Whose Body? (A Lord Peter Wimsey Mystery) [Paperback]

Dorothy L. Sayers (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 18, 2011

This is the original 1923 edition of WHOSE BODY? first published in the United States by Boni and Liveright in 1923 and then in the UK by Unwin. The US copyright for this edition expired and was not renewed as required in the 28th year after initial publication. Since this book was first published in the US and not later renewed, the expired copyright is not eligible for GATT restoration.

Lord Peter is intrigued by the sudden appearance of a naked dead body in the bath and investigates. A financier has also gone missing under strange circumstances and it becomes clear that the two events are linked in some way. A hired man has just found a corpse in the bath in his flat: a body wearing nothing but a pair of pince-nez. In the meantime, the financier has apparently disappeared into thin air from his own bedroom. Ignoring the clumsy efforts of the official investigator, Lord Peter starts his own enquiry. Can he solve this mysterious disappearance and even more mysterious murder?

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Dorothy Sayers is in a class by herself." -- Chicago Daily Tribune --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

About the Author

Dorothy L Sayers was born in Oxford in 1893, and was both a classical scholar and a graduate in modern languages. As well as her popular Lord Peter Wimsey series, she wrote several religious plays, but considered her translations of Dante's Divina Commedia to be her best work. She died in 1957. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 156 pages
• Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform (May 18, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1461190495
• ISBN-13: 978-1461190493
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.5 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (125 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #299,970 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Dorothy L. Sayers (1893-1957) was a playwright, scholar, and acclaimed author of mysteries, best known for her books starring the gentleman sleuth Lord Peter Wimsey.

Born in Oxford, England, Sayers, whose father was a reverend, grew up in the Bluntisham rectory and won a scholarship to Oxford University where she studied modern languages and worked at the publishing house Blackwell's, which published her first book of poetry in 1916.

Years later, working as an advertising copywriter, Sayers began work on Whose Body?, a mystery novel featuring dapper detective Lord Peter Wimsey. Over the next two decades, Sayers published ten more Wimsey novels and several short stories, crafting a character whose complexity was unusual for the mystery novels of the time.

In 1936, Sayers brought Lord Peter Wimsey to the stage in a production of Busman's Honeymoon, a story which she would publish as a novel the following year. The play was so successful that she gave up mystery writing to focus on the stage, producing a series of religious works culminating in The Man Born to Be King (1941) a radio drama about the life of Jesus.

She also wrote theological essays and criticism during and after World War II, and in 1949 published the first volume of a translation of Dante's Divine Comedy (which she considered to be her best work).

Dorothy Sayers died of a heart attack in 1957.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

67 of 69 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Dorothy Sayers' apprentice-work September 13, 2000

By Pauline J. Alama

Format:Mass Market Paperback

If "Whose Body?" is the only Lord Peter Wimsey novel you've read, don't judge the rest by it. And if, like me, you read the later ones first, you may be amused to see how different this one is. I wonder whether Dorothy L. Sayers was still unsure, when she wrote this, whether she wanted to write a detective story or a parody of a detective story. There are wonderful comic touches, oddly mixed with some fairly gruesome scenes. The characters are broadly satirical, like the caricatured upper-class twits in P.G. Wodehouse. Lord Peter is frivolous and eccentric, a sort of smarter cousin to Wodehouse's amiable fop Bertie Wooster; the Dowager Duchess, his mother, is endearingly ditsy, like Aunt Dahlia of Wodehouse fame. As a mystery, the story fails -- I knew who the murderer was at once, not because of any clues but because there wasn't any other reason to introduce that character. However, it's interesting to examine the early, rough work that preceded Dorothy L. Sayers later, more polished mysteries. In this book, she was just beginning to learn her craft. Aspiring writers can probably learn a lot by comparing this with the much more successful "Clouds of Witness," written 4 years later.

31 of 32 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Best to meet Peter Wimsey elsewhere before you read this one November 9, 2000

By Kytaline

Format:Mass Market Paperback

This was the first of Dorothy L. Sayers' detective novels, but 70-odd years after publication it's not the best introduction to Sayers or to her most successful hero, Lord Peter Wimsey. If that's what you're looking for, try Nine Tailors, Murder Must Advertise, or one of the books that include Harriet Vane (my personal favourite is Gaudy Night).

"Whose Body" is something of an apprentice work. Lord Peter is here more a bundle of characteristics than a character: a collector of rare books and incunabula, facile with quotations, fluent in French and probably in Latin, a skillful and sensitive pianist who never needs to practise, slightly built but possessed of "curious" strength and speed which he maintains without exercise. Over subsequent books, this caricature smooths and deepens into one of the most interesting and attractive detectives in fiction.

In spite of its awkwardness, Whose Body is worth reading. The plot is clever, the villain is believable and sadistic, and most of the supporting characters are a delight. Some of these characters are further developed in later novels: Bunter, Parker, the Dowager Duchess, Freddy Arbuthnot. Others fortunately are not. Sayers is much better with people she might recognise as "like us" then with people from other social groups.

Sayers developed into a powerful writer of fiction whose technique was imperceptible. Here she has less mastery of technique, so that the scenes that work have disproportionate impact. The encounter between the Dowager Duchess of Denver and the American millionaire Milligan is a tiny classic.

In summary, interesting and entertaining for existing fans, but a hurdle for newcomers to the world of Wimsey.

24 of 26 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars wonderful book- a true kindle bargain of quality June 1, 2010

By Sunnflwr

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

Please publish more Sayers books on Kindle! This one is notable for being the first entry to my knowledge in the Lord Peter Wimsey series, but as soon as you finish it, you are ready for the next one. Hurry, Kindle!