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Shortest Way To Hades [Paperback]

Sarah Caudwell (Author)

4.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (10 customer reviews) |

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Product Details

Paperback
Publisher: PENGUIN BOOKS (1985)
ASIN: B000SENRSK

Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (10 customer reviews)

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Customer Reviews

10 Reviews

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
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Average Customer Review

4.6 out of 5 stars (10 customer reviews)

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18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars You will love it or hate it, August 10, 2000

D. P. Birkett (Suffern, NY USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Shortest Way to Hades (Mass Market Paperback)

The first page will tell you whether you are going to find unreadable or (like me) find it one of the most entertaining reads of the decade. The style is elaborately witty with nineteenth century diction combined with descriptions of late twentieth century partying and mayhem. It is all very artificial and mannered. The plot is about the murder of beneficiaries of a will and in many ways a classical English whodunnit. The setting is in London lawyers' (sorry barristers') offices (sorry chambers),lesbian nightclubs and the Ionian Islands. Lots of sex but never explicit. A lot of information about English law, classical Greece, sailing and cricket.

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13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Witty and erudite, but nearly a parody, June 6, 2000

Stephen Sossaman (Westfield, Massachusetts, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Shortest Way to Hades (Mass Market Paperback)

This mystery should please readers who value witty dialog, insoucience, English understatement, and whimsy. As in her first novel, Sarah Caudwell employs an emotionally distancing narrative technique, made necessary by the first person point of view: nearly all the action is summarized in letters read by or to the narrator in a cozy London wine bar (much of the action takes place in the Greek islands). Because the witticisms and droll references to Inland Revenue and the Inns at Court dominate, flavored by piquant satiric jibes at Cambridge and various English eccentricities, Sarah Caudwell is willing to employ (almost to parody) such genre conventions as impausible coincidences and the chatty killer. Readers should not expect emotional involvement and heart-racing suspense, but should rather enjoy the author's playful and allusive detachment. And, happily, there are none of the psychopaths and sadists who people many modern mystery novels. This novel is closer to a traditional cozy, although with an urbane and witty air.

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16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Witty, engrossing mystery, not just for "legal eagles", August 30, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Shortest Way to Hades (Mass Market Paperback)

Sarah Caudwell's mysteries are a treat for lawyers and those involved in the legal profession, but also for readers who enjoy a good, page-turning, British-wit novel. I love Ms. Caudwell's books, second only to the Sherlock Holmes mysteries to me, and eagerly await further adventures of Professor Tamar and the barristers of Lincoln's Inn.

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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Too Few...
Sarah Caudwell's dialogue both amuses and stretches. It amuses us because of its delightful humor and sharp exchanges. Read more

Published on April 23, 2009 by Larry T. Adams

5.0 out of 5 stars Not for everyone, but a memorable read
A fairly simple change and renegotiation of the terms in a trust arrangement involving a family with a young heiress and four cousins and the young barristers who briefly... Read more

Published on March 12, 2008 by A. Lee

5.0 out of 5 stars Unexpectedly twisted, does more about faces than apolitcian
Another deliciously witty and unexpected Murder Mystery from Caudwell, the second in her all too short career as a mystery writer, and featuring the ever superior Professor Hilary... Read more

Published on November 19, 2002 by A. Woodley

3.0 out of 5 stars Liked the characters
but the story bogged down in the middle too much for my taste. There were a lot of characters and a lot of relations among the characters- I had a hard time keeping up with who... Read more

Published on June 14, 2001 by harvey dent

4.0 out of 5 stars Shortest Way to Hades
After reading her obiturary in the NYT, I was fascinated by its description of Cauldwell's writing as "the nearest to Oscar Wilde" they had read in years. Read more

Published on July 6, 2000 by Matthew Porter

5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic!
Ms. Caudwell's four mysteries are wonderful -- funny, well-written, and, of course, great puzzles. Her early death deprived us of a great mind and a great wit, but we can enjoy... Read more

Published on July 14, 1999

5.0 out of 5 stars Hilarious!
Ms. Caudwell's sadly brief set of legal mysteries is wonderfully funny in a Wodehouse sort of way. I wish there were more!

Published on October 1, 1997

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Front Cover | First Pages | Back Cover | Surprise Me!

Inside This Book (learn more)
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First Sentence:
PROFESSOR TAMAR-MR. SHEPHERD RANG AND SAID PLEASE COME TO LONDON AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. Read the first page

Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
temporary typist, poet chap, eastern summit

Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Lincoln's Inn, Boat Race, Villa Miranda, New Square, Constantine Demetriou, Professor Tamar, Rupert Galloway, Sir Thomas More, Leonidas Demetriou, Miss Jardine, Deirdre Robinson, Miss Larwood, Barnes Bridge, Ionian Islands, Miss Robinson, Probate Registry, Sebastian Verity, Chiswick Steps, King Alcinous, Peter Hayward, Basil Ptarmigan, Camilla Galloway, Chancery Bar, Dorothea Demetriou, George Fairfax

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Citations (learn more)

This book cites 5 books:

Thus Was Adonis Murdered by Sarah Caudwell in Front Matter, and Back Matter
Antony and Cleopatra by William Shakespeare on page 188
Pride and Prejudice (Bantam Classics) by Jane Austen on page 76
Antony and Cleopatra (Folger Shakespeare Library) by William Shakespeare on page 188
Roman Law (The Gray lectures, 1966 [i.e. 1966-7]) by David Daube on page 142

8 books cite this book:

Law and Literature: Text and Theory by Lenora Ledwon in Front Matter, page 467, and page 488
Law and Literature: Text and Theory (Garland Reference Library of the Humanities) by Lenora Ledwon in Front Matter, page 467, and page 488
The Sibyl in Her Grave by Sarah Caudwell in Front Matter (1), Front Matter (2), and Back Matter
The Quotable Woman by Carol Turkington on page 52, and page 178
The Sirens Sang of Murder by Sarah Caudwell in Front Matter, and Back Matter

See all 8 books citing this book

Books on Related Topics (learn more)

The Sirens Sang of Murder by Sarah Caudwell

Discusses:

Thus Was Adonis Murdered by Sarah Caudwell

Discusses:

Who's Who 2002, 154th Edition by Edited by Reference

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