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Whose Body? (Lord Peter Wimsey Mysteries) (Mass Market Paperback)

by Dorothy L. Sayers (Author) "Oh, damn!" said Lord Peter Wimsey at Piccadilly Circus..." (more)
Key Phrases: Lord Peter, Sir Julian, Sir Reuben (more...)
3.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (29 customer reviews)

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Editorial Reviews

Review
"Dorothy Sayers is in a class by herself." -- Chicago Daily Tribune --This text refers to the Audio Cassette edition.

Product Description
The stark naked body was lying in the tub.Not unusual for a proper bath, but highly irregular for murder -- especially witha pair of gold pince-nez deliberately perched before the sightless eyes. What's more, the face appeared to have been shaved after death. The police assumed that the victim was a prominent financier, but Lord Peter Wimsey, who dabbled in mystery detection as a hobby, knew better. In this, his first murder case, Lord Peter untangles the ghastly mystery of the corpse in the bath.

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Product Details

  • Mass Market Paperback: 224 pages
  • Publisher: HarperTorch (June 21, 1995)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0061043575
  • ISBN-13: 978-0061043574
  • Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4.2 x 0.9 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 4.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (29 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.com Sales Rank: #111,096 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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    #15 in  Books > Mystery & Thrillers > Authors, A-Z > ( S ) > Sayers, Dorothy L.

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Customer Reviews

29 Reviews
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Average Customer Review
3.9 out of 5 stars (29 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars Dorothy Sayers' apprentice-work, September 13, 2000
By Pauline J. Alama "Fantasy author" (Rutherford, NJ United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
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.
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18 of 21 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars The Body in the Bathroom, February 21, 2002
When Lord Peter Wimsey is called in by Her Grace the Dowager Duchess (AKA Mother) to help extricate the timid Mr. Thipps from a case of body in the bathtub he finds himself embroiled in for far more than he has bargained. For one thing, the church architect's excess body, naked except for a Gold pince-nez, appears to be inexplicable. When it turns out that Sir Reuben Levy, an important financier is missing, the police become convinced that the body is that of Levy, and seize Thipps and the maid as the guilty party, despite all evidence to the contrary. Now Wimsey must work quickly with his friend Inspector Parker to solve both crimes and save both Thipps and the leaking church roof.

Thus begins Dorothy Sayer's first novel in the Lord Peter Wimsey series. Partly a satire of the British upper class, partly a comedy of manners, and mostly the first of a time honored series of detective novels that very nearly reinvented the British mystery story in the 1920's. Lord Peter is the second son of the current generation of the Dukes of Denver, his rather stuffy brother currently holding the title. Lately recovered from some harrowing war experiences and a badly ended relationship, he has come to be an amateur detective as a way to gain a new focus in life. Wimsey is intelligent, only occasionally serious, and a perfect image of the English gentleman.

Accompanying Lord Peter is his most excellent manservant Bunter, who served with him in the war and has become a loyal and true companion. Bunter is the straight man for many of Wimsey's quips and quotes, but has a wry wit of his own, and is probably the first forensic photographer in detective fiction. Lord Peter's other aide in this and ensuing tales is Inspector Parker who is of the same age and equally bright in his own right. A man after my own heart, Parker reads theology for entertainment. While the detection style has much of the same cerebral quality which mark many of Holmes' adventures, Wimsey and his companions are far more accessible than the 'Consulting Detective.'

Sayer's has a unique ability to do caricature, creating little gemlike performances for each of the people who parade through her stories. Be they somewhat dull policemen to distinguished surgeons, nobody is unmemorable. The wonderful characters, and Wimsey's own unique charms are very much the reasons that ''Whose Body' and the rest of the tales remain rereadable long after the plot has been completely memorized. Hopefully, you are a reader newly come to the world of Lord Peter and can look forward to the delights of this discovery. Dorothy Sayers is very much in a class by herself, both in terms of her own achievements and because of the history of her most remarkable invention, Lord Peter Death Bredon Wimsey.

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8 of 8 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 (Sydney, Australia) - See all my reviews
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.

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Most Recent Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars Whimsey, anyone?
"A Corpse-in-the-Bathtub mystery..to be sure...but also the introduction to the Whimsey of Lord Peter (without the "h"?), a person of Title with a penchant for Detecting. Read more
Published 4 months ago by Judith A Loue

4.0 out of 5 stars A little rough start to a great series
Whose Body? is the first in the Lord Peter Wimsey mystery series. A dead body turns up in Mr. Thipps's bathtub one morning wearing nothing but a pince-nez; at the same time, a... Read more
Published 14 months ago by K. Huff

3.0 out of 5 stars disapointed wimsey
I think Dorothy Sayers got better as she went along. Her first try at Peter Wimsey was a disappointment to me.
Published 14 months ago by J. Weiss

5.0 out of 5 stars Great early Lord Peter Wimsey entry
In his first case, Lord Peter Wimsey rushes to help out a London innocent ("Poor Little Thipps"), when a dead body shows up in the unfortunate fellow's bathtub. Read more
Published 18 months ago by Patrick W. Crabtree

5.0 out of 5 stars Accept no substitutes: Ian Carmichael is the ONLY person to read Lord Peter.
This is the unabridged audiobook of Lord Peter Wimsey's introduction, "Whose Body". Whatever you do, do NOT purchase any Lord Peter audiobooks unless they are read by Ian... Read more
Published 19 months ago by Michael Howk

4.0 out of 5 stars "His clothes were kind of a rebuke to the world at large."
Whose Body? Sayers first Lord Peter Whimsey novel hints at the promise of later volumes in the series. Read more
Published on September 18, 2006 by Snowbrocade

5.0 out of 5 stars Detecting with Sophisticated Nonchalance

Lord Peter Wimsey, one of the classic detectives of British mysteries, is introduced to the reader and the world in this 1923 whodunit. Read more
Published on January 30, 2006 by JAD

4.0 out of 5 stars Delightful.
I had forgotten how fun this is. Reflecting the social attitudes of English aristocracy at the time, yet still with the impact of WWI, Wimsey is an interesting character... Read more
Published on April 26, 2005 by L. J. Roberts

4.0 out of 5 stars Introducing Lord Peter and company
This is the first of the 'Lord Peter' series and therefore spends a lot of time laying the groundword for the series. Read more
Published on September 27, 2004 by Jeanne Tassotto

4.0 out of 5 stars Meet the Wimseys
In Lord Peter Wimsey's debut novel, Dorothy L. Sayers provides her detective with quite the conundrum: a known missing body as well as a found unknown one. Read more
Published on September 9, 2004 by C. T. Mikesell

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Product Information from the Amapedia Community

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Whose Body? (Lord Peter Wimsey Mysteries (Paperback))

This is a: Lord Peter Wimsey Novel

Dorothy Leigh Sayers:  (June 13, 1893- Dec. 17, 1957) born at Oxford; graduated from Somerville College, Oxford (1915) majoring in modern languages; went to work in publishing. She wrote mystery novels; radio and stage scripts; poetry; scholarly ...

Mass Market Paperback: 224 pages;  Publisher: HarperTorch; Reissue edition (August 1, 1995); ...

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