Hezekiah answers “I want to read at least one Dorothy book...”

Hiran Palothpoyil asked this question about Gaudy Night (Lord Peter Wimsey, #12):

I want to read at least one Dorothy book and i found this is the most acclaimed one. Will i feel any continuity issues as i have no idea about the central character & never read any other book of her..? Please help.. :)

Hezekiah I am reading through all of the Lord Peter books in order and all I can say is that there is no way I could have started with this book, knowing nothi…moreI am reading through all of the Lord Peter books in order and all I can say is that there is no way I could have started with this book, knowing nothing about the characters and enjoyed the book. As was mentioned this is a very dense book, there is a lot to take in that is only tangentially related to the mystery. I suppose you could call them continuity issues in the sense that you won't have seen the growth and change in the characters from the previous books, and without that, it would have made it rather difficult for me to appreciate a good percentage of the book. Additionally there are parts of this book which come pretty close to straight up romance, which again would have been hard for me to appreciate without reading certain previous books.

If I were to recommend just one to read, I would probably recommend "Murder Must Advertise" as that was a really fun one that focused mostly on the mystery but also had some interesting thoughts on the advertising world as well. I also really like "Unnatural Death" and "The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club", but I rarely see those singled out as recommendations, so maybe it's just me that likes them. I'd avoid "Five Red Herrings" unless you want more of a puzzle type book that focuses on train schedules.(less)

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