The Five Red Herrings

Book excerpt: “Beyond question one of the most skillful mystery writers . . . offers a first rate piece of work. . . . Lord Peter Wimsey [is] at his amusing best. . . . The book is a treat” (The New York Times). The majestic landscape of the Scottish coast has attracted artists and fishermen for centuries. In the idyllic village of Kirkcudbright, every resident and visitor has 2 things in common: They either fish or paint (or do both), and they all hate Sandy Campbell. Though a fair painter, he is a rotten human being, and cannot enter a pub without raising the blood pressure of everybody there. No one weeps when he dies. Campbell’s body is found at the bottom of a steep hill, and his easel stands at the top, suggesting that he took a tumble while painting. But something about the death doesn’t sit right with gentleman sleuth Lord Peter Wimsey. No one in Kirkcudbright liked Campbell, and 6 hated him enough to become suspects; 5 are innocent, and the other is the perpetrator of the most ingenious murder Lord Peter has ever encountered. The Five Red Herrings is the 7th 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.