and Google Play. 8y
Verity @ColleenLindsay that's a total bargain! 8y
16 likes2 comments
blurb
GinaAnderson
Strong Poison | Dorothy L. Sayers
post image

Making time for Lord Peter Wimsey.

Desha I love Wimsy and Dorothy Sayers in general...did you know there's a Dorothy Sayers group with a Facebook page? 8y
GinaAnderson @Desha I didn't know that! Thanks. 8y
SusanInTiburon The love affair begins ... ❤️🔍❤️ 8y
GinaAnderson @SusanInTiburon Exactly. I actually started Gaudy Night last night and decided before I got too far in that I was going to need the Peter Wimsey/Harriet Vane story from the beginning so I backed up and bought this one. 8y
46 likes1 stack add4 comments
review
Verity
Strong Poison | Dorothy L. Sayers
post image
Pickpick

Today's audiobook. For the umpteenth time. Ian Carmichael is *perfection* as Lord Peter. I have all four Peter and Harriet books on audio - this and Busman's Honeymoon unabridged and Have His Carcase and Gaudy Night as radio dramas. And I listen to them in order often (though not always).

review
UnabridgedTomes
Strong Poison | Dorothy L. Sayers
post image
Pickpick

Harriet Vane and Lord Peter Wimsey, the wise-cracking, mystery-solving, transatlantic Nick and Nora Charles get their start here, when Harriet finds herself on trial for murder. Both protagonists are well drawn characters; the story crackles along. You'll want to read the whole series in a weekend.

2 likes1 stack add
review
Ms.Story
Strong Poison | Dorothy L. Sayers
Pickpick

This is the third Sayers' detective novel I've read in a row. This one was a bit slower than the previous two but still an entertaining read! I will read more of this series. ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Verity The Peter and Harriet's are my favourites. I love the solution to Strong poison and Miss Climpson's antics in the lakes. But Busman's Honeymoon is my favourite of them. Although all four are brilliant. 8y
38 likes5 stack adds1 comment
blurb
Ms.Story
Strong Poison | Dorothy L. Sayers
post image

Loving this detective series!

20 likes2 stack adds