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The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club (Lord Peter Wimsey, #5)

Dorothy L. Sayers

Start date: September 15, 2025

Finish date: October 6, 2025

Discussion: Buddy reads

Why we're reading this: Continuing our buddy reads of this classic series.
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What Members Thought

Aug 01, 2015 Susan rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Published in 1928 this Lord Peter Wimsey mystery is set around Remembrance Day. When Wimsey arrives at the Bellona Club he meets up with his friend, George Fentiman, who is a victim of poison gas and shell shock during the war. He admits to Lord Peter that he is struggling financially and is upset that he is dependent upon his wife Sheila going out to work. This novel sees Lord Peter Wimsey, and author Dorothy L. Sayers, in a much more reflective mood. There is an obvious distance between the ge Published in 1928 this Lord Peter Wimsey mystery is set around Remembrance Day. When Wimsey arrives at the Bellona Club he meets up with his friend, George Fentiman, who is a victim of poison gas and shell shock during the war. He admits to Lord Peter that he is struggling financially and is upset that he is dependent upon his wife Sheila going out to work. This novel sees Lord Peter Wimsey, and author Dorothy L. Sayers, in a much more reflective mood. There is an obvious distance between the generations – as George Fentiman struggles with the post-war world, both his brother Robert and his grandfather, General Fentiman, see the war as something to be celebrated and the elderly General perceives George’s problems as weakness.

When the elderly general is found dead in his armchair at the club, there is an attempt to contact his estranged sister, Lady Dormer. However, it is discovered that, not only had she also died, but the two met on Lady Dormer’s deathbed only the evening before. Solicitor Mr Murbles asks Lord Peter to investigate which of them died first; as the terms of Lady Dormer’s will mean that if she died first, Robert and George Fentiman will inherit a fortune. However, if General Fentiman died first, the money will go to Ann Dorland, a distant relative of Lady Dormer, who acted as her companion.

Of course, what begins as a simple investigation to discover the time of General Fentiman’s death becomes a much more involved and complicated affair. There are mysterious sightings of someone who may be able to clarify the matter, chases across the Continent, wonderful detours into some of the popular fads of the period, and even an exhumation, before Lord Peter, along with his detective-inspector friend Charles Parker, discover the truth.

This is a well plotted and interesting novel – clearly showing how the WWI veterans are viewed by the older generation and highlighting the staid, unsympathetic opinions of the elderly, ex-military members who make up the majority of the gentleman’s club. They are a generation separated by a new kind of warfare and perfectly capture the truth that the generation gap is by no means a new experience. I love Dorothy L. Sayers novels and Lord Peter Wimsey is one of my favourite fictional sleuths. This is a wonderful glimpse into a vanished world, as well as a fascinating mystery.
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Nov 17, 2019 Bev rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: british-mystery, mount-tbr-2019, mystery, vintage-mystery, audionovel

My haphazard rereading (listening) of the detective novels of Dorothy L. Sayers continues. This week's installment is The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club (1928). One really must admire the British sangfroid which calls the death of a club member (which proves ultimately to be murder) "unpleasantness." I have, of course, read Sayers's novels many times--most recently here on the Block in 2011 for the As My Whimsy Takes Me reading challenge. At that time I read the books featuring Lord Peter Wi My haphazard rereading (listening) of the detective novels of Dorothy L. Sayers continues. This week's installment is The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club (1928). One really must admire the British sangfroid which calls the death of a club member (which proves ultimately to be murder) "unpleasantness." I have, of course, read Sayers's novels many times--most recently here on the Block in 2011 for the As My Whimsy Takes Me reading challenge. At that time I read the books featuring Lord Peter Wimsey in published order...this time I really have taken them on "as my whimsy takes me." And my whimsy decided that it was time to sit down and listen to Ian Carmichael read to me about the death of General Fentiman again.

My previous review (see link above) gives details on the heart of the matter. At its most basic, it is a pretty standard plot with a pretty common motive--greed. Two elderly people have died and depending on who died when, somebody is going to very wealthy. At first, Lord Peter is merely asked to try and find out who died first--General Fentiman or his sister Lady Dormer. It soon becomes clear that some highly unpleasant shenanigans have been employed to mystify the times of the death. But that isn't all. Somebody has been even more unpleasant and rushed the General to his final reward. But who? And how?

It is always a delight to listen to Ian Carmichael read the works of Sayers. He was very invested in the characters--he had, in fact, tried very hard to get someone to film the books much earlier the 1970s (when he was, truth be told, just a bit too old for the part of the younger Wimsey. The Ian Carmichael of the 1950s would have been perfect--especially for the early books where he is a bit more "Bertie Woosterish with brains."). With this one slightly more full of gentlemen than some of the other books, Carmichael uses his full powers to give a different sound and quality to each speaker to help the listener keep everything straight. Another fine reading performance by a fine actor.

First posted on my blog My Reader's Block. Please request permission before reposting any review content. Thanks. ...more

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Mar 30, 2016 Damaskcat rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: dls-challenge

Lord Peter Wimsey discovers old General Fentiman dead in his favourite chair by the Bellona Club fireside on Armistice Day. But when did he die? There/s something odd about the body and Peter suspects murder but there isn't any evidence to support his hunch and the General's doctor certifies death from a heart attack. But something continues to niggle and Wimsey - even more so when solicitor Mr Meubles - asks hi to find out exactly when the General died because it will affect his inheritance fro ...more

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Mar 03, 2016 Tracey rated it really liked it

Shelves: lord-peter-wimsey

As well as plenty of twists investigating the murder of General Fentiman, this book gives a glimpse in to 1920s post-war Britain. The changing role of women, the impact of the Great war on the 'lucky' ones who survived, and how the elite are trying to resist change by staying firmly holed up in the Bellona Gentleman's club. ...more

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Apr 20, 2018 Paperbackreader rated it it was ok

Shelves: all-collections, read-but-unowned, british, classic, mystery, detective, lord-peter-wimsey

For me, it is hard to enjoy a mystery when I do not like any of the leading characters. I disliked a majority of the characters in "The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club". Major Robert Fentiman, Captain George Fentiman, Ann Dorland, none of them caught my fancy. In Sayers' Lord Peter Wimsey mysteries, I am never sure about the attitude Sayers takes with the perpetrators. This book in particular left me feeling rather ambiguous about the final fate of the offender. I do not claim to be a great f ...more

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