Whose Body by Dorothy L. Sayers

[meganbmoore]

Sayers's Lord Peter Wimsey books is a series I've been meaning to read for some time.  I've seen a BBC production of one of the books (involving, IIRC, Wimsey's sister's fiance being murdered and both her and their brother being suspects) but never read one.

Peter Wimsey is an upperclass gent in 1920s England, and a war veteran. At first glance, he comes across as (as I believe smillaraaqworded it to me a few days ago) "a superscilious upper-class fool."  I think my personal description would be "overly-absorbed, facetious twit."  This does, however, seem to largely be a surface personality, and the "real" Peter Wimsey is a determined, observant investigator who often aids Scotland Yard, dragging his valet, Bunter, along with him.  Most fans of the series I know seem to be fans primarily for later books in the series (which is also one of the draws for me, but I mustmustmust start series at the beginning) but this book stands up well on it's own.

Mostly a straightforward "whodunnit?" murder mystery, Wimsey is made aware of a body found in a bathtub wearing nothing but an expensive pince-nez, at the same time a prominent financier goes missing.  While there is an obvious conclusion to be drawn, and one Scotland Yard's investigator eagerly jumps at, Wimsey has his suspicions, though, and lauches his own investigations into the matter.

Mixed in, though, are hints and references to Wimsey's past, indicating that the war caused a mental breakdown of some sort, including a scene where he hallucinates that he's back in the war.  Perhaps I've simply encountered it too much in fiction and am jumping to conclusions, but I am assuming that Bunter is a war buddy of some sort, who entered Wimsey's service after the war.  (If so, it's a setup I typically find interesting.)

I have a confession to make, though:  I often got distracted from the plot by the excellent, witty dialogue, and had to reread some parts because of that.  And I probably still missed something...

Comments

[nutmeg3.livejournal.com]

I'm a Petherbridge fan, because I think he's much more like Book!Lord!Peter than Carmichael is. But also, he benefitted from being in the adaptations of the Harriet Vane entries in the series, and I much prefer those to the non-Harriet books.

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

Ah, so the two adaptations don't cover identical ground? That's a plus.

[smillaraaq.livejournal.com]

Yep. The Petherbridge series did the three main Harriet books -- Strong Poison, Have His Carcase, and Gaudy Night. If my memory of a show last seen, gulp, twenty years ago can be trusted, the first two were a bit more satisfying, as they weren't given any more time to cover the much longer and denser final novel, so Gaudy Night in particular felt rather rushed.

The Carmichael films cover Clouds of Witness, The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club, Murder Must Advertise, The Nine Tailors, and The Five Red Herrings.