I have only had half a team at work this week so have been really, really busy with not a lot of time to read.

However, to maintain some level of sanity, I spent my evenings with Peter Wimsey and Montague Egg in Hangman’s Holiday, one of the short story collections that I had not read, yet.

This was the perfect remedy to my work stress. This was the perfect read for this week. This was also the perfect book to follow the fabulous The Sunne in Splendour, the book that kept me busy for much of June.

I really loved the short stories in Hangman’s Holiday. More so than even in Lord Peter Views the Body, the stories in this one very much reminded me of the short stories of Arthur Conan Doyle, and I do not refer to the Holmes stories here necessarily —

There was a dark side to many of the stories, and I loved that.

Overall, I prefer the Wimsey stories to the Egg stories, simply because Egg always ending up in situations where he is involved in an investigation is even more unlikely that Wimsey being asked to intervene.

The book also contained two standalone stories not featuring either Wimsey or Egg.

The Image in the Mirror – 4* (Wimsey) – More of a thriller, and there was something ABC Murders about this one.

The Incredible Elopement of Lord Peter Wimsey – 4.5* – Wow, this was dark. Quite gothic, in fact, and much reminded me of ACD.

The Queen’s Square – 3.5* (Wimsey) – This reminded me of an Agatha short story.

The Necklace of Pearls – 3.5* (Wimsey) – Just a plain, straight-forward puzzle.

The Poisoned Dow ’08 – 3* (Egg) – Interesting concept but the story fizzled out for me.

Sleuths on the Scent – 2* (Egg) – I forgot the story of this one almost instantly.

Murder in the Morning – 3.5* (Egg) – I wonder if this one served as the original idea for Have His Carcase.

One too Many – 2* (Egg) – I forgot the story of this one almost instantly.

Murder at Pentecost – 3* (Egg) – An Oxford mystery.

Maher-shalal-hashbaz – 4* (Egg) – Dark and involving cats.

The Man Who Knew How – 4.5* (standalone) – Really liked this as it was much more of a thriller and would have been at home in a Highsmith collection.

The Fountain Plays – 4* (standalone) – Darkly comic and showing off Sayers wicked sense of humor.