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

[smillaraaq.livejournal.com]

As I said in my comments on the drinking game thread, the other Edwards I'm slogging through right now is still pretty damn awful, but not quite as deranged as the first one.

So far, there's been no crossdressing in either one, so maybe that was just a special touch for SH? SG didn't have any rape attempts, Savage Persuasion so far has had one at the very beginning -- the heroine and her twin sister are assaulted, as they expected they might be, by their skeezy drunken uncles who may or may not have been responsible for killing the girls' parents while placing the blame on Indian raiders.

(The girls are identical twins...except for notably non-identical eye color. MONOZYGOTIC TWINS DON'T WORK THAT WAY, etc.)

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

Maybe. It stood out because it was very much "evil because he's gay" as opposed to "evil, but also gay." Which, you know, is a huge difference. And I thought we were past "gay=evil rapist" in fiction...

[smillaraaq.livejournal.com]

This is a woman who's built her entire career on perpetuating Noble Savage garbage, and you're surprised that she holds to other retrograde attitudes? *blink*

Along with the "gay = evil rapist" and "woman should do whatever the man says" of the book you waded through, I bet you'd loooooooove the two I've been battling with. They add in "fat = evil", "poor hygiene = evil", "woman who likes sex too much but isn't goopy about motherhood = evil", and oh yeah, "crossdressers = ok, maybe not quite *evil*, but definitely pathetic, unmanly, and good only for mockery and working as beauticians".

Stupid, OTOH, does not equal evil in the Edwards-verse, because at this point I'm pretty sure the only character with an IQ higher than room temperature is the dog in Savage Grace...

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

Hmm...yeah, there were hints of some of those in SH...and I remember them from the books I read in high school.

Sadly, there was no pet in SH to bring up the general IQ level...

[maerhys.livejournal.com]

Does she not understand basic biology? No, wait. I am sure she doesn't.

[smillaraaq.livejournal.com]

More like she didn't have a basic breastfeeding book handy to lift text from...

[maerhys.livejournal.com]

LOL! Made of win, 'cause it's true.

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

I am somewhat ashamed to say that, having encountered fraternal, m/f twins spawned from the same egg(one of whom tried to kill the other in the womb...), things like that don't bother me quite as much anymore.

[maerhys.livejournal.com]

Wow. I can see that being lower on the list. hee.

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

After that, all "biogenetics don't work that way" attempts are just...lacking...

[smillaraaq.livejournal.com]

Western comics or manga or...?

And it's still a pretty minor quibble next to the other book's "heroine comes back from the dead" deus ex machina, but still...I think what makes it particularly noxious here is that even with the eye-color difference to conveniently tell them apart, the plot such as it is mostly hinges on the girls constantly being mistaken for each other, to the point where the Poor Dumb Injuns are confused and freaked out and thinking spirits are at work until the Nice White Girls explain about twins.

No, REALLY.

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

Xavier and his twin sister in Morrison's X-Men run. I try to forget it exists.

That book sounds even more brain cells killing than the one I read.