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Lord Peter Views the Body (Lord Peter Wimsey #4)

Dorothy L. Sayers

Start date: April 1, 2016

Finish date: April 30, 2016

Discussion: Group Challenges

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Group Challenges

* Sept 25: The Mystery of the Blue Train (1928) by Agatha Christie
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What Members Thought

Jan 12, 2014 Susan rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Although I am not really a fan of short stories – much preferring novels – I wanted to re-read the Lord Peter Wimsey books and realised that I had never read this collection. The book consists of the following stories:

The Abominable History of the Man with Copper Fingers
The Entertaining Episode of the Article in Question
The Fascinating Problem of Uncle Meleager’s Will
The Fantastic Horror of the Cat in the Bag
The Unprincipled Affair of the Practical Joker
The Undignified Melodrama of the Bone of C ...more

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Sep 14, 2017 Christine PNW rated it liked it · review of another edition

I'm not the hugest fan of short stories, although several of these were entertaining. I needed a book with a vest on the cover for a challenge, which is why I selected this to read - I already had it on my kindle from a Peter Wimsey binge buy when the prices dropped to $1.99 each. ...more

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Apr 22, 2019 Bev rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: audionovel, british-mystery, mcpl-book, shortstories, vintage-mystery, virtual-mount-tbr-2019, mystery

Lord Peter Views the Body, is a delightful gathering of stories featuring Lord Peter Wimsey. The hard copy version has twelve stories while this particular audio version (read by Ian Carmichael) is missing three of the originals--including one of my favorites, "The Learned Adventure of the Dragon's Head." I have put together a brief note on each of these fun stories. Not a lot of detail, but that's to be expected with short stories. Sayers does manage to pull the reader right in regardless. ★★★★ Lord Peter Views the Body, is a delightful gathering of stories featuring Lord Peter Wimsey. The hard copy version has twelve stories while this particular audio version (read by Ian Carmichael) is missing three of the originals--including one of my favorites, "The Learned Adventure of the Dragon's Head." I have put together a brief note on each of these fun stories. Not a lot of detail, but that's to be expected with short stories. Sayers does manage to pull the reader right in regardless. ★★★★--but, then, I am biased. I love all things Wimsey and I especially love all things Wimsey when read by Ian Carmichael.

"The Abominable History of the Man with Copper Fingers": A story of jealousy and a well-known sculptor's plan for revenge. Fortunately, Wimsey is on hand to prevent the artist from completing the second half of his masterpiece.

"The Fantastic Horror of the Cat in the Bag": A high-speed motorcyclist gets a nasty surprise when he opens a bag picked up from a cloak room.

"The Unprincipled Affair of the Practical Joker": Wimsey uses a lovely bit of sleight of hand to silence a blackmailer.

"The Undignified Melodrama of the Bone of Contention": Wimsey delves into the mystery of the death coach--a ghostly coach pulled by headless white horses and driven by a headless coachman.

"The Vindictive Story of the Footsteps That Ran": His lordship solves a murder by noticing which way the footsteps ran.

"The Bibulous Business of a Matter of Taste": Will the real Lord Peter please stand up? Or at least correctly identify six varieties of wine. A story of not one, not two, but three Wimseys.

"The Piscatorial Farce of the Stolen Stomach": Great Uncle Joseph chooses an unusual hiding place for his wealth.

"The Unsolved Puzzle of the Man with No Face": Wimsey solves a murder using clues provided in the discussion amongst his fellow train travelers.

"The Adventurous Exploit of the Cave of Ali Baba": Lord Peter is reported dead....and events that follow lead to the capture of a gang of criminals.

First posted on my blog My Reader's Block. ...more

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Oct 22, 2012 Abbey rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: myst-fems-project, myst-cosies, myst-set-andor-auth-uk, vintage, favorites, reviewed, series, short-stories

LORD PETER VIEWS THE BODY, 1928, Lord Peter short stories, nicely twisted; latest reread was from the 1985 audio edition, Chivers Audio Books, read by Ian Carmichael - this contains most, but not all, of the stories from this early edition. Short story collection, excellent; narration perfect.

NOTE: The 1928 edition was also printed at some point titled LORD PETER, but there is also a larger compilation with that name from the 1970s that includes ALL the stories written by Sayers about him, not ...more

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Feb 15, 2015 Julie rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: detectives, short-stories, reviewed

"Lord Peter could have been an insurance investigator," I remember latching onto this vague thought as I read through 12 short stories featuring our favorite amateur detective, full-time lordling, His Lordship Peter Wimsey. A number of these stories involved wills - either missing or ridiculously confusing - which Lord Peter, in his curiosity and general nosiness, just had to solve for the benefit of the people around him. And us, of course, because who doesn't like a good inheritance mystery.

I "Lord Peter could have been an insurance investigator," I remember latching onto this vague thought as I read through 12 short stories featuring our favorite amateur detective, full-time lordling, His Lordship Peter Wimsey. A number of these stories involved wills - either missing or ridiculously confusing - which Lord Peter, in his curiosity and general nosiness, just had to solve for the benefit of the people around him. And us, of course, because who doesn't like a good inheritance mystery.

In my quest to finish all Lord Peter books before I conk out, I accidentally passed over this, and was actually already reading Five Red Herrings before I got the timelines straight and went back for these short stories. Now, I love short stories. I just adore how easily one can squeeze them in in daily life. I particularly find this form very rewarding in mystery and horror, like Sherlock Holmes and Poe and Lovecraft. So, when I found out I was missing out on some (possibly very quality) Lord Peter short stories, I dropped Five Red Herrings and started on them immediately.

And it all worked very well, except that it was 2 am and the first story, The Abominable History of the Man with Copper Fingers almost gave me a nightmare.

Lord Peter shows off his prowess in various areas, which include but are not limited to: (1) languages; (2) crossword puzzles; (3) wine; (4) books; (5) being a Glorified Uncle; and (6) criminal organizations. His nephew Gherkins, or Gerald, Viscount Saint-George, appears in The Learned Adventure of the Dragon's Head and it's no surprise that it's my favorite story of the bunch. Wimsey! With a kid! I wish Gherkins appeared more often because their dynamic was just golden.

A couple stories were quite silly and unbelievable, and there were about 5 paragraphs or untranslated French which I had to Google Translate, but I enjoyed them nonetheless. They weren't all about murders too, which is a plus in my book. All in all a very entertaining collection of shorts, with the most charming detective I know! ...more

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Sep 09, 2019 Zander rated it really liked it · review of another edition

My favorite Wimsey stories so far. I think Sayer's writing and plots work best in short stories. We get to see many different sides of Wimsey most of which show a gradually maturing Wimsey who rather than being unattached to things and rather flippant only uses that as a smokescreen and at times is annoyed by people's assumption based on his passive looks. The cases aren't just murder either so there are more lighthearted fare and capers. There are several missing wills, criminal gangs, internat ...more

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