I mistakenly assumed he was a stuffy old lord and soon found his dry sense of humor added some zing to his character. Lord Peter Wimsey is verbose and from the privileged upper-class. Wimsey is as eccentric as any contemporary detectiveâ€“Castle, Bones, and Monk come to mind. The story lacks the detailed forensics of contemporary mysteries, and Wimsey isnâ€™t Sherlock Holmes, but he has plenty of quirks to keep a reader entertained. Plus, I do believe sheâ€™s poking fun at the aristocrats. Dated isnâ€™t necessarily bad as Sayersâ€™ language and the detailed mannerisms of her characters take the reader back in time. This book was written in the early 1920s. Is it any wonder the police want him to keep his nose out of their business? My Observations He believes the police have misidentified the body and sets out to find out who the dead man really is.Īlong the way, he solves the mystery and leaves the police department looking a bit foolish. Lord Peter Wimsey is an amateur sleuth with little respect for the police’s ability to solve the mystery. Yeah, this pretty much has to be a humorous, witty story. The village is shocked someone would do such a ridiculous and ill-bred thing. The dead man is unknown to the household, and it appears he crawled in through an open window, decided to take a bath, and died. The book starts out with a naked body in a bathtub. I think I read all her books when I was a teenager. Agatha Christie is probably the author who comes to mind when thinking of early female mystery writers. Sayers is one of the first female mystery writers.

There are three reasons I read Sayers’ first mystery:Ģ) I’m writing a Steampunk mystery and wanted to see what old-time mysteries were like ģ) I wanted to read an older mystery written by a woman. Although she considered this translation to be her best work, it is for her elegantly constructed detective fiction that Sayers remains best remembered.” (Source Amazon) Why a Mystery? Sayers also wrote theological essays and criticism during and after World War II, and in 1949 published the first volume of a translation of Danteâ€™s Divine Comedy. Sayers set the Wimsey novels between the two World Wars, giving them a realistic tone by incorporating details from contemporary issues such as advertising, womenâ€™s education, and veteransâ€™ health. While working as an advertising copywriter, Sayers began writing Whose Body? (1923), the first Wimsey mystery, followed by ten sequels and several short stories. Sayers (1893â€“1957) was a British playwright, scholar, and acclaimed author of mysteries, best known for her books starring the gentleman sleuth Lord Peter Wimsey.

Whose body sayers