One of my goals for 2021 was to read through Dorothy Sayer's novels about aristocrat-turned-detective, Lord Peter Wimsey. I've loved the books so far, but haven't felt the need to review each one separately. Here are my thoughts on the first five.
Whose Body? - Sayers introduces her fascinating amateur detective with his perfect sidekick: Bunter, the butler. To make things more interesting, Lord Peter suffers from PTSD due to his participation in WWI.
Unnatural Death - The story takes place in 1927, but my copy came with a "biography" written by Wimsey's uncle that goes through 1935 and included spoilers. Still, I appreciated some of the background info because it helped to explain why Wimsey's brother was such a cad in the previous book. This was my favorite so far because we know early on who did it, but it takes ages to discover HOW. And Miss Climpson is adorable. At right is my favorite quote when Wimsey finds her a little worse for wear.
Lord Peter Views the Body - A delightful collection of short stories, showing Lord Peter from many different angles. I especially enjoyed the mystery he solved with his 10-year old nephew tagging along.
The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club - This murder mystery had some really delightful twists. I enjoyed the brief but hilarious discussion about whether sinfulness was actually a glandular problem.
Please note that there is light swearing throughout these books, but it never seems gratuitous. Also, several of these titles are quite pricey, so I hope you are able to get them through your local library like I did.
Blessings,
3 comments:
I have never read the Lord Peter books in order, only out of order. Where does Strong Poison fit? They are always such a fun read!
Marie, I've read them out of order too and it hasn't made a huge difference. I'm noticing, though, that random characters are thrown into Strong Poison and the reader is expected to know who they are from previous books.
Strong Poison is book 5 in the series (if you don't count the book of short stories) and introduces Harriet Vane. I'm so excited to be finally reading the next books in order because they show the progression of Lord Peter's relationship with her.
Thanks! I'll have to re-read them to get the full experience. Dorothy Sayers is always good.
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