Helpful Score: 1
Sayers created the Lord Peter Wimsey books in the interwar era (between WWI and WWII) and through them, explored the shifting politics, values, and social attitudes of Britain. Lord Peter himself is a wwI veteran of trench warfare and suffers occasional bouts of what we now call Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. He's a younger son and must make his own living, which he sets out to do by solving crimes.
Helpful Score: 1
The off-hand, humorous and charmingly self-deprecating Lord Peter makes a hobby of detecting murderers. His mother obligingly puts him in the way of this one. What starts out as a particularly interesting puzzler turn gruesome and hits a little too close to home.
A strong Lord Peter mystery- highly recommended. Great mystery, great storytelling, great characters.
A strong Lord Peter mystery- highly recommended. Great mystery, great storytelling, great characters.
Helpful Score: 1
It took me a couple of chapters to get used to Lord Peter's verbal expressions, but over all, the book was interesting, logical, and even intellectually challenging. (I'm not well versed in brain physiology.) I love books that explain everything by the end.
Helpful Score: 1
Fun tale, with enough twists and turns, though many of you will figure out the culprit, as I did.
I think this is the first Lord Peter novel, so its great to see him before he is fully formed and made more sophisticated through the later novels.
I think this is the first Lord Peter novel, so its great to see him before he is fully formed and made more sophisticated through the later novels.
It was the body of a tall stout man. On his dead face, a handsome pair of gold pince-nez mocked death with grotesque elegance. The body wore nothing else.
Lord Peter Wimsey knew immediately what the corpse was supposed to be. His problem was to find out whose body had found its way into Mr. Alfred Thipps' Battersea bathroom.
Lord Peter Wimsey knew immediately what the corpse was supposed to be. His problem was to find out whose body had found its way into Mr. Alfred Thipps' Battersea bathroom.
Dorothy Sayers (1893-1957) was an English crime writer, poet, playwright, and translator. She is best known for her mysteries which feature Lord Peter Wimsey, an English aristocrat and amateur sleuth. But she considered her best work to be her translation of Dante's Divine Comedy.
Whose Body? was first published in 1923 and it introduced the character of Lord Peter Wimsey. The novel also introduces other recurring characters in the Lord Peter series of books including Bunter, Wimsey's valet; his mother, the Dowager Duchess of Denver; and Inspector Charles Parker, Wimsey's friend and a police inspector from Scotland Yard. The novel starts out with the discovery of a dead man in a bathtub who is naked and only wearing a gold pince-nez. The body is found in the tub of a timid architect named Thipps who cannot explain how the body came to be in his bathtub. At the same time, another man has gone missing, Sir Reuben Levy, a famous financier. The investigator on the bathtub case immediately suggests that Levy is the body in the bathtub. But it is soon made clear that this is not the case and it appears that the two cases are unconnected. But is this really the case? Inspector Parker is on the case of what happened to Levy and Lord Peter is privately investigating the man in the bathtub. Will they be able to solve the cases together?
This is the second book I have read in the Lord Peter series after The Nine Tailors that I read and enjoyed a few years ago. I have been meaning to read more in the series since then. I enjoyed Whose Body? but not as much as Tailors. The plot seemed a little convoluted but the macabre aspects of it made the story all the more enjoyable. Another highlight of the Wimsey character is that he is a collector of rare books and early in the story he has Bunter obtain a rare Dante Folio for him (Sayers later translated Dante's Divine Comedy). And I really enjoyed the characters in the storyâWimsey and Bunter reminded me somewhat of P.G. Wodehouse's Jeeves and Wooster. I will be continuing to read more in this series.
Whose Body? was first published in 1923 and it introduced the character of Lord Peter Wimsey. The novel also introduces other recurring characters in the Lord Peter series of books including Bunter, Wimsey's valet; his mother, the Dowager Duchess of Denver; and Inspector Charles Parker, Wimsey's friend and a police inspector from Scotland Yard. The novel starts out with the discovery of a dead man in a bathtub who is naked and only wearing a gold pince-nez. The body is found in the tub of a timid architect named Thipps who cannot explain how the body came to be in his bathtub. At the same time, another man has gone missing, Sir Reuben Levy, a famous financier. The investigator on the bathtub case immediately suggests that Levy is the body in the bathtub. But it is soon made clear that this is not the case and it appears that the two cases are unconnected. But is this really the case? Inspector Parker is on the case of what happened to Levy and Lord Peter is privately investigating the man in the bathtub. Will they be able to solve the cases together?
This is the second book I have read in the Lord Peter series after The Nine Tailors that I read and enjoyed a few years ago. I have been meaning to read more in the series since then. I enjoyed Whose Body? but not as much as Tailors. The plot seemed a little convoluted but the macabre aspects of it made the story all the more enjoyable. Another highlight of the Wimsey character is that he is a collector of rare books and early in the story he has Bunter obtain a rare Dante Folio for him (Sayers later translated Dante's Divine Comedy). And I really enjoyed the characters in the storyâWimsey and Bunter reminded me somewhat of P.G. Wodehouse's Jeeves and Wooster. I will be continuing to read more in this series.
Patsy A. S. (duetproductions) reviewed Whose Body? (Lord Peter Wimsey, Bk 1) on + 47 more book reviews
It's hard to beat Dorothy Sayers for a classic British mystery. One is always sorry she wrote so few books.
Love, love, love!
Always a pleasure! Great classic mystery.
This was the Lord Peter book I read and after that, I was hooked. This is a stand-alone, not part of the Harriet Vane mini-series.
I irritate myself occasionally. Although I've tried a few times to read Golden Age mysteries, they just don't seem to be for me. However, time will pass and once again I'll begin to feel that I'm missing out on something. This is why I picked up Dorothy L. Sayers' very first Lord Peter Wimsey mystery, Whose Body? I've always had the feeling that-- if I liked any Golden Age mystery writer-- I would like her.
After reading the first few chapters of this book, I almost gave up in disgust. The pages were filled with dialogue that was supposed to be sparkling and witty but only sounded like dated, superficial piffle. (See? I may not have read Sayers before, but I've evidently been able to mine a nugget or two from various sources.)
Fortunately the book settled down and steered clear of conversational piffle throughout the rest of the story, and I actually enjoyed watching Wimsey figure out identities, timelines, and what actually happened. In fact I enjoyed it enough to start looking for the second book in the series. All you Golden Age mystery lovers-- there may be hope for me yet!
After reading the first few chapters of this book, I almost gave up in disgust. The pages were filled with dialogue that was supposed to be sparkling and witty but only sounded like dated, superficial piffle. (See? I may not have read Sayers before, but I've evidently been able to mine a nugget or two from various sources.)
Fortunately the book settled down and steered clear of conversational piffle throughout the rest of the story, and I actually enjoyed watching Wimsey figure out identities, timelines, and what actually happened. In fact I enjoyed it enough to start looking for the second book in the series. All you Golden Age mystery lovers-- there may be hope for me yet!
