Strong Poison (audio version)

Dorothy L. Sayers's Strong Poison (1930) is a perennial favorite. I could not possibly tell you how many times I have read her mysteries starring Lord Peter Wimsey and this one in particular. I love it for many reasons and I recount a number of them at the review linked above (and the previous review linked within that one). I have also, as frequent visitors to the blog may have noticed, been on an audio novel bing this spring. This audio novel read by the incomparable Ian Carmichael is the latest of the LPW books on CD that I've brought home and this review (like previous audio novel reviews) will focus on the audio version and not the story itself.

This was especially satisfying because my last Sayers audio novel was not read by Ian Carmichael and did not impress me much. Carmichael is quite adept at giving voice to the numerous characters which Sayers uses to tell her tale of Harriet Vane, who stands wrongly accused of the murder of her lover, and the efforts to bring the correct villain to justice. He represents both men and women with equal talent and manages to portray various classes and professions--from servants to the aristocrats and from lawyers to reformed burglars with charming ease. I spent several delightful hours listening to Carmichael tell this much loved story. Full marks for a grand performance. ★★★★★