Customer Reviews

THE UNPLEASANTNESS AT THE BELLONA CLUB

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Another fantastic entry in (to my mind) one of the best mystery series ever written. Lord Peter Wimsey surely deserves to be counted as one of fiction's greatest detectives, along with Sherlock Holmes, Hercule Poirot, Jane Marple and Inspector Maigret. This mystery showcases Lord Peter at his finest, along with the usual cast of Bunter, Parker and Mr. Murbles (with the lamentable exception of Miss Climpson!). Lord Peter has to untangle an unusually knotty mystery where a half-million pound inheritance hangs upon an uncertain time of death. His own feelings in the case are at issue since he has been friends with the brothers who stand to gain. I also liked the deveopment of Ann Dorland's character and the very real sympathy and desire to help that Lord Peter comes to feel for her is echoed in the reader's mind. The mystery itself is intricately plotted and as usual, Ms Sayers does a fine job of pulling together all the threads for the reader. A most satisfying and absorbing read!

When Lord Peter Wimsey comes down to the Bellona club to dine with an old friend he little expected to find the 90 year old General Fentiman sitting quietly by the fire in full rigor mortis. Nor, did he expect to be confronted with a case about which one of the General or his sister, Lady Dormer, predeceased the other. But, seeing that it was a matter of some half million pounds he was delighted to oblige old Mr. Murbles, the family solicitor.

It turns out that establishing Fentiman's time of death is going to be a major feat. No one, including his heirs, the staff of the Bellona Club and most of London seems to recall what the General was doing that morning, or when he showed up, opened his newspaper and promptly expired. Worse, what few facts that Wimsey can put together convince him that something was very, very wrong with Fentiman's timely ticking off. Suddenly this is no longer a case of friendly detection but a serious investigation into a murder.

'The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club' was one of Dorothy Sayers' early smash hits. It shows off Wimsey's charming urbanity against the gemlike setting of his friends and cohorts, only striking serious chords when grim necessity rears its monocled head. Wimsey doesn't act quite as foolish as he was prone to in past novels, which makes him likeable as well as witty. The other regular characters have also acquired some extra depth that makes everyone a bit more believable. Everyone but the bit players, of course. Each of those is, as usual, a quick, delightful pastiche, one of Sayers greatest talents.

This is one of Sayers' most memorable books, and, despite a plot that is a little too transparent, is one of her most re-readable. The odd thing about a Sayers mystery story is how unimportant it is whether you know or can guess the murderer. 'Who' is less important than 'how' in these tales, and neither is as important as the balletic interaction of the players, most of whom you would like to find in your sitting room - it you had a sitting room large enough, that is.

This is also the first book that displays Wimsey's softer nature with the ladies. While Marjorie Phelps is not destined to become Lord Peter's great love, we see glints of the Peter to come. He shows a fair and attentive style without a hint of macho that will serve him well in his trials to come. I am tempted to say that, if you don't enjoy this book, there is no hope for you as a Sayers fan. That's not completely true, but ' The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club' is a completely representative Sayers effort and one of my perennial favorites.

Lord Peter is at his best in this mystery novel which gives us 21st century dwellers a view of English post WWI culture, specifically the Men's club. In the process of untangling this convoluted mystery, Lord Peter touches on some of his own issues regarding his military service and some resulting psychological scars.

Despite all this, Lord Peter chases the criminal with class, wit and ridiculous humor. He never takes himself too seriously, and is always charming--even when the stessed out subjects of investigation lash out at him.

Lord Peter has two perennial sidekicks--Bunter, his perfect butler, and Parker, the police detective. Both of these men are excellent at their trade and balance Peter's ridiculously good humor with sedate and serious good sense. Peter is a brilliant intuitive which contrasts with his piercing deductive mind. Bunter has good insight into human character and Parker has dogged determination and the abilty to integrate diverse evidence.

Despite the sometimes dated language, Sayers has the knack of writing an engaging and suspenseful mystery as well as taking us back in time to simpler more gracious times.

Among the more successful mysteries is Dorothy Sayers' "The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club." A very wealthy woman dies, leaving a fortune to her brother if he is still alive, otherwise to a young female companion. When the brother is found dead in his chair at the Club, the novel becomes, not a whodunit, but a "whenwasitdun," a question much on the mind of not only the heirs of the two deceased persons but of Lord Peter Wimsey, who is asked by the brother's lawyer to help establish the time of the brother's death (that of the sister being certain).

The question of When is answered halfway through the novel. But even before that, the other questions of how he died and by whose hand become paramount; and Wimsey winds up offending almost everybody concerned in his inexorable quest for the solution. There is a certain tongue-in-cheek element in Sayers' writing that calls out for a good reading--and that is exactly what we get in the Audio Partner's set of 6 audio cassettes with none other than Lord Peter himself, which is to say Ian Carmichael, doing the honors.

Having read the book twice in the past and watched the Acorn Media video release many times, I enjoyed listening to this tape even more, picturing in my mind the scenes from the television version, which seems to be remarkably faithful to the novel. This set is highly recommended for those who love a good mystery, well-told and (here) well read.

THE UNPLEASANTNESS AT THE BELLONA CLUB wasn't the best mystery novel that I've ever read, but it was certainly enjoyable enough that I didn't feel I was wasting my energy. The characters are, at times, clichéd, but I was entertained by all of them enough not to be too bothered by any lack of real substance. It's a tale of murder, deceit and money, but is told with enough whimsy to make it fully enjoyable.

Despite some initial false assumptions on my part, the plot managed to keep me mostly surprised much of the time. At first glance, I thought that I was in for a fairly tedious journey, as I wasn't very far into the book when I suddenly figured out what I assumed was a large part of the mystery. Faced with the prospect of having to read through the entire rest of the story pretending not to know how the murderer had gotten away with it, I began to wonder if perhaps the remainder wouldn't be worth reading. To my great surprise, while the portion of the mystery that I figured out was fairly well signposted, it didn't turn out to be as important as I had anticipated, and I was greatly pleased that Lord Peter figured out the puzzle not long after I did. This allowed the story to turn into directions that I hadn't anticipated, and brought me back into the narrative. There are several clever little moments of storytelling that successfully managed to keep my on my toes, which is an ideal situation for any detective story.

This was the first Dorothy Sayers book that I've read, and I was surprised at how much of the story was conveyed purely through the dialog. There is almost no description at all and there were times where it seemed as though I was reading a television or a film script. (Incidentally, this is probably why the series translates so well to visual mediums.) This did contribute to a feeling of triviality, but it did make the book pass by much more quickly. This is not a book to be slowly picked apart, but rather one to be enjoyed quickly, in large gulps. The fast-pace adds to the fanciful flavor and allows the story to rapidly wash over the reader.

I found THE UNPLEASANTNESS AT THE BELLONA CLUB to be a fun and enjoyable, if light, detective adventure. It's a great little piece of fiction to read on a lazy afternoon, and it should be recommended to any fan of mystery novels. A short, and fairly unambitious novel, but definitely quite enjoyable.

This book shows the charming and dry British humor. The setting: an old austere British club in 1928. On Remembrance Day, three men are sitting down to lunch. One notices an old soldier sitting not far away. He has a newpaper in front of him and a drink to his side. He is quite dead, and so the Unpleasantness begins. Wonderful

Lord Peter Wimsey has planned on spending a quiet Armistice Day, just stop by the Bellona Club, reminisce with some old friends and then a quiet memorial dinner. But since this is Lord Peter Wimsey, the aristoctratic amateur sleuth, (and this is a mystery novel) a death soon occurs. The deceased is old General Fentiman and since he is ninety his passing is rather sad but not surprising. Not at all the sort of thing to arouse Lord Peter's notice until the exact time of the old General's death becomes a matter of vital importance to his heirs, one of whom is a friend of Lord Peter.

As Wimsey looks deeper into the matter he becomes involved in the art world, a jilted lover, domestic tension and even receives a proposal. Of course he unravels the mysteries in the end, bringing the guilty to justice and protecting the innocent.

As always with this series the glimpses into Lord Peter's world are as entertaining as the mystery itself. We are treated to visits with Inspector Parker, Bunter, and Marjorie Phelps and if those names mean nothing to you, you would probably do better to start this series with one of the earlier books. For fans of the series this is a definite must read.

This is one of my three favorite novels in the Lord Peter Wimsey series (the other two are Clouds of Witness and Murder Must Advertise), and it's the best solid mystery in the series. By this point, Sayers was concocting more complicated plots involving trickier clues, issues of timing, and calculated motivations. In this book, old General Fentiman dies at a gentleman's club, but it turns out that the exact time of his death relative to the death of the wealthy Lady Dormer he'd once known, as if she died first, then he (and hence his heirs) inherit the bulk of her wealth, whereas if he died first then Ann Dorland, who's lived with Lady Dormer for several years, inherits most of the money.

Wimsey, a member of the club, is asked to discreetly investigate, a situation complicated by the fact that he's friends with both of General Fentiman's heirs, and that Ann Dorland - not unexpectedly - is reluctant to contribute anything which might result in someone else receiving the money. So Wimsey is left to discover when the General died, whether anyone tried to hide this information, and who stands to gain from it. Sayers mixes in plenty of atmosphere of 1920s English civility (with a brief aside to the art culture of the time), and paints a variety of interesting and sympathetic characters. The end result is an entirely satisfying mystery.

This is the first Dorothy L. Sayers book that I have read, and I can guarantee that it won't be the last. If you're looking for a nice, Golden Age mystery book of quick length, crisp pacing, interesting plot, and colorful characterization, then look no further. The mystery unravels quite rapidly from the start as Lord Peter Wimsey (the foppish and wickedly intelligent protagonist) is taking-in the evening at the private Bellona Club, and a body soon turns up. The club itself is host to many characters, some suspicious, some amusing. Outside the four walls of the Bellona also exist many plots and characters that are fun to meet and get to know. Whether it was murder or natural causes is part of the mystery. And then midway through the book another mystery springs up which takes things in a somewhat different direction. Never boring for a second, this was one of those books that was hard to put down. The atmosphere is good and appropriate throughout, especially a creepy scene in a graveyard. My only qualm is with a portion of the ending, which is a little to civilized for its own good. But that's small in comparison with the rest of this enjoyable Golden Age mystery. I highly recommend it.

For those who have heard of but never read Dorothy L. Sayers, this book would be a good start. The novel offers a glimpse of the English upper class between the World Wars. Sayers is skilled at strewing red herrings and making the reader suspect various characters. Enjoy the class consciousness and snobbishness as well as the unraveling of the mystery. Realize, also, how much more extensive vocabularies seemed to have been in the first half of the twentieth century than now, based on the author's use of language.