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Murder Must Advertise (Lord Peter Wimsey, #10)

Dorothy L. Sayers

Start date: September 1, 2016

Finish date: September 30, 2016

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What Members Thought

Aug 22, 2016 Judy rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: dorothy-l-sayers-2016-challenge

I've been enjoying rereading the Lord Peter Wimsey mysteries, but feel this is one of the weaker entries in the series. It's a very uneven read and my personal rating is really between 2 and 3 stars, although some of the best bits are wonderful.

The most enjoyable sections are those set within an advertising agency, Pym's Publicity, where Lord Peter Wimsey takes up a job, posing as his lookalike cousin, Death Bredon (his own middle names - apparently Death can be pronounced Deeth.) He has been ca I've been enjoying rereading the Lord Peter Wimsey mysteries, but feel this is one of the weaker entries in the series. It's a very uneven read and my personal rating is really between 2 and 3 stars, although some of the best bits are wonderful.

The most enjoyable sections are those set within an advertising agency, Pym's Publicity, where Lord Peter Wimsey takes up a job, posing as his lookalike cousin, Death Bredon (his own middle names - apparently Death can be pronounced Deeth.) He has been called in to investigate following the mysterious death of a previous employee who fell down the stairs and cracked his skull. However, the agency bosses prefer him to be incognito.

Sayers herself worked in an agency for years and it's plain she knows exactly what she is portraying. Anybody who has worked in a vaguely similar environment, as I have in local newspapers and marketing, will recognise a lot of the characters and situations. However, at times all the detail does slow the story down a lot and the humour gets a bit repetitive. There are a few advertising in-jokes which I recognised after recently reading a Sayers biography, such as references to her "Guinness is good for you" slogan and the Colmans Mustard Club.

Unfortunately, however, large chunks of the book are set amid disreputable "bright young things", and I found these sequences far less convincing. I'll say more about this aspect in spoiler tags. It's also hard to believe that so many people can be fooled by Wimsey's dual identity, which sounds about as convincing as Superman being Clark Kent.

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...more

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Mar 14, 2017 Jan C rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: england, mystery, rtd-2016-sayers-challenge, 2017

Always an enjoyable read. Love how he assumes an alias and goes undercover to work in an advertising agency (much as Sayers herself had worked in an ad agency). He is there to uncover the death of a Mr. Dean, who apparently fell down the stairs. Even here, he leads a double life by running around with a "bright young thing" as a harlequin with some rather athletic moves.

In addition, one of the entertaining portions to me is the cricket game with another firm. As an American, I have no knowledge ...more

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Oct 09, 2022 Jessica marked it as to-read · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction, detective, close-reads-podcast, golden-age-mystery

One of P.D. James' favorite detective novels according to here. ...more

1 like · Like · see review

Jul 25, 2019 Anna Adams rated it really liked it · review of another edition

I love Dorothy Sayers. She's actually one of my favorite authors, and I find myself falling in love with Lord Peter again. There's the usual 30s stuff that's abhorrent (and as usual, I don't know why it wasn't then). But there's also quite a bit of conversation about people minding their own business, versus doing the right thing. And morality. And how advertising challenges ethics, which was kind of funny from time to time in the story.

The thing about Lord Peter is that he's often ashamed of c ...more

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Jan 16, 2010 Jenn Estepp rated it really liked it

Shelves: sleuths-and-gumshoes

3 1/2, but still. lord peter goes undercover in an advertising agency. hijinks and murder occur. or, more accurately, hijinks and murder have occurred in an advertising agency, so lord peter goes undercover to figure it out and ferret out the guilty parties. i did miss bunter (and harriet, to a degree), but at least we got parker. and notable (although doomed) appearances from bright young things.

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