From the Bookshelf of Reading the Detectives…

Whose Body? (Lord Peter Wimsey, #1)

Dorothy L. Sayers

Start date: May 1, 2022

Finish date: May 31, 2022

Discussion: Group Challenges

Why we're reading this: Next in our Detection Club challenge.
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Group Challenges

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What Members Thought

Dec 21, 2015 Kavita rated it did not like it

Shelves: mystery, uk

What a complete and utter mess of a book! I had been informed by many reliable sources (including Lucy Worsley in her documentary A Very British Murder) that Sayers was even better than Christie where murder mysteries are concerned. They are all wrong!

This mystery has an intriguing enough premise - a naked dead body is found in the home of a harmless man that everyone automatically knew was not the murderer because well, the Wimseys (mother and son) said so! Lord Wimsey is called on to investiga ...more

53 likes · Like · see review

May 19, 2013 Susan rated it really liked it · review of another edition

In this first Lord Peter Wimsey mystery we are introduced to our amateur detective, his friends and family. Living in a sumptuous apartment in Piccadilly, aided by his manservant Bunter, Wimsey is a collector of books with a hobby of criminal investigation. His mother, the Dowager Duchess of Denver is supportive of this interest and telephones him one morning to inform him that the architect working on the church roof was most upset, as he found a dead body in his bath. As a body is found, anoth ...more

19 likes · Like · see review

Mar 07, 2014 Christine PNW rated it really liked it · review of another edition

“Why can’t you marry and settle down and live quietly, doin’ something useful?” said the Duke, unappeased.

“Because that was a wash-out as you perfectly well know,” said Peter; “besides,” he added cheerfully, “I’m bein’ no end useful. You may come to want me yourself, you never know. When anybody comes blackmailin' you, Gerald, or your first deserted wife turns up unexpectedly from the West Indies, you’ll realize the pull of havin’ a private detective in the family. ‘Delicate private business ar “Why can’t you marry and settle down and live quietly, doin’ something useful?” said the Duke, unappeased.

“Because that was a wash-out as you perfectly well know,” said Peter; “besides,” he added cheerfully, “I’m bein’ no end useful. You may come to want me yourself, you never know. When anybody comes blackmailin' you, Gerald, or your first deserted wife turns up unexpectedly from the West Indies, you’ll realize the pull of havin’ a private detective in the family. ‘Delicate private business arranged with tact and discretion. Investigations undertaken. Divorce evidence a specialty. Every guarantee!"

Whose Body is the first of the Lord Peter Wimsey series, written by Dorothy Sayers. Mrs. Sayers wrote ten Lord Peter novels, as well as short stories featuring her gentleman-detective between 1923 and 1937. Lord Peter ages in real-time with her stories, and they are contemporary mysteries set during the year in which they are written.

In 1998, Jill Paton Walsh took up Mrs. Sayers' mantle and completed her unfinished last Lord Peter novel, called Thrones and Dominations. She has since published three more Lord Peter books, including The Attenbury Emeralds, which actually reaches back to 1921 and tells the story of Peter Wimsey's first foray into detecting. The Attenbury Emeralds case is mentioned in Whose Body, but the story is not fully (or even partially) told.

I bought all of the original novels over the Christmas holidays this year, as they were all on sale. All of the Open Road editions of the Peter Wimsey books have similar covers, all featuring Peter's monocle as part of the image. I find the covers both clever and appealing.

The mystery in Whose Body is quite grim, actually, although the treatment of it is lighthearted (as is so often the case with "Golden Age" mysteries). It is a classic upper crust mystery, although the murderer is quite frankly a sociopath who conveniently commits suicide at the end - this is another common feature of Golden Age mysteries. The murders often dispose of themselves to avoid the sticky and lower-class legal process that will result from their being caught-out by our amateur sleuth.

There is light satire of the British pre-WWII social conventions and the relationship between Lord Peter (aristocrat) and his valet (Bunter). In Whose Body, Lord Peter has a recurrence of "shell shock" from his experiences during WWI, and is cared for Bunter, who is obviously very close to Lord Peter. As a random aside, their relationship rather reminds me of the relationship between Frodo Baggins and Samwise Gamgee from the Lord of the Rings, which was taken from Tolkien's observations of the relationship between batman and officer in WWI. One of the great strengths of this book is the touching, affectionate and convincing relationship between Wimsey and Bunter.

Also, Bunter gets some of the best lines:

"Yes, Mr. Graves, it’s a hard life, valeting by day and developing by night—morning tea at any time from 6.30 to 11, and criminal investigation at all hours."

The next book in the series is Clouds of Witness. ...more

11 likes · Like · see review

Aug 17, 2021 Ellen rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: my-favorites

Whose Body? (Lord Peter Wimsey, #1) by Dorothy L. Sayers.

This was my first Lord Peter Wimsey book on CD and it was a welcomed joy to listen to. So uplifting with humor added to it. I couldn't have chosen a better story by a more perfect writer.

Hint: if you've been led to a top rated book that has gone nowhere but has led to headaches at the thought of continuing to read...try one of the past authors. Dorothy L. Sayers it at the top of my list. ...more

7 likes · Like · see review

Jun 22, 2016 Bev rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: british-mystery, bought-2016, mystery, vintage-mystery

Have read other editions. Please see previous reviews.

2 likes · Like · see review

Nov 27, 2017 Bev rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: bought-2016, british-mystery, mystery, vintage-mystery

see reviews on other editions

1 like · Like · see review

Mar 13, 2012 ShanDizzy rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites

I'm revisiting an old friend, Lord Peter Wimsey and Bunter. I love this series!!

Re-reading July 2024 -(still 5 stars) ”…the thing that rankles is old vanity.” said Lord Peter. ...more

1 like · Like · see review