Whose Body?

By Dorothy Sayers

Summary:

A famous London financier vanishes from his bedroom, leaving no trace. Across town, a corpse is found in an architect’s bathtub, wearing nothing but a pair of pince-nez. The body is not that of the missing financier, so–whose body is it? When Lord Peter Wimsey is asked by his mother, the Dowager Duchess of Denver, to help clear her architect of suspicion, he eagerly obliges. With the assistance of his valet, Bunter, a skilled amateur photographer, he quickly becomes convinced that the two cases are linked, despite the skepticism of the police. But what begins as an amusing puzzle takes on darker overtones, as Lord Peter wrestles with intrusive memories of his traumatic service in the trenches of World War I–and as his own life is endangered by the murderer he is about to unmask.

Group Reviews/Comments

0ur group is no longer using a standard rating system. Each member gives comments and using whatever rating system they want! I’m sorting them here by Liked/Didn’t Like.

Liked it:

The mystery wasn’t that bad. The best thing about it was that it was short. Tiny thumbs up.

Very important part of my childhood. I like her style immensely. Her characters are really meaningful. I identify with Lord Peter.

Thumbs up. Enjoyed that it was an almost farcical look at the upper crust. I didn’t like Wimsey, but liked the idea of him “playing Sherlock.” Loved the fact that the PTSD was there—this was a realistic portrayal of it at a time when it wasn’t really talked about. And the moment of realizing what happened—that was written in a really interesting way. It was kind of fun.

Thumbs up. I felt I was in the middle of a British sit com. I kind of expected that it would be off the wall. My favorite character is Bunter. He can just wrap Wimsey around his finger. The end was totally unrealistic.

I found it interesting at times and then at other times it was very strange. Slight thumbs up because I finished it.

Didn’t like it:

Thumbs down with sound effects!

Why I hate Dorothy Sayers—her writing is awful. The entire book is boring dialogue.
No sense of place. No sense of character—all flat.
Even his shell shock symptoms are unconvincing. And the end was ludicrous.

Meh. I normally like old timey mystery. No sense of time or place. I liked the mystery—two intertwined mysteries. The shell shock came out of nowhere.

Thumbs down. Bizarre book.

Thumbs down. But appreciate parts of it.

I abandoned it.

Didn’t really have a super strong reaction. If I want an aristocrat, I prefer Thomas Linley. Not a whole lot of detail about setting. Thumbs down.

Thumbs down. No tension. Just kind of blah. I liked the whole mystery of the body in the bathtub…but didn’t like any of the characters. The end—the criminal was the worst criminal ever.

 

Similar Posts