Dorothy and Agatha

by Gaylord Larsen

Dorothy Sayers has an unexpected problem on her hands—a dead man in her dining room, one who has cheekily written her a farewell love note before shooting himself. And when police label this carefully staged “suicide” murder, Dorothy is the prime suspect. Now she must ask for a little help from her friends. Namely, her Detective Club colleagues—A. A. Milne, E. C. Bentley, Anthony Berkeley, and, of course, Agatha Christie, whose reaction to all this damning evidence against Dorothy is “stuff and nonsense”. […] And soon the two doyennes of mystery are hot on the trail of the real killer—as, moment by moment, Dorothy Sayers’ reputation and her life slip closer to disaster…

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Historical Mystery, Murder Mystery

300 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published December 30, 1990

Reviews

[Kate · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Dorothy Sayers has an unexpected problem on her hands -- a dead man in her dining room, one who has cheekily written her a farewell love note before shooting himself. And when police label this carefully staged 'suicide' murder, Dorothy is the prime suspect. Now she must ask for a little help from her friends. Namely, her Detective Club colleagues -- A.A. Milne, E.C. Bentley, Anthony Berkeley, and, of course, Agatha Christie, whose reaction to all this damning evidence against Dorothy is 'stuff and nonsense.'

"Gaylord Larson has created characters based upon these great mystery writers, for, after all, who could be better at solving a village murder than the creator of Miss Marple? And soon the two doyennes of mystery are not on the trail of the real killer -- as, moment by moment, Dorothy Sayers' reputation and her life slip closer to disaster ..."
~~back cover

This was a lovely exercise in "what might have been", and certainly brings the two ladies to life. The plot is beautifully done, leading clue by clue to the inevitable end. And the best part? I solved the identity of the murderer! Clue: watch the book titles.

[Nancy Jo · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am a huge fan of Doeothy Sayers and Agatha Christie, And found this little
little mystery delightful reading. My imagination ran wild when the ladies were running
All over the country side. Delightful read.

[Scotteri · Rating 2 out of 5]

Really terrible, but still entertaining for all the howling errors about both character and society. If you're into Golden Age detective writers, there's a lot to enjoy here.

[Cindy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dorothy Sayers comes home from a meeting to find a dead man in her house. When a letter supposedly from the dead man to his "Dorothy darling" is discovered in his pocket, she become the chief suspect. But this is not a good time for a corpse. She's right in the middle of writing a religious play and fears the publicity would kill any career she might hope to have in serious religous writing.

So when the Detective Club next meets, her friends all decide to help the police by discovering the identity of the dead man, so the police can find who really killed the man and leave their friend alone. But it doesn't work like that. The evidence all points to a possible connection between the dead man and the writer that even her friends can't deny.

The other writers all give up after Dorothy finds out what they're up to. Only Agatha Christie hangs on, and before long, the two women are in a desperate race to save the lives of the next victims. But as the deaths mount up and the police ask more questions, the two greatest mystery writers of the age are almost outwitted by a determined killer.

I enjoyed this book. I didn't really know much about the life of Dorothy Sayers and I enjoyed finding out more about who she really was. I love Agatha Christie and I liked reading about her. Another thing I loved was reading about their fellow members of the Detection Club. It made me want to read more of their books.

My main complaint is that the identity of the murderer become obvious too early. I couldn't believe that either of the women took that long to figure it out. And the police aren't really that dumb either. It wasn't that believable. But it was fun. If you're a fan of either writer, you will probably enjoy the book, but it's certainly no substitute for the real thing.

[Gwyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

If Goodreads allowed half stars, I would rate Dorothy and Agatha 3.5. I won't go over the plot, since many other reviewers have already done so, but I feel that the construction of the mystery more closely matches something written by Christie than something written by Sayers, although it is certainly in the tradition of both. Since I like Sayers more, this was a bit of a disappointment, but it is still an enjoyable book. Although lacking in any real depth or strength of plot or prose, the pacing is pleasantly brisk and the mystery itself is interesting if (typically) contrived. A fan of the genre would probably be best skipping this book, since there are many better British cozies they could reading, but fans of Sayers or Christie should consider picking this up.

[Kay Bowen · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book contains some entertaining parts and nicely fits the period, but I didn't like the depiction of Sayers, who comes off as not very bright and really irritable. Her _New York Times_ obituary says, "The author was described as a cheerful, friendly person who was at ease with all sorts of people. In her middle years she liked to drive a motorcycle." You'd never know it from this story. Christie gets a more favorable portrait.

[Michelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

I loved the premise - two mystery queens teaming up to solve a mystery. It was just not as much fun as I expected.

[Persis · Rating 2 out of 5]

The premise is interesting but it was a little too contrived. I will stick to the mysteries written by Sayers and Christie.

[Retroredux · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was cute enough. For novelty value alone I would give it three and a half stars though the mystery was pretty obvious.

[Celeste · Rating 4 out of 5]

My mother-in-law and I read this out loud together over the last 8 months when we visited. We laughed and laughed and had a great time.

[John M. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Written in the style of a 1930s #british mystery, it was an OK story but nothing that really grabbed me.

[Beth E · Rating 2 out of 5]

This mystery is dull, and it feels like the author of this book dislikes the authors that he was writing about. He certainly did not try to flatter them.

[Carolyn Yocic · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like a good cozy!

[Dennis Fischman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read this book if you are a fan of Agatha Christie or Dorothy Sayers, but be forewarned: the style and the sympathies are with Agatha, although the personality sketch of Dorothy is more detailed, if less kind.

The mystery itself is intriguing enough, especially if you are interested in that period between the wars in Britain (as so many people seem to be, from readers of Helen Simonson, Charles Todd and Jacqueline Winspear to viewers of Downton Abbey). I do understand why some "puzzle-solvers" (as the author might say) found it too easy to figure out whodunit, but I was too caught up in the interaction between the title characters to do that.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

See my review here:
https://sarahoverbooked.wordpress.com...

[Surreysmum · Rating 2 out of 5]

[These notes were made in 1992:]. This is a detective novel which has as its protagonists Agatha Christie & Dorothy L. Sayers. The writing is clever but not overly stylish or heartfelt. Nor is there a really striking amount of psychological insight into either of the characters, though Larsen has clearly read the standard biographies, and imagined how the two would react to each other. Dorothy therefore starts out despising Agatha as a lightweight and ends up respecting her powers of logic. The plot revolves around an incident in the war in which Dorothy's unsatisfactory husband was involved (the incident is fictional, surely), and he becomes the suspect in the deaths of a number of other men involved in that incident. Working together, Dorothy & Agatha track down the real culprit. As literary nutrition, this is a "lite bite", but it was tasty enough.

[Deena · Rating 3 out of 5]

Review from original reading:
This was an interesting little book - a murder takes place in Dorothy Sayers' house, and Agatha Christie helps solve it. Very interesting portrayls of the two women as well as their contemporaries. Good plot with some nice twists, good unlikely villain, written in the most traditional who-dunnit style. I don't know that I would read any of Larsen's other works, since this may be a departural style as well as a series one, but given my fondness for the work of both Sayers and Christie, this was a good read.

[David F. · Rating 3 out of 5]

A solid, entertaining mystery. Not a great or classic mystery but an enjoyable read. The special aspect of this book is the fact that the author has used as his detective characters two of the best known mystery authors of mystery fiction's so-called "Golden Age" -- Dorothy Sayers and Agatha Christie -- aided by some of their fellow members of the Detection Club. The result is not as good as some of the best of this sub-genre of mystery stories but it will be interesting for fans of the Golden Age mystery.

[Libraryassistant · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is funny. I came here to review this book and found I had read it before! The setting of the first murder did seem familiar, but I thought maybe my husband had told me that opening when he read it. I didn’t remember anything else about it.
I found I really enjoyed Agatha as a character, though she was portrayed as very much like Miss Marple. The author obviously has respect for her intellect. Dorothy was a bit pricklier. And glimpses of the other Detection club members is a lot of fun.

[Rona · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dorothy Sayers and Agatha Christie are the characters who solve a multiple murder. The trail leads back to death and betrayal during WW1. Lots of biographical details that will keep you fact-checking. Some are not right, but many are.

It reads like a Christie plot. The characters are not all that well developed. But, it is a fast-reading folly for a winter weekend.

[Lynn Pribus · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lightweight and entertaining. Basically a "cozy" which, like the Maisie Dobbs series, takes place in the aftermath of the Great War.

Starring Agatha Christie and Dorothy Sayers who solve the murder of an uknown man in Dorothy's library. Or WAS he unknown?

[Connie Mollo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Two great mystery writers join forces to solve the murder of the man in Dorthy Sayer’s home. Starts off with a bang and doesn’t slow down to the end. Chose this book because of subject matter. It was a good cozy mystery.

[Cyril · Rating 5 out of 5]

very amusing - great fun!

[Renee · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fun "what if" novel about Dorothy Sayers and Agatha Christie and other members of the Detection Club solving a real murder when a body is found in Sayers' home.

[Planchette]

Ages ago, I read the first three chapter or so - loved it - - and then lost it.

I must pick it up again, and read it soon.

[Michael O'Leary · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a great British Mystery written by a very clever American, Gaylord Larsen,utilizing mystery writers Dorothy Sayers, and Agatha Christie as the main characters.

[Terri · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was so much fun! A mystery starring to of my favorite mystery writers! I thought the relational dynamics fun and fanciful.

[Cindy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting. I liked the idea of the two writers working together to solve the crime. I haven't read much by Dorothy Sayer but will put it on my list.

[Nate · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not really memorable, but a decent mystery

[Jack Heath]

Synopsis: mystery rivals, Dorothy Sayers and Agatha Christie, are brought back to life to solve a series of clever murders in the late 1930s.