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This is for discussion of "Busman's Holiday," and you can feel free to post spoilers here. The general rule is that anyone posting here can assume that others have finished the book.

I absolutely love the opening and all the machinations about diddling the press.

Also the care about keeping the port secure in the car, only to have Mrs. Ruddle carefully dust all the bottles.

There's more humor in this book than I remember in any of the previous books except Murder must Advertise, which had delightful humor in the advertising activities.

Yes, poor Bunter and his beloved port! Also, the utter horror when the locals heard the price of the bottles - I can only imagine how they viewed that.

I've read somewhere that the bit where Bunter suddenly drops into a Cockney (?) accent to shout at Mrs Ruddles got a big laugh on stage!

I think his 'true' speaking voice is heard clearly in the letter he writes to his mother at the beginning of the novel :)

I agree with the humor. Including when they used a shot gun to clear the chimney, and Miss T freaked out! And that ended up providing a bit of a clue for the ending, as well.

Pghfan wrote: "I agree with the humor. Including when they used a shot gun to clear the chimney, and Miss T freaked out! And that ended up providing a bit of a clue for the ending, as well."

Yes, his miserliness in never cleaning his chimneys helped discover his murderer. Just think, if he had been a good householder, his murder might never have been solved!

I used to have coal fire as a child and I do recall the chimney sweep as always being cheerful and very much like the one in "Busman's Honeymoon." Not sure about shotguns as a way of clearing them though!

I finished today and enjoyed it very much. While it was a reread, it was a long time ago and I remembered very little. I've reread the other Harriet entries frequently but not this one. The village characters and the sherry catastrophe were hilarious. So glad Bunter didn't slit his, or Mrs. Ruddle's wrists. My only complaints were the French (which I just skipped) and the continuation from Gaudy Night of the "meaning" of marriage. Loved the murder method: death by cactus.

After I finished I listened to a two hour radio play version that I found thru my library's Overdrive. Lots of fun; seemed they hit all the high points and the plot held together.

Good to hear you enjoyed it, Sandy. I know what you mean about the 'meaning of marriage,' bits though. It got a little wearing at times, but generally I really enjoyed it too.

I think the "meaning of marriage" actually comes across more from the couple's behaviour and the way they cope with their dreadful honeymoon than from the bits where it's all spelled out in so many words.

Sandy, thanks for mentioning the radio play - I've watched all the TV versions while reading the books, and have enjoyed listening to radio plays for the earlier ones where there wasn't a TV version, but I hadn't realised there was one for Busman's Honeymoon! Will look forward to listening to it.

Wondering what people thought of the ending sequence where Peter is ill with his nerves again, as a result of the knowledge that he has sent someone to the gallows?

I found this a moving passage - I think it's really well written and it brings home the fact that, although he has rebuilt his life so well, the memory of war and the remnants of the 'shell shock' are always there in the background.

It also refers right back to the first book, Whose Body?, and the war-time comradeship of Peter and Bunter, which is a nice touch in the last novel.

Having started "Striding Folly," there is a potted biography of Sayers. I know you read her biography, Judy, but it mentions she cared for her husband who struggled with nerves after WWI, so she was obviously writing from experience.

In the later books we see more of Peter's discomfiture with the results of his cases, when people are executed for their crimes. For the various mystery series' I have read, this is not at all a common thing. Neither Poirot nor Miss M are bothered; often quite the contrary. Nor Alleyn, nor Miss Silver.

I agree, Pghfan. However, I do recall Poirot being discomfited at the beginning of Orient Express (if I am remembering correctly?) when his involvement in a crime before he boards the train leads to the death of a suspect and that then affects the outcome of what happens later in the book. So, I think certainly Christie touched on that aspect, although not as overtly as Sayers. I can't recall Miss Marple being bothered, although I haven't read them for a while, so I will see when we read them next year.

Susan,

I think I know what you are referring to--the case that brought Poirot to Baghdad in the first place was an army scandal he successfully solved.

Yes, that's right and so that does 'soften,' his judgement somewhat. Poirot was a real softie/romantic anyway at times.

Susan wrote: "Yes, that's right and so that does 'soften,' his judgement somewhat. Poirot was a real softie/romantic anyway at times."

Poirot was quite the matchmaker, wasn't he?

He certainly was :) I just adore everything about Poirot. I understand why some readers don't like him, but if I could meet one fictional detective, it would be him.

I'd love to meet Miss Marple. I'd be interested in learning who my village parallel was!

I just started re-reading the first Miss Marple and I forgot how good she is!

Susan wrote: "Having started "Striding Folly," there is a potted biography of Sayers. I know you read her biography, Judy, but it mentions she cared for her husband who struggled with nerves after WWI, so she wa..."

There was quite a bit about her husband's health being affected by his war service in the biography I read - Dorothy L. Sayers: Her Life and Soul by Barbara Reynolds. I'm not sure where I've put the book just at the moment though and don't remember the details.

I think he had physical illnesses as a result but I'm sure there must have been nerves too and that you are right about her writing from experience here and also in The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club.

Susan wrote: "I just started re-reading the first Miss Marple and I forgot how good she is!"

I've started reading this too - first time for me and I'm loving it so far!

Good to hear, Judy! Always nice to read a book/series for the first time :)