I like Strong Poison a whole lot – Peter meets Harriet for the first time, and behaves like a bit of an idiot, which is both realistic and appreciated. Lots of terrible things about society in those days are displayed ostensibly without judgement, but with lots of judgement just by the looks Mrs Sayers throws at said society. It’s delightful.
It’s also a book that shows very strongly where Lois McMaster Bujold got some of her inspiration for Miles Vorkosigan. As always, the plot is middling, the writing is good, but the characters are vibrant and the dialogue is hilarious – and since Mrs Sayers seems to have been aware of her strengths, all is well. (I remembered the whodunnit solution from my first read, but I don’t think it would’ve been hard to figure out regardless.)
