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    Whose Body?: A Lord Peter Wimsey Mystery
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    Whose Body?: A Lord Peter Wimsey Mystery
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    Whose Body?: A Lord Peter Wimsey Mystery
    Audiobook6 hours

    Whose Body?: A Lord Peter Wimsey Mystery

    Written by Dorothy L. Sayers

    Narrated by Mark Meadows

    3.5/5

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    About this audiobook

    After a corpse wearing pince-nez glasses is found in a bathtub, Lord Peter Wimsey undertakes the case and investigates the deed privately. But determining whether the corpse belongs to a well-known banker or a group of mischief-making medical students is just the beginning of this tangled mystery plot.

    This atmospheric novel put Dorothy L. Sayers in the ranks with Agatha Christie as a mystery writer nonpareil.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherDreamscape Media Audio
    Release dateJan 3, 2019
    ISBN9781974935338
    Author

    Dorothy L. Sayers

    Simon Winchester is the acclaimed author of many books, including The Professor and the Madman, The Men Who United the States, The Map That Changed the World, The Man Who Loved China, A Crack in the Edge of the World, and Krakatoa, all of which were New York Times bestsellers and appeared on numerous best and notable lists. In 2006, Winchester was made an officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) by Her Majesty the Queen. He resides in western Massachusetts.

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    Reviews for Whose Body?

    3.5/5

    1,361 ratings81 reviews

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    • 5/5
      Very happy to discover Dorothy L. Sayers, a true master of classic cozy mystery.
    • 4/5
      Why haven't I read Sayers before? This is so good!!!
    • 2/5
      I really expected to like this book better. I found it a bit dull and the character of Lord Peter Wimsey to be somewhat difficult to like. Not that impressed.
    • 4/5
      This first of the Lord Peter Wimsey series was very well done with well written characters and good psychological and sociological assessments.
    • 3/5
      This is the first Lord Peter Wimsey book it was pretty good ,not as good as I was expecting but still good .I will be reading more of this series as I've heard they do get much better.
    • 2/5
      naked body with only pince eres found in bath tub, Lord Peter Wimsey series
    • 5/5
      This is early Sayers, when murder is black and white and probably prinicipled a la Raskolnikov, in a Western civilization quite possible on the brink after WWI. Peter is a long-nosed twit without a lot of depth, but he more than compensates for it with sparkle.
    • 4/5
      My first and still one of my favorite Lord Peter mysteries.
    • 4/5
      Rereading Sayers’ first Wimsey book, Whose Body? reminding this reviewer why it was they had so loved this genre of story. Sayers’ writing style is unobtrusively good. One is seldom consciously aware of the fact that the author has managed to draw deep and nuanced word portraits in a few sentences. Words are used carefully yet the author seldom makes a point of her erudition save for her choice not to translate the portions of a conversation that take place in French.Although the method by which the murderer carried out his plans strains credulity Sayers does not resort to the all too common plot device of a massive international criminal conspiracy that one encounters among so many of English mystery writers of this time. This murderer’s motivations are almost mundane in comparison to those found in many of the author’s contemporaries. A number of things stand out to this reader.First, there is a base level of anti-Semitism in the Britain of the 1920s that may take a modern reader aback. People are described as “Hebrew” as if that was an identifier no different from “blond.” And many of the characters in this book are clearly prejudiced against Jews. Yet Sir Reuben Levy, the “self-made” and wealthy Jew around whose disappearance much of the book revolves, is not characterized as miserly or money-grubbing. Yes, he holds to the personal economies that helped him become a very wealthy man but he is also shown to be extremely generous to his wife and daughter. His marriage is portrayed as happy and sound and his wife, who braved criticism when she chose to marry a Jew is shown as having never had a reason to regret that decision.Second, near the end of this book there is a short and stunningly effective depiction of PTSD. It was at that time known as shell-shock but there can be no question that that is what Lord Peter is victim of. This PTSD functions as the reason why he sometimes withdraws in apparent fatuity. As a man who knows that deep emotions may trigger flashbacks he uses a variety of techniques to dampen down those emotions at moments of stress. This grounds Wimsey’s behaviour, and the acceptance of that behaviour on the part of those around him, not in his “class” or the fashion of his social circle but in their knowledge that he has, in a sense, earned the right to sometimes withdraw both intellectually and emotionally.Third, Sayers treats her non-aristocratic characters as intelligent and rational people. One understands why Lord Peter would find Mr. Parker an enjoyable person to dine with. Parker himself is well-educated and is shown to read books that are as intellectually challenging as those that interest Wimsey. Indeed, when he and Lord Peter discuss the morality and rationale of detective work and law on a serious level it is often Parker who seems to make the better argument.Bunter, is another character who, written by a lesser author, could easily fall into caricature rather than characterization. Bunter does not drop letters from his speech and fall back on cant and argot. He, it is pointed out in the text, has been educated well. And the last line in the “shell-shock” scene makes it clear that what ties Bunter to Wimsey is not loyalty based on a class relationship but the loyalty that is forged by shared experiences in combat and physical deprivation.Whose Body? is not the “perfect” mystery novel the plot is over complicated and the denouement under impressive. This is, however, an impressive first outing for a detective, and a cast of characters, whose motivations and psychologies are better drawn in a scant few hundred pages than other authors can achieve after several books.
    • 3/5
      Not her best, to be sure. I enjoyed the characters though I feel they could have been drawn with more detail (especially Peter, I can't wait to read more about him). I like her use of language and the set of society she's chosen to represent is great fun. The conclusion is a little frustrating seeing as the murderer confesses all in a letter but Sayer's humour really saves the mystery from being commonplace. I'll definitely continue reading the books in the series.
    • 5/5
      The first of the Lord Peter Wimsey books, this is one of my favourites. It perfectly captures the postwar world--superficiality and despair perfectly balanced. Wimsey, in his introduction, is a likeable character, outwardly a prattling fool, but inwardly a shell-shocked, pain-wracked soul torturing himself over his experiences in the war. The mystery is a trifle obvious, but the characters are likeable and fun. More importantly, the book really captures the atmosphere and troubling questions that were faced in the society of postwar England.
    • 3/5
      The body of the title is a naked (except for a pair of glasses) corpse lounging in someone's bathtub. Indeed, who is it? A Jewish business man who has been reported missing? The corpse looks Jewish, but doesn't look like a business man.I downloaded this audio book from my library's Hoopla account, and I did it by accident: I thought it was the first Harriet Vane book, Strong Poison. Instead, it was the first Peter Wimsey book, and like many first books in a series, it lacks the richness of later books and was much more of a simple puzzle-mystery. Still, Wimsey was Wimsey from the start, a brilliant and sensitive man disguised as an upper-class twit. It's amusing just to hear him speak, and his banter with Bunter is delicious.
    • 4/5
      1st outing for amateur sleuth Lord Peter Wimsey. Enjoyable although dated and interesting twist by addition of 1st world war shell shock to Wimsey.
    • 4/5
      Peter Wimsey is pleasantly engaging, and the rather old-fashioned mystery is charming. I can see why these have held up well over time - while there are aspects that are depressingly dated (I couldn't help but wince a bit at the discussions of Jews,) a solid love-or-money motive and fastidious sleuthing are always perfect for a bit of light reading.
    • 5/5
      I haven't read a bad Dorothy Sayers yet, so I'm not surprised that this kept me on the edge of my seat. A little more raw and physical than some of her other Lord Peter Wimsey mysteries and as always an exploration of the nature of evil.
    • 3/5
      Unbelievably, this was my third try with Sayers' first Lord Peter Wimsey story. Repeated attempts are only explained because I was curious about how the series started and how the character grew. Although I liked Wimsey and his manservant Bunter, the story was less appealing than I expected - or maybe it was exactly what I expected.
    • 4/5
      Whose Body is the first of Dorothy Sayers’ Lord Peter Wimsey mysteries. The book is shorter than later novels in the series, but it stands the test of time well, told with beautifully English voice, combining good manners and bad deeds in a truly enticing blend, and introducing a great protagonist. Lord Peter proves he loves books, reveals his wounded WWI psyche, and retires to his country home… but first there’s a body to be buried and a name to be given. There’s satisfaction in following the arguments, guessing their resolutions, and seeing the pleasing interactions whereby the truth will be revealed. Great characters, great time and place, and the promise of much much more to come.Disclosure: As a treat, I’ve decided to read all the Lord Peter Wimsey novels in order, so this is where I start, and I’m enjoying the ride.
    • 4/5
      I decided it's time to re-read the Lord Peter mysteries, in publication order. This one is a lot of fun, and Sayers deftly sets up the elements and characters that will serve so well in the coming novels: Bunter, who is capable, efficient, and secretly soft-hearted; Detective Parker, stolid but an excellent detective in his own right; the delightful Dowager Duchess; and of course Lord Peter Wimsey himself, both fascinated by crime and conflicted by the idea that his hobby of choice is putting people behind bars.
    • 4/5
      Much better than the book I read next (Five Red Herrings). Had some Dowager Duchess, besides the piffle. Somewhat obvious motive for the crime, but it was fun watching them make sure about the means and so on. Also some amusing offscreen gore at the end.
    • 3/5
      Another Wimsey re-read. In this one there's a missing financier and a mystery body - are the two related? It seems unlikely, but with Parker working on the missing man from the police end and Wimsey working on the mystery body from the end of the family who had this dumped in their bath the two cases work their way together. I like this one with the excpetion of the final chapter, where the criminal confesses in a letter being written as he was arrested and prior to his intended flight form justice. Having it laid out like that somehow takes the gloss off it. But with that quibble aside, this is interesting for several elements, the incidence of Wimsey's shell shock being one that stands out. So one of the best puzzles, but the ending, to my mind, lets it down slightly.
    • 4/5
      I'd been wanting to read Lord Peter Wimsey for ages and started with the first book (when I finally found it). I found it a bit hard going in parts to begin with but by half way through the book I was hooked. Lord Peter is an addictive character and the mystery has so many strands that all make sense in the end. I've started another DLS now and am even more hooked.
    • 3/5
      I suspect I judged Whose Body? differently, after studying Victorian crime fiction - my expectations of a murder mystery have altered and the lack of main female characters and any romantic subplottheir absence did not bother me at all. The plot is intriguing - Lord Peter is looking into the case of a man who has been found dead in a bathtub wearing nothing but a pince-nez, and his friend Parker (who is a professional Scotland Yard detective) is looking for a missing business man. They swap notes - swap aspects of their investigations, even, and Peter begins to feel that the two are connected. Certain discoveries were unsurprising, and aspects about the ending weren't completely satisfactory. However, the mystery progressed quickly and it is told in such an interesting and entertaining manner that it does not really matter. Peter is a unemployed, unattached aristocrat who is amused by the intellectual challenge his hobby of investigating crimes provides - but not so much by the implications that involves catching a man who will invariably hanged. He is confident, quick-witted and sociable, with an entertaining manner of speech. His conversations with Parker and his interactions with his manservant are quite amusing. I have managed to read the first Lord Peter Wimsey practically last, and was interested to observe Peter is portrayed as a much younger man - as he should be; Whose Body? was written (and set) over a decade before Gaudy Night*. It is interesting to see the sort of person he was; he was both more flippant and more serious than I expected him to be. I was interested that the story included information about his shell-shock and how it affects him - it makes him more human and likable, somehow.Peter's mother, the Dowager Duchess, makes more than one appearance and is delightfully charming and verbose. Other points of interest include an interview with a medical student which is mostly written in the second person ("you" being the slightly bewildered doctor-to-be), an inquest, a detective called Sugg who embodies the "stupid police stereotype" and gets in Lord Peter's way, and the historical context - the mannerisms and social mores of the times.I liked it a lot. It's not Gaudy Night, but it isn't trying to be. It's an entertaining mystery, and while it manages to hold up better on the "entertaining" rather than the "mystery" side of things, I see no reason to hold that against it.* One of the last Lord Peter Wimsey mysteries, and one of my very favourite books.
    • 5/5
      I originally started trying to read Sayer's Lord Peter Wimsey mysteries about 10-15 years ago, and only got about a 1/3 of the way through. It was a thoroughly delightful surprise then to go back, and find out how good these are.The stories are set in 1920's England (for all of you Downton fans, a perfect setting). The characters are superb. One can spend hours chuckling at the interaction between Lord Peter and Bunter, his valet. One also finds the origins of the strong friendship between the two.Overall, a simply delightful book - and I now understand why these are classics of the golden age of British mysteries.
    • 4/5
      It all started when Lord Peter Wimsey's mother phoned him to tell him she couldn't have tea with the church's architect that morning as he'd found a body in his bath tub. The infinitely resourceful Lord Peter worms his way into the murder investigation for a lark, and feels obligated to continue since he's convinced the police have made a mistake. Set in the London of the 1920s, this story is crackling with droll British humor, and only the first in a fantastic series of classic mysteries.
    • 4/5
      I finished Whose Body? by Dorothy L. Sayers today. This is the first Lord Peter Wimsey novel published. It was very much an "introducing the characters" type of book. The story was first published in 1923 and the 1935 edition, which appears to be the one my 1973 edition is based on, includes a biography of Lord Peter which was supposedly written by Lord Peter's uncle, Paul Austin Delagardie, his mother's brother. I can see that this "biography" was added to support overarching plot lines and to provide back story that supports elements found in later Wimsey tales. Apparently the 1935 edition also incorporated some corrections from the author.An enjoyable story with quotations from poems in the early chapters of the book that probably have allusions and meaning that I am not aware of, but that is more to do with my being a Philistine when it comes to all things poetry related more than any obscurity of the verses concerned.The first volume of Sayers's translation of Dante's Inferno was published in 1949, some 26 years after "Whose Body?" However, in "Whose Body?", she demonstrates Lord Peter Wimsey's interest in books, or more correctly, his bibliophilia, by describing how keen he is to purchase a rare edition of Dante's Inferno at an auction for a significant sum of money. I suspect all Sayers's references to rare books in "Whose Body?" are accurate and will stand up to investigation. Rare books would have been something she would have been knowledgeable about and it is interesting to see her inserting some of her personal interests into the novel.It is an interesting first novel and it is interesting to see how the characters are being introduced and described. It will be interesting to see their development as I read more of the Wimsey books.The first Bertie Wooster/Jeeves story by P.G. Wodehouse was published in 1915. Sayers was obviously familiar with the character and it would appear she modelled Lord Peter on Bertie but added sufficient intelligence to give her character more gravitas and wisdom while still having flights of whimsy, if you excuse the near-pun. While reading "Whose Body?" it was hard not to hear Lord Peter's words in the voice of Hugh Laurie's depiction of Bertie Wooster in the BBC TV series.Bunter, Lord Peter's "Man", appears to be as wise and reliable as Jeeves but much more sombre and serious.
    • 5/5
      I must admit that my familiarity with Lord Peter Wimsey began with the Masterpiece Theater series of mysteries featuring the character, although I didn't watch them all that much. I think I was too young at the time to really appreciate him. Later I read Gaudy Night and fell in love with him and with the book. It's a novel not quite like anything else, a truly intellectual romance, an exploration of cloistered academic life, and a mystery tied up into a beautiful homage to Oxford and the possibility of returning home. After that I read Busman's Holiday, but never any of the real mysteries - those without Harriet Vane.Whose Body? is Sayers' first installment in the Lord Peter Wimsey mysteries. In it we are introduced to the characters who will recur throughout the books - in particular, Lord Peter and his man - Bunter. I know lots of people consider Jeeves from PG Wodehouse's books to be the quintessential butler, but for me it's Bunter. Bunter was Lord Peter's batman during the Great War. Bunter saved Lord Peter's life during the war and their partnership continues after the war. Bunter is the butler's butler - a man filled with dignity, grace, and impeccable taste. He is a talented photographer and forensic scientist and becomes Lord Peter's partner in crimesolving throughout the books.Whose Body? is a closed room myster - a naked, unidentified man found in a bath wearing a pair of golden pince nez. Sayers takes this very simple premise and expands it into an entertaining and turntwisting whodunit. A wonderful read and a taste of what was to come.
    • 2/5
      I wasn't too impressed and found this to be rather boring.
    • 3/5
      Overall interesting, though a bit on the bland side at first.
    • 4/5
      Parts of this mystery are quick enjoyable - Lord Peter can be amusing, I quite liked his mother, and the mystery began as a promising puzzle. However, the puzzle quickly resolved itself and the final chapter where everthing is explained was a little too long. Would like to try another and see if the mysteries get better.
    • 3/5
      The Lord Peter Wimsey murder mystery series starts with this book. A body is found in a bathtub with nothing on but pince-nez glasses. Starting with very little information, Wimsey tackles the case from the sidelines. If Bertie Wooster was a detective he would be Lord Peter Wimsey. His is a gentleman and is inspired by Sherlock Holmes. The case is mildly interesting, but not enough to be a page turner. I was surprisingly bored throughout the book. There were a few parts I really liked, including one section where Wimsey is questioning a witness. The witness scoffs at the amount of detail people seem to remember in detective novels. No one remembers so much, he says! Then Wimsey walks him through a line of questions that help him remember exactly what he was doing on the night in question. BOTTOM LINE: I wasn’t too impressed, but I will continue to read the series because I’ve heard it gets really good once the character of Harriet Vane is introduced in Strong Poison. “Well, it’s no good jumping at conclusions.” “Jump? You don’t even crawl distantly within sight of a conclusion.”