Thus Was Adonis Murdered, the Shortest Way to Hades, etc. by Sarah Caudwell

[lightreads]

Thus Was Adonis Murdered by Sarah Caudwell

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I always feel very clever when I find something brilliant and obscure, even when all I did was take a recommendation (thanks, Kate Nepveu!). A series of British mysteries, starring a brilliant but sometimes hapless collection of young barristers and an Oxford tutor who is either remarkably clever or remarkably nosy, depending on whom you ask.



What a delight. Rollickingly funny in places, with a particularly deft touch for letter writing. That distinctively British slant of straight-faced absurdity, if you know what I mean. And it’s not until I read books so calmly nonjudgmental of bisexuality and kink as these that I’m reminded how toxic most of the mystery genre really is on the subject. Women who pursue people they want to fuck, and then fuck them to the delight of all involved, and then walk away with no shame or regret – can you imagine? And then at the end, after all the misadventure and assorted amorous shenanigans that don’t make people slutty or cheap or stupid, each of these books turns around and delivers a clever little solution. Something not just smart, but also pointed and a bit painful, so I breathed in carefully through the last couple pages of every one, as the knot of greed or madness or pain came loose.



Ah.





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Comments

[aella_irene]

I adore these books. I would like to grow up to be Julia Larwood (being Selena Jardine would, I think, be requiring too much of Fate.)

I like to think that Julia ends up with Cantrip and Ragwort. Because they fit.

[kate_nepveu]

Someone has requested that for Yuletide and I already said OMG WANT in their comments. Because, WANT.

lightreads, very glad you liked, though I admit I don't recall recommending them to you. (And on a law-related note, I initially read them when Trusts & Estates were a lot fresher in my mind, which added a layer of amusement.)

[lightreads]

It wasn't apersonal rec, it was just a generalized one off your blog.

And yes, exactly -- I read these just a few months after the bar exam, so I could laugh at the Rule In Shelley's Case joke.

[kate_nepveu]

Oh, that! Yeah, it's so neglected I forget that people might actually still have it in their RSS readers or whatever.

[lightreads]

I would read the hell out of that!

[aella_irene]

Ragwort's excellent breakfasts!

(A friend and I knocked out a Julia-seduces-Ragwort-and-Cantrip scene. I will ask if she thinks we should edit it and put it up.)

[ellen_fremedon]

I am midway through The Sirens Sang of Murder now, and these are the most wonderful crack-laced savory popcorn ever and I want them for Yuletide, and I want it to be Yuletide right now.

[lightreads]

You know, if I'd been thinking about this at all, I would have shoved them right at you. So good job picking them up, because yes! How marvelous are they? And you don't even have the extra layer of law jokes (which, btw, are pretty freaking hilarious). But the literary jokes alone are worth the price of admission. And Julia! Julia is my fav--well, no, they're all my favorite.