Sunday, 15 February 2026

Bad Quarto an Imogen Quy Novel

This is I think the last novel written by Jill Paton Walsh about Imogen Quy. She was then employed by the Sayers estate to write continuations of the Lord Peter novels and concentrated on that. However I have never felt that these were very good and found them hard to read. The Bad Quarto refers to a version of Hamlet which has been around for centuries; it is a shorter less elaborate version of the play, and is occasionally performed. At the beginning of the novel, we learn of a tragic accident, where Imogen was called when a young student fell while jumping from building to building in the college, a dangerous hobby pursued by some students who like mountaineering. The student was killed and Imogen was upset but it was seen as an accident and measures were taken to make this leaping hobby more difficult to pursue. Soon afterwards Imogen goes to a meeting of the college drama society, as her lodger Frances Bullion is a member. They need someone to take minutes and she offers to help. At the meeting, the group discuss a major problem... They had a fire in their rehearsal room probably caused by carelessness by the students, and the room was damaged and the part time caretaker was hurt and is still unwell from smoke inhalation. They had let their insurance lapse through a foolish member of the group forgetting.. the member has now left. So they are liable for the damage and worry that Fred the caretaker might sue them though he is slowly getting better. They dont want to renege on their duty of care but the group is seriously in debt. However they are offered a chance to earn a large sum of money. Another student whose father is rich, proposes that they do a one off performance of the Bad Quarto, with him playing lead, and he will pay them a lot of money. It seems odd but they feel that they need to get the money somehow so they decide to accept the offer. M/F

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