Lord Peter Views the Body

Lord Peter Wimsey #4

by Dorothy L. Sayers

In this delightful collection of Wimsey exploits, Dorothy L. Sayers reveals a gruesome, grotesque but absolutely bewitching side rarely shown in Lord Peter's full-length adventures.

Lord Peter views the body in 12 tantalizing and bizarre ways in this outstanding collection. He deals with such marvels as the man with copper fingers, Uncle Meleager's missing will, the cat in the bag, the footsteps that ran, the stolen stomach, the man without a face...and with such clues as cyanide, jewels, a roast chicken and a classic crossword puzzle.

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Short Stories, Crime, Classics, British Literature, Detective

336 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1928

About the author

The detective stories of well-known British writer Dorothy Leigh Sayers mostly feature the amateur investigator Lord Peter Wimsey; she also translated the Divine Comedy of Dante Alighieri.

This renowned author and Christian humanist studied classical and modern languages.

Her best known mysteries, a series of short novels, set between World War I and World War II, feature an English aristocrat and amateur sleuth. She is also known for her plays and essays.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dorothy...

Reviews

[Jaline · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although titled as the 4th book in the Lord Peter Wimsey series, this book is also a standalone. It contains 10 short stories and two small novellas. While I am not a big fan of short stories (always wanting a longer read and more in-depth exploration of a storyline), I found these to be engaging.

I found out much more about Lord Peter as he continued to solve mysteries in his unique fashion. The third short story in the book contains a crossword puzzle laid out by a clever old man in his will. As I read the clues – a series of rhyming couplets – I was in awe.

I am not good at crossword puzzles in the first place, but these were so obscure and filled with so many literary and historical references, I was convinced that the only person who could possibly solve them would be Andy Carpenter’s receptionist/secretary from David Rosenfelt’s series. She is a crossword puzzle fanatic and no-one can come near her for cracking the toughest puzzles.

However, somehow Lord Peter and the two people working with him on the puzzle did find the answer to the blank puzzle pictured in the story. For those of us who might be clueless, there is a chapter at the back of the book matching up the right words to the clues as well as the finished diagram of the puzzle.

I already mentioned in my update notes that serendipity had me starting a novella on Hallowe’en and that it featured a luminous carriage being drawn by ‘floating’, headless white horses and driven by a headless man – all of this vision of shimmering white passing soundless and haunting. Just perfect for Hallowe'en!

The last story in the book even features organized crime as it was in the day, further evidence of Ms Sayers’ versatility in her writing. I thoroughly enjoyed this book of short stories and novellas and for people who may be interested in the series but not certain, this would be a good place to start!

[Adrian · Rating 4 out of 5]

Group Read of all Lord Peter novels 2022
Despite it being only 2 years since I read this, I really enjoyed them all again, and if I'm honest I didn't remember all of them ha ha.

Buddy Read of this book of short stories April 2020
My mother was a very keen detective/mystery book reader and had a full set of Sayers (amongst many others) however unfortunately I no longer have them in my possession, and it has been many years since I read a Dorothy L Sayers book. So this buddy read of 12 short stories was an enjoyable diversion.

The stories were all varied, from investigations into dead stomachs, to spies collecting secrets, to the sad demise of Lord Peter, to artists making life like sculptures, to peculiar wills involving crosswords, a real mixed bag.
Lord Peter demonstrates a great knowledge of wine of crosswords and rare books to name but a few of his talents.

As I said it is many a year since Lord Peter and I were acquainted, but on this experience I am sure it will be repeated again soon.
( Many thanks to Leslie for running the buddy-read and putting up with my thoughts )

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although I am not really a fan of short stories – much preferring novels – I wanted to re-read the Lord Peter Wimsey books and realised that I had never read this collection. The book consists of the following stories:

The Abominable History of the Man with Copper Fingers
The Entertaining Episode of the Article in Question
The Fascinating Problem of Uncle Meleager’s Will
The Fantastic Horror of the Cat in the Bag
The Unprincipled Affair of the Practical Joker
The Undignified Melodrama of the Bone of Contention
The Vindictive Story of the Footsteps that Ran
The Bibulous Business of a Matter of Taste
The Learned Adventure of the Dragon’s Head
The Piscatorial Farce of the Stolen Stomach
The Unsolved Puzzle of the Man with No Face
The Adventurous Exploit of the Cave of Ali Baba

These stories have everything a fan of Golden Age Detective Fiction could want – missing wills, organised crime gangs, jewel thieves, bizarre crimes and, often, more bizarre solutions. These are lots of fun, wonderfully written puzzles and you feel that no criminal could remain unmasked with Lord Peter Wimsey on the case!

[BrokenTune · Rating 4 out of 5]

On re-reading the stories, I liked them a whole lot better. However, I'd recommend to readers that the short stories are best left until you've read the novels.

Updated review on my WP blog here.

Original review:

2.5*

I like Peter and Bunter but the stories in this collection were lacking something - either the development of other characters or a hook. I stand by my hypothesis that some authors are great at creating novels but can't quite transfer the same skill to short stories or - without referring to the format - simply shorter stories.

Still, some fun adventures with Peter.

Now on to the next Wimsey novel...

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

A dozen entertaining stories featuring Lord Peter Wimsey.

My favorite was ‘The Man with no face’. It is not often a murderer escapes punishment in the Golden Age of stories.

The Stolen Stomach was intriguing and I wondered if anatomically possible.

The man with copper fingers was very Frankenstein and shows what happens when jealousy mutates to insanity.

Uncle Meleager’s Will confirmed my inability with crosswords.

The Learned Adventure of the Dragon’s Head was an amusing treasure hunt story.

Sayer’s certainly had a great imagination and liked long titles for her short stories.

[Metodi Markov · Rating 3 out of 5]

Лорд Питър е скучаещ млад английски благородник, надарен с остър ум, който използва за да разкрива чудновати престъпления в Англия и по света, в началото на ХХ век.

Има попадения в този сборник с разкази, но като цяло не съм впечатлен и оставям лорда и верния му мултифункционален иконом на мира. :)

[Julie]

5/10

Update Mar 9.

After sleeping on this a few days, I've downgraded its rating, set as buoy for other readers. It's actually put a spoke in my wheels about reading the rest of the Wimsey series.

With a completely dispassionate view, I'll have to admit some of these stories are just bl**dy awful. What was she thinking? Surely, these are some of the worst sketches ever created by a writer, and I wonder if Sayers ever wanted these to see the light of day.

*******************************************

This is more a series of sketches on Lord Wimsey that Sayers seems to have "pencilled" in while working out her longer mystery series on the eminent Lord P.

I had never read any Sayers books, including any of the Wimseys, so it seemed like a good time to jump in. I can't seem to focus on anything at all these days, for various reasons, and yet I crave to read, so thought I would work my way through something that is "none too taxing". I seem to have found the right pile of books to rest my wandering thoughts on, for this series requires very little concentration (or attention, for that matter).

A good palate cleanser for modern times.

While Sayers is a very good, literary writer, I mourn that she spent so much ink on this series. She is literary, erudite, well read. One could build a thesaurus around her writerly capabilities -- and yet her mysteries are extra-light little detective novels that sometimes feel as if the plot lines were constructed by 5th-graders taxed to write a composition on their version of Sherlock Holmes.

There is only the barest (skimpy thin) of plots, rounded out with oodles and piles of classical references. (That's the fun part.) The series is riddled with tidbits of Sayers's classical learnin', dontcha know. We come to know much more about Sayers, in fact, than we do about Wimsey. We know that she is more than a bit of a snob, a literary and intellectual "smarty pants" and she likes to tell the world about how clever she is, through Peter Wimsey. The thing is, she really was quite clever, ... so why not do more with her tremendous intellect? She puzzles me to no end.

Her characterization of Wimsey does not offer any of the satisfying wisdom found in Miss Marple, for instance; or the worldly shrewdness found in Hercule Poirot. There is just a flighty Lord with lots of amazing luck and a briefcase full of classical quotes. I suppose, in the end, what makes him endearing is his humility and bookishness -- but other than that ... pffft.

Nonetheless, I will continue to amble about England, and make the occasional skip over to the continent with Wimsey et al because finding classical nuggets and operating at a 5th-grade level suits my weary soul at the moment.

[Leah · Rating 4 out of 5]

On the back of my copy of this book, there is little indication that these are short stories. As a result, I approached this book innocently assuming I would encounter another full-length Peter Wimsey adventure to delight in. I'm glad it worked out this way, however, because I rarely choose to read short stories voluntarily, and these were just as delightful as Peter's full-length exploits.

I find myself spending each review of a Sayers book comparing her favourably with her more famous contemporary, Agatha Christie. Here, I'll limit myself to saying that each of these stories is fascinating, unique, and different from the last, unlike the aforementioned Queen of Crime's short stories.They range from death-by-modern-art to a good old-fashioned treasure hunt, from crossword-puzzle wills to the piece de resistance, in which Wimsey goes undercover for two years after faking his death to break up a secret society spy ring. This last one is something Agatha Christie has something of a mania for, always with hilarious and somewhat pitiful results, and yet Sayers manages to make me think that these mask-wearing international criminals must have actually existed at the time. Oh yes, it also involves a voice-activated wall-safe. In 1928.

Lord Peter as a character is gloriously likeable. He's serious when he has to be, a little distant (a result of the Great War, his uncle tells us in Sayers' appendix to the newer printings of all Wimsey books), self-deprecating and just bloody funny. Someone you'd love to spend a weekend in the country with, if you get my meaning...

But seriously, a consistent detective character who is also not dull as paint is a rare thing, and you should hang onto them when you find them.

[Suzannah Rowntree · Rating 4 out of 5]

A collection of short Wimsey stories and novelettes. Since all of them are Dorothy Sayers, all of them are of course good, but all of them felt more or less lighter and fluffier than the full-length novels. Sometimes when I'm reading Sayers, she becomes unexpectedly romantic and melodramatic, and I remember that she was writing popular fiction, despite her evident literary skill. I had that sensation a bit more often in this collection than I would normally, but the worst offender was the final story in the collection which is a completely outlandish and ridiculous secret-society story of the kind that PG Wodehouse mercilessly lampooned in Louder and Funnier. It's the kind of thing I would have adored as a teenager, but when it's Sayers, it just seems, well, a little beneath her.

Otherwise, this was, of course, a ton of fun, and my personal favourite would have to be the one featuring Wimsey's nephew St George at the tender age of ten.

[Mara · Rating 3 out of 5]

A pretty uneven collection, with definite highs and lows. I think Sayers' approach to story telling in her short stories very much telling rather than showing, which works better for some of the stories better than others. I also was not so much into the more political thriller-y ones in this collection

[Bill · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book contains 12 mysteries featuring Dorothy Sayers' famous sleuth, Lord Peter Wimsey and each was unique in its own right and all were interesting and entertaining. I've grown to like Lord Peter very much as I've begun to explore this series. Short stories can be so hit or miss. It all depends on how quickly the author can get into the story and grab your attention and then come to a satisfying resolution. Dorothy Sayers succeeded with this much to my satisfaction. Lord Peter is such a wonderful character and the stories helped develop his character even more. He loves a mystery, loves to snoop and explore diverse situations, and is intelligent at coming up with logical solutions. I loved each story and was very surprised by the last one, The Adventurous Exploit of the Cave of Ali Baba as it was quite different from all of the others. Excellent, entertaining read. (4 stars)

[Alan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Here’s a dozen short stories, the longest being Lord Peter’s riding on the mare Polly Frimpton to discover what happened to the bitter old man deceased who disliked both his sons, and made it hard for either to inherit. The most intriguing include the last story, where Lord Peter is reported dead, and “A Matter of Taste,” where in order to identify the real Lord Peter, out of three, the best wines are served. Only the real Lord Peter knows which wine is which, not the Château Yquem, 1911, nor the Montrachet-Aîné 1911, but Chevalier Montrachet of the same year.

These display Sayers’ extensive research to supply Lord Peter’s equestrian, vintage, crossword, and crime info. As for the longest, “Bone of Contention” I learned about horses, though I rode a pony a couple of years in youth at my grandparents’ Crockett Ridge, Maine farm. In particular, the “hames” through which the “traces” pass: our American name for the latter, “tugs,” and for the hames, I think “collar” or “bow” (as in oxbow).

As in longer Sayers’ fiction, I note profound criminal insights revelatory of our US pres during coronavirus, “He suffered from an inferiority complex, and he thought the only way to keep his end up was to keep other peoples’ end down. So he became a little tin tyrant and bully”(248). “The marvel to me is how they get away with it.” He did, until his vanity urged a portrait, and the painter put “the man’s whole creeping, sneering, paltry soul on canvas for everyone to see.”

Funerals are “all right for the young ones; they must have their amusements”(89).
Another insight worthy of Dickens, whose description of a French funeral is profound and amusing. Sayers invents plots, but also verbs, as when “the pale amber wine…trilled into the glasses”(175).

An American can almost forgive the British class system for the amusement it provides, as when a struggling Bloomsbury physician offers Lord Peter, “Only cold meat and salad, I’m afraid. My woman won’t come Sundays. Have to answer my own door. Deuced unprofessional, I say”(149).

This American is further charmed by the earlier Twentieth Century which Sayers reflects, as when the “mechanic’s” (US “garage”) features a “magneto” and “starting handles” (89) such as we had on a 1917 Model T my grandparents bought in the 1950’s for a dozen chickens in Portland, Maine, and drove it back to Crockett Ridge, Norway, Maine. Literally back, on the small hills on the dirt road to the Ridge, backwards, since the car had no Low gear, so my grandfather had to back it uphill in Reverse. Ironically, on the road now named for him, Ralph Richardson Road.

[Wanda Pedersen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Actual rating: 3.5 stars, but rounded up to 4 because I just appreciate Dorothy Sayers so much.

I hadn’t realized that this was a book of short stories, but I enjoyed being able to read a little bit, put it down to do something else, and return when I was done, not having to worry that I’d forget some crucial detail in the meanwhile. I also enjoyed the vast range of subjects that Peter Wimsey displayed his knowledge in—as disparate as poker, wine appreciation, jewels, and crossword puzzles. Obviously Sayers had wide ranging interests and was able to indulge them through Lord Peter.

I’m also enjoying Peter Wimsey’s evolution over the course of these books—he started out a bit dim, rather like Wodehouse’s Bertie Wooster, but he has gradually become much more like an Agatha Christie protagonist or Conan Doyle’s Holmes, being able to put the puzzle pieces together faster than the average person, when the picture is still a bit hazy. Obvious when he points it out, but he’s the first to see the whole picture.

There’s a reason why Sayers, Christie, and Conan Doyle retain their popularity in the 21st century. They give us memorable characters and create mysterious crimes for them to solve. We still enjoy a good puzzle, no matter what time period is chosen for the story.

[Kim · Rating 4 out of 5]

Spending a bit of quality time with Lord Peter Wimsey always makes me cheerful. I prefer him in the full-length novel environment where his intelligence, wit, humour and humanity can shine to their fullest extent, but there's nothing wrong with meeting him in the short story format. It's rather like having a friend drop by for a quick visit. You may prefer to have him stay for the weekend so you can catch up properly, but a cup of tea or even a chat on the phone is better than not seeing him at all.

Lord Peter appears in all twelve stories in this collection, which was originally published in 1928. Some of the stories are distinctly better than others. However, all of them are readable and all of them are of interest to a true fan of the sophisticated and urbane amateur detective and his equally fascinating creator. A number of the stories play with themes which are central in Lord Peter Wimsey novels published during the 1930s: for example, how a person found on a beach could have been murdered when there is only one set of footsteps to be found in the sand comes up again in Have His Carcase, which was published in 1932.

This short story collection is highly recommended for anyone who enjoys the novels of Dorothy L Sayers and is a fan of Golden Age British crime fiction. Anyone who hasn't read Sayers would be better advised to start with the novels and casual readers should know the following. The resolution of one of the stories depends on Lord Peter having a superior understanding of the French language and early in that story there is a long section of dialogue in French without translation. In another, the solution to the mystery involves working out a complicated crossword puzzle (which completely lost me!). In another, much is made of various types and vintages of French wine. None of this will come as a surprise to Sayers fans. Other readers have been warned!

[booklady · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lord Peter Wimsey is my favorite sleuth. From his humorous name and distinctively British upper class mannerisms and speech, to his ‘ugly, beaky appearance’ and passion for books, especially old rare ones, he entertains me like no other detective and few other literary characters. Each time I begin another Dorothy L. Sayers’ mystery I brace myself to be disappointed in case she slips in some quality about him which has to be endured rather than admired.

Lord Peter Views the Body is a collection of nine mini-mysteries each involving a body—or parts thereof—resulting from suspected murder or foul play. Although none of these ‘events’ could happen today as described due to advances in forensic science as well as corresponding restrictions concerning suspect/evidence protection, crime scene access, information release, etc., each gem holds its place in the annals of crime detection history.

In addition to going back in time, the cases transport you all over England (geographically) and a few other places as well: from bathing along the south coast of England on bank holiday in The Unsolved Puzzled of the Man with No Face to fishing in Scotland in The Piscatorial Farce of the Stolen Stomach. In The Bibulous Business of a Matter of Taste, the real Lord Peter proves himself against two impostors vying for the same information by his infallibility as a sommelier in France.

Ms. Sayers’s stories are savory and meant to be delighted in. And if her characters, situations, titles, and vocabulary aren’t enough, then treat yourself to Ian Carmichael’s audio rendition of these tales. Mr. Carmichael could be the inimitable Lord Peter, or anyway, his voice.

Happy listening. On to Hangman's Holiday: A Collection of Short Mysteries!

[Iona Sharma]

I've read most of the full-length Wimsey novels but somehow never this short story collection, which has cemented my unpopular opinion that Sayers is an excellent novelist and really pretty rubbish at detective fiction (and half the time she isn't even trying!). There are some bits and pieces here about Wimsey's gift for "noticin'" but mostly the stories are mad little entertainments. Buried treasure! Gothic horrors! Undercover in a secret society! etc. Lots of fun, not actually classic mysteries for the most part and that's fine.

[LeahBethany · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was looking forward to reading Lord Peter Views the Body and while it was good, it wasn't great. Most of the detective stories were too far-fetched for my taste and Lord Peter does better in a longer setting instead of trying to cram him and his idiosyncrasies into a short story. 2.5 stars rounding down.

[kris · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Abominable History of the Man with Copper Fingers
Man at club describes warning he got from a mysterious stranger; said mysterious stranger pipes up to offer the rest of the story. Ultimately: Peter likes to make a goddamned entrance, doesn't he? 3 stars.


The Entertaining Episode of the Article in Question
Huge sections of this were in French and I speak petit pois (peas, right???). :( Interesting solution, however. 2.5 stars.


The Fascinating Problem of Uncle Meleager's Will
This would have been far more enjoyable if I could have guessed even one of the clues. Instead, I feel like a proper idiot even while thrilling at the cleverness of it. 3.5 stars.


The Fantastic Horror of the Cat in the Bag
IT'S NOT A CAT SOMEONE LIED. 2.5 stars.


The Unprincipled Affair of the Practical Joker
Needed more Peter being the con-artist of my dreams and slightly less of cards, y'know? 2.5 stars.


The Undignified Melodrama of the Bone of Contention
This one was not entertaining enough to carry its length, weight, and strangely and intensely detailed description of the roads around the church. ESPECIALLY when the map provided does not allow for zoom in an ebook. 2 stars.


The Vindictive Story of the Footsteps that Ran
A bit shallow; a bit underwhelming. 3 stars.


The Bibulous Business of a Matter of Taste
OK, this one was absolutely a romp which I enjoyed quite a bit. I couldn't follow any of the wine tasting expertise (my palate is comprised of Swedish Fish and oversteeped black tea I am no gourmand) but I enjoy Peter going undercover immensely. 4.5 stars.


The Learned Adventure of the Dragon's Head
Definitely enjoyed Peter becoming the "cool uncle" by virtue of guns and sneaky-doings. 4.5 stars.


The Piscatorial Farce of the Stolen Stomach
There's just something about organs that doesn't sit well with me. (HA INDIGESTION PUN.) 2.5 stars.


The Unsolved Puzzle of the Man with No Face
I don't know how I feel about a puzzle that doesn't truly resolve itself; Peter's fairy tale is meant to be the truth but it is left as a nebulous 'what-if' that rather short-sheets the ending. 3 stars.


The Adventurous Exploit of the Cave of Ali Baba
WHAT? HOW? WHY? CAN I JUST? WHO? WHEN? (I didn't like this: all the good bits about investigating and how Peter figured out everyone's names and identities and how he set up and sprung his trap were left out, giving us only an unearned denouement and a lot of questions about the missing TWO YEARS????? 2 stars.

[Deb Jones · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this one over a period of time -- one of the advantages of a book of short stories. I found I really like Lord Peter Wimsey in these smaller doses.

Like many readers of this one before me, I was surprised when Lord Peter Views the Body was not a full-length novel but rather a collection of short stories. I was ready to be disappointed, not being someone who seeks out short stories as a general rule. Instead, I was pleasantly surprised that I found this to be a wonderful medium for the Wimsey tales.

[Christine PNW · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm not the hugest fan of short stories, although several of these were entertaining. I needed a book with a vest on the cover for a challenge, which is why I selected this to read - I already had it on my kindle from a Peter Wimsey binge buy when the prices dropped to $1.99 each.

[Kathy Davie · Rating 5 out of 5]

An omnibus of twelve short stories in the Lord Peter Wimsey vintage mystery series and revolving around a noble amateur sleuth. These stories take place mostly during the 1920s. It was originally published in 1928.

The Series
“The Abominable History of the Man with Copper Fingers”
“The Entertaining Episode of the Article in Question”
“The Fascinating Problem of Uncle Meleager's Will”
“The Fantastic Horror of the Cat in the Bag”
“The Unprincipled Affair of the Practical Joker”
“The Undignified Melodrama of the Bone of Contention”
“The Vindictive Story of the Footsteps That Ran” (LPW, 1921)
“The Bibulous Business of a Matter of Taste”
“The Learned Adventure of the Dragon's Head”
”The Piscatorial Farce of the Stolen Stomach”
“The Unsolved Puzzle of the Man with No Face”
“The Adventurous Exploit of the Cave of Ali Baba”

The Primary Characters
Lord Peter Wimsey is the second son of a duke and has a penchant for asking silly questions in his “career” as an amateur sleuth. He has a preference for the finer things in life, including old books. Mary is his younger sister. His older brother, Gerald “Jerry”, is the Duke of Denver married to the awful Helen. Honoria is the most amazing dowager duchess and Peter, Mary, and Gerald’s mother. Mervyn Bunter is Wimsey’s butler, valet, and aide in all things. Detective-Inspector Charles Parker is with Scotland Yard and Lord Peter’s partner is many cases.

The Stories
”The Abominable History of the Man with Copper Fingers"
It begins with a night of creepy storytelling, which leads into Varden’s strange tale of a creepy artist and the man who interfered.

Very nicely done with a highly descriptive story that will creep. You. Out.

Characters
Lord Peter and Bunter.

The Egotists’ Club is a quirky men’s club where coarseness if acceptable but cruelty is not. The Honorable Freddy Arbuthnot is a financial genius. Sir Roger Bunt, a coster millionaire, is quite acceptable. Armstrong is a dabbler. Smith-Hartington is with the Morning Yell. Masterman is a cubist poet. Varden, a professional athlete and now a famous actor, is Masterman’s guest and is one of several with strange stories, including Bayes, Judson, and Dr Pettifer.

Eric P Loder is a fine sculptor with too much money who did a lot of one-man shows. Maria Morano, a cabaret dancer, had been his mistress with dreams of running a restaurant.

“The Entertaining Episode of the Article in Question”
It starts as a short synopsis of some of Lord Peter’s cases and segues into a wedding where a slip of the tongue betrays the thief.

I do love the relationship between Lord Peter and Bunter. Peter values Bunter highly and vice versa, but Bunter isn’t averse to putting Peter to work on tedious tasks, lol.

Characters
Lord Peter, Bunter, and Detective-Inspector Parker.

The Who’s Who of Peter’s is not the Debrett’s you’d expect. William Girdlestone Chitty was a poisoner. Célestine Berger is a thief. The French Jacques Lerouge, a.k.a. Sans-culotte, is the youngest, cleverest, thief, safe-breaker, and female impersonator.

The Dowager Duchess of Medway employed a new maid. Her daughter, Lady Sylvia, is getting married to Abcock, the stupid son of Attenbury’s. Dizzy was Disraeli. Mr Whitehead has something to do with diamonds.

”The Fascinating Problem of Uncle Meleager's Will"
One would think Hannah was a hypocrite, but the terms of Uncle Meleager’s will has her incensed and she MUST find his latest will let his old will come into force.

Sayers creates the awful atmosphere of the Soviet Club — I could smell the smoke and taste the nasty food. I found Uncle Meleager a crack-up with his annoyance at Hannah’s seriousness and intention to force her to exercise some sustained frivolity, lol.

Characters
Lord Peter, Bunter, and Freddy Arbuthnot, who is going riding with Mary.

The Soviet Club is for those interested in Socialism. Goyles is a member as is Hannah Marryat, a friend of Mary’s, who embraces the theory of socialism and hasn’t much money. Her curmudgeony uncle Meleager Finch is very wealthy with a love for acrostics and crosswords.

The Primrose League is anathema to Hannah. Hannah’s mother and Mr Sands, uncle’s solicitor are the executors for the old will. At Uncle Meleager’s house in Dorking, Mrs Meakers is his housekeeper. Bresil’s is a quality hairdressing salon.

”The Fantastic Horror of the Cat in the Bag”
It’s a pair of speeding motorcycles that forces a halt and the key to a murder.

Characters
Lord Peter Wimsey is chasing along in his car.

Mr Madgett is an A.A. man who also seems to be a vicar. Constable Briggs at Eaton Socon hails down two speeding motorcyclists. Walters is riding the Scott motorcycle. J Simpkins, in transport service, is riding the Norton. The Finsbury Park murder is missing a body part. Babs is the companion of the gentleman with the motorcycle with the sidecar. Thomas Owen has a jewelry business in Birmingham. Dahlia Dallmeyers is an actress and Philip Story is her husband.

”The Unprincipled Affair of the Practical Joker"
It’s a theft with personal issues involved. A stolen necklace and portrait. The threat of scandal. And a cheat at cards.

Hmm, and I thought the Attenbury case was about emeralds . . .

Characters
Lord Peter Wimsey and Bunter. Colonel Marchbanks is friend of Wimsey’s as is the Honorable Frederick Arbuthnot. Sir Impey Biggs is a criminal defense lawyer.

The despairing Mrs Ruyslaender is the wife of Henry Ruyslaender, a diamond merchant formerly based in Africa. He gave her a necklace called the Light of Africa, which has been stolen. Captain Paul Melville, the ampelopsis, is military and a distant relation of Henry’s. The Zambesi is the ship Henry has taken.

”The Undignified Melodrama of the Bone of Contention”
That bad-tempered blackguard, Burdock, had to leave the country. Now he’s returning in a coffin with a missing will. And a missing body.

Characters
Lord Peter Wimsey.

Agatha and her husband, the local magistrate, Tom Frobisher-Pym, are friends of Wimsey’s. Plunkett is the kennelman; Sarah is his wife, and they have two children: Alf and Elsie. Merridew helps care for the dogs for the Frobisher-Pyms at their country house. Polly Flinders is one of Pym’s horses.

The unrespected Squire Simon Burdock’s body is being returned from New York to Little Doddering where Mrs Lovall had been put in as caretaker. He only has two sons left since Aldine was killed: Martin, who got a working girl, Diana, in trouble (he’d been practically engaged to the Delaprime girl) and the younger, Haviland, the director of a company. Winnie is his wife.

Joliffe is the funeral director. Hubbard is from the Red Cow; Rawlinson, who’s Mr Graham’s clerk from Herriotting — Graham has been the Burdock solicitor for years; and, the Duggins’ boy are praying over Burdock. Simpson is the people’s warden. Mrs Giddens has a white donkey. Hancock is the know-it-all priest who replaced Canon Weeks. Joe Grinch is the sexton. Mr Topham rents his field to Mortimer, a sporting gentleman.

Major Dan Lumsden and his wife are neighbors with the major an old army buddy of Wimsey’s. Fellow soldiers had been Piper, Bunthorne, Philpotts, and Popham. Trivett is their local constable. Pogson’s farm had had a ghost.

”The Vindictive Story of the Footsteps That Ran"
It’s 1921 and profiling is alive and well in this tale of jealousy and murder when a beautiful woman is murdered.

Characters
Lord Peter Wimsey and Bunter.

Dr Hartman, a struggling general practitioner, has a passion for vitamin experimentation. Brotherton is one of Hartman’s neighbors; his wife is the gorgeous Maddalena. Marincetti is an Italian waiter with a knife.

”The Bibulous Business of a Matter of Taste"
It’s a mystery for sure of a young man on the run who makes mysterious remarks about people on his trail, including Lord Peter! It’s all quite secret until the masquerade falls apart.

How can you not love a sentence like “the sleeping Beauty of the vine grows ever more ravishing in sleep”.

Characters
Two Lord Peter Wimseys are visitors to the castle as is Death Bredon, a journalist. Mr Frederick Arbuthnot is a member of the Egotists’ Club.

The Comte de Rueil’s seat is Mon Souci, a decaying castle. The count is a scientist. Pierre is his butler.

”The Learned Adventure of the Dragon's Head”
With the duke and duchess on the Continent and an outbreak of measles at school, young Jerry is foisted upon Uncle Peter. It’s a visit to a bookseller that starts this adventure that ends with a treasure hunt.

Yep, gender profiling as well with women unable to remember dates, faces, and other technicalities.

Characters
Lord Peter Wimsey and Bunter. Ten-year-old “Gherkins”, Viscount St George, a.k.a. Young Jerry, Jerrykins, and Pickled Gherkins, is the son and heir of the Duke of Denver as well as Peter’s nephew. Detective Inspector Charles Parker.

Mr Bultridge runs a preparatory school with an unexpected outbreak of measles. Mr Porter is a history teacher. Mr Ffolliott is a bookseller to whom Dr Conyers, a cancer man, of Yelsall Manor sold a Cosmographia Universalis . Dr Forbes is Conyers’ assistant. Wilberforce Pope wants to buy his uncle’s book from Young Jerry. Cuthbert “Old Cut-throat” Conyers was an ancestor who settled. He was said to be a pirate!

”The Piscatorial Farce of the Stolen Stomach”
A reclusive great-uncle has died, and Thomas received his share of the inheritance, a stomach ligatured on both ends. Only someone steals it in the night.

Characters
Lord Peter Wimsey.

The Scottish Thomas Mcpherson, who is studying medicine at Aberdeen, had a reclusive great-uncle Joseph Ferguson who had good digestion. Maggie is Thomas’ housekeeper in Kirkcudbrightshire; Jock is her husband. Jimmy McTaggart may loan Jock a gun. Dr Strachan is the local doctor. Cousin Robert Ferguson is the residuary legatee who works at Crosbie & Plumb, a solicitor’s office in London. Nathan Abrahams is a nice Jew who is in the jewelry business. Moses is Abrahams’ son who is getting married to Rachel Goldstein. Mr Wallace was a good customer of Abrahams’. Skrymes is a book dealer who greatly dislikes Lord Peter.

”The Unsolved Puzzle of the Man with No Face”
A man in a bathing suit is found dead on the beach in East Felpham with his face all cut up and is the prime discussion of a group of passengers on the train. It’s a first-class passenger who describes the scene — without knowing the area or details of the murder scene.

There’s a good bit of regret about the young men who went to war and came home in pieces. Another tale with bigotry about them furriners.

Characters
Lord Peter Wimsey.

Lizzie’s girls. Kitty is a young wife. Detective-Inspector Winterbottom of the Westshire police is one of the passengers. The mean Correggio Plant, a studio manager of Messrs Crichton Ltd, publicity experts of Holborn, always takes credit for the work of others. Thomas Crowder, another Crichton employee, painted Plant’s portrait. Mr Ormerod is the copy-chief. Mr Birkett is also rude but everyone still liked him. Mr Cowley, who likes to ride in motorcycle races, thought Plant was a liar. Mr Spiller runs a garage. Francesco, is an Italian professional partner (dancer) at the Palaise de Dance in Cricklewood.

Salcombe “Sally” Hardy is a journalist and friend of Wimsey’s. Warren, a photographer, and Drummer also work for the paper. Gladys Twitterton is a typist in the copy department.

”The Adventurous Exploit of the Cave of Ali Baba”
Lord Peter Wimsey was killed last December while shooting big game in Tanzania.

There’s a brief introduction to the ways of the gang and the crimes they’ve committed. The gang does seem to take care of its members and their families. Not always in the nicest way.

Characters
Lord Peter Wimsey. Detective Inspector Parker, Mary, the dowager duchess, and Bunter are threatened. Inspector Sugg of Scotland Yard is part of the plot.

Theodore Winthrop is a millionaire who was exposed as a blackmailer. Mr Jukes is a rude customer at a bar. Joseph Rogers, a.k.a. Twenty-one, is a former footman, who has decided to come in with his gang. Number One is the leader of the Society, a gang of criminals known only by their number who share and share alike. Number Two is a woman!

The Cover and Title
The cover is an orangish yellow with a narrow red band at the top. Immediately beneath the band is the series information in black. The “bust” of a white button-down shirt with a rust and yellow striped tie beneath a brown and yellow houndstooth wool vest with contrasting pockets is in the lower half of the cover with a monocle on a chain swinging up to surround the title — in white — on the left. Beneath the shirt and vest is the author’s name in a deep red.

The title is generic, as Lord Peter Views the Body every time.

[Bev · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lord Peter Views the Body, is a delightful gathering of stories featuring Lord Peter Wimsey. The hard copy version has twelve stories while this particular audio version (read by Ian Carmichael) is missing three of the originals--including one of my favorites, "The Learned Adventure of the Dragon's Head." I have put together a brief note on each of these fun stories. Not a lot of detail, but that's to be expected with short stories. Sayers does manage to pull the reader right in regardless. ★★★★--but, then, I am biased. I love all things Wimsey and I especially love all things Wimsey when read by Ian Carmichael.


"The Abominable History of the Man with Copper Fingers": A story of jealousy and a well-known sculptor's plan for revenge. Fortunately, Wimsey is on hand to prevent the artist from completing the second half of his masterpiece.

"The Fantastic Horror of the Cat in the Bag": A high-speed motorcyclist gets a nasty surprise when he opens a bag picked up from a cloak room.

"The Unprincipled Affair of the Practical Joker": Wimsey uses a lovely bit of sleight of hand to silence a blackmailer.

"The Undignified Melodrama of the Bone of Contention": Wimsey delves into the mystery of the death coach--a ghostly coach pulled by headless white horses and driven by a headless coachman.

"The Vindictive Story of the Footsteps That Ran": His lordship solves a murder by noticing which way the footsteps ran.

"The Bibulous Business of a Matter of Taste": Will the real Lord Peter please stand up? Or at least correctly identify six varieties of wine. A story of not one, not two, but three Wimseys.

"The Piscatorial Farce of the Stolen Stomach": Great Uncle Joseph chooses an unusual hiding place for his wealth.

"The Unsolved Puzzle of the Man with No Face": Wimsey solves a murder using clues provided in the discussion amongst his fellow train travelers.

"The Adventurous Exploit of the Cave of Ali Baba": Lord Peter is reported dead....and events that follow lead to the capture of a gang of criminals.


First posted on my blog My Reader's Block.

[Orinoco Womble (tidy bag and all) · Rating 3 out of 5]

It hurts to give Miss Sayers and Lord Peter only three stars, but I know it's my own fault. I simply don't care for the short story format, particularly when Lord Peter is such a Deus Ex Machina in that form. In this collection, sometimes you don't know if he's a detective or a 007 wannabe. The business about his famous palate for wine, for example, made me roll my eyes. A couple of the stories, while they had some good red herrings, were bordering on the silly, and put a foot over that border more than once.

We do get to see a much younger Wimsey in this collection, taking holidays for his nerves to deal with post-war shellshock (what we now call PTSD). Again, some mild racism (anti-Scots and anti-Italian particularly) is put into the mouths of Wimsey and Parker; whether this reflects the author's personal view, or simply to show ideas of the time, I don't know.

I got the impression that Miss Sayers used the short stories to try out ideas that would later appear in full-length works. Some of them were awfully familiar. However, mustn't grumble, I had the treat of listening to the irreplaceable Ian Carmichael once again. (One tiny criticism of Mr Carmichael is his tendency to pronounce Wimsey's name "Death" as "dee-ath", when we are told in more than one of the novels that it is "deeth to rhyme with teeth"--unless Mr Carmichael called his own choppers tee-ath?)

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lord Peter Wimsey series:
4* Whose Body? (Lord Peter Wimsey Mysteries, #1)
3* Clouds of Witness (Lord Peter Wimsey Mysteries, #2)
4* Unnatural Death (Lord Peter Wimsey Mysteries, #3)
3* Lord Peter Views the Body (Lord Peter Wimsey Mysteries, #4)
3* The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club (Lord Peter Wimsey, #5)
3* Strong Poison (Lord Peter Wimsey, #6)
3* Five Red Herrings (Lord Peter Wimsey, #7)
4* Have His Carcase (Lord Peter Wimsey, #8)
4* Murder Must Advertise (Lord Peter Wimsey, #10)
3* The Nine Tailors (Lord Peter Wimsey, #11)
4* Gaudy Night (Lord Peter Wimsey, #12)
4* Busman's Honeymoon (Lord Peter Wimsey, #13)
3* Striding Folly (Lord Peter Wimsey, #15)
TR Hangman's Holiday: A Collection of Short Mysteries (Lord Peter Wimsey, #9)
TR In the Teeth of the Evidence (Lord Peter Wimsey, #14)
TR The Wimsey Papers

Lord Peter Wimsey & Harriet Vane series:
TR Thrones, Dominations (Lord Peter Wimsey/Harriet Vane #1)

3* The Man Born to Be King: A Play-Cycle on the Life of Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ
TR The Travelling Rug
TR A Treasury of Sayers Stories
TR Are Women Human? Astute and Witty Essays on the Role of Women in Society
TR Wilkie Collins: A Critical and Biographical Study
TR The Letters of Dorothy L. Sayers 1899-1936: The Making of a Detective Novelist

[Jazzy Lemon · Rating 5 out of 5]

12 short stories featuring the inimitable Lord Peter Wimsey

[Marisol · Rating 2 out of 5]

En esta colección de relatos tenemos como protagonista a Lord Peter Wimsey, el avispado aristócrata inglés que tiene como pasatiempo descifrar misterios, asesinatos y servir a la corona de intermediario para asuntos diplomáticos.

Cada relato es como un botón de muestra que despliega las habilidades de Lord Peter, desde poder descubrir al asesino en un drama familiar dominguero, a servir de espía en asuntos internacionales, o vérselas con un testamento críptico.

Sobre todo hubo dos relatos que fueron los que me gustaron, el primero llamado La aventura erudita de la cabeza de dragón 🐲, aquí se introduce al sobrino de Lord Peter, un niño de 10 años vizconde de nombre George, juntos vivirán una aventura tipo la isla del tesoro que es muy divertida, ligera y llena de conversaciones cómicas entre tío y sobrino; el otro relato es La aventurada hazaña de la cueva de Ali baba donde habrá mucho misterio, una sorpresa mayúscula y una logia llena de secretismo y bandidos, el final tiene una tensión que atrapa y la resolución hace emitir un suspiro de alivio.

En general son pocos relatos y unos mejores que otros, definitivamente me gustan más las novelas de Dorothy L Sayers que sus relatos cortos, aunque a los que nos gustan las aventuras de Lord Peter siempre será bienvenido una historia más.

[Elisabeth · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars. It's hard to know exactly how to rate these short stories. On the one hand, Sayers is unquestionably a skilled writer and a pleasure to read. The stories themselves, though, are mainly a mixed bag. Not all of them are straight-out detective stories; some are more point-to-point tracing of clues or an exercise in outwitting a wrongdoer, and in the ones where the identity of the culprit is in question, it's not too hard to guess who they are. "The Undignified Melodrama of the Bone of Contention," was probably the most interesting, and I enjoyed the interaction between Lord Peter and his young nephew in "The Learned Adventure of the Dragon's Head."

One thing's certain, those who are sensitive about gruesome crimes might find a few of the stories off-putting—several times Sayers goes for the most macabre and bizarre incidents, though mercifully she does leave most of it to the reader's imagination rather than indulging in graphic description. And I must say, there's some irony in Lord Peter speaking disparagingly of secret societies in detective fiction in the second-last story...and then plunging into as outlandish a secret-society plot as ever was in the final tale!

[Jan C · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a re-read for me. I'd forgotten just how much I enjoyed some of these stories. As I read them, I remembered most of them from previous read (s).

The final story reminded me very much of Patricia Wentworth's Grey Mask in her Miss Silver stories. (grumble, grumble. autocorrect is going to kill me yet.) The story before that looked like a precursor to Sayers' own Have His Carcase. Both the story and the novel start much the same but do take different paths.

I think I first read this in the '80s and I have never forgotten them. Some I misremembered. Either in whole or in part.

But it was all still enjoyable.

[Andree · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars. These are entertaining, but nothing spectacular. Easily the best is the one with ten year old Saint George Wimsey (Lord Peter is a sort of fabulous uncle). I enjoyed them. I would have gone four stars, but someone is going to have to explain to me exactly when Lord Peter had time to fake his death for two years...

It seems a random sort of a thing to chuck in a short story is all I'm saying. Perhaps his timeline takes it into account, but it threw me a bit. I was all for having him fake his death, but two years? My credulity, it has been strained.

[Samir Krishnamurti · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lord Peter Death Bredon Wimsey is arguably one of the greatest characters to grace the pages of twentieth century detective fiction. For some reason, he tends to be somewhat overlooked, although most lists should rate him right up there with Hercule Poirot, Ellery Queen, Father Brown, and the other great luminaries of early twentieth century detective fiction. He is the quintessential English gentleman detective, the one who set the stereotype for the lordly, amateur sleuth. You know the type. But now you know why you know the type.An Eton and Oxford educated, cricket playin', g-dropping, fop-about-town who conceals a tremendous and even ruthless intellect behind a facade of affable facetiousness. He plays cricket like one born to it, excels at the piano, and in one particular book (Murder Must Advertise), creates an extremely successful campaign for advertising cigarettes. He also excels with children, by the simple dint of treating them with the same courtesy and attention one would extent to an adult. He is both an expert sommelier and a consummate bibliophile, both of which avocations are showcased in brilliant form in two of the stories in this book (The Bibulous Business of a Matter of Taste and The Learned Adventure of the Dragon's Head). He appears impetuous, but is actually ruthless, and is a master manipulator, using surface emotions to befuddle others into dismissing him as an irritating wasp in a top hat and monocle. Only Sergeant (and later inspector) Parker and his faithful valet Bunter really know what Wimsey is capable of. The ironic thing though, is that he actually is annoyingly and insatiably curious, often to the point of apparent lunacy, but there is always method behind the madness. Like the time when he pestered the station announcers so much about the mechanics of their system that he accidentally discovered a code bookies were using to send results back and forth.

He looks like you would expect him to, a sort of (in the author's own words) cross between Bertie Wooster and Fred Astaire with blonde hair, a beakish nose, and a vaguely foolish face. Personally, I think Lord Peter Wimsey is a lot more like Psmith. To look at him, you wouldn't think he served on the Western Front during the Great War and attained the rank of major, or was appointed an Intelligence Officer, and successfully infiltrated the staff room of a German Officer. He was that rare breed of staff officer, one extremely popular with his men. Indeed, his faithful amanuensis, one Mervyn Bunter, shares with Wimsey the experience of shell shock and being seriously wounded and whilst in military service.During that time, they arrange for Bunter to become Wimsey's valet, assuming they both survive the war. Which, of course, they do, and Bunter becomes Wimsey's valet and investigative assistant, while maintaining absolute decorum despite the fact that they are extremely close friends. One of the many wonderful features of Sayer's writing is the sometimes gentle, sometimes searing indictment of the British class system as it operated then. More on the author later though, right now I'd like to stick with Wimsey and the book itself.

Wimsey is a gloriously whimsical and lackadaisical polymath, capable of many feats, each of which is showcased in the short stories that make up this book. In one of my favorite stories (The Adventurous Exploit of the Cave of Ali Baba), he stages his own death and works undercover for over a year, creating,, donning, and living an entirely new identity in order to infiltrate and break the most prolific gang of thieves ever to operate in London. Quintessential upper class cloak-and-dagger stuff, one of the best examples there is. His linguistic skills also shine through in 'The Entertaining Episode of the Article in Question", wherein the whole case is solved because of a tiny French grammatical error on the part of the thief. To quote the thief directly, "Once more I must congratulate my lord. He is the only Englishman I know with the ability to truly appreciate our beautiful language.". If you're smart enough, you should have figured out what the twist is. Incidentally, he speaks fluent German too.

In The Bibulous Business of a Matter of Taste, possibly my favorite story in the book, Wimsey successfully guesses the names and years of a series of particular vintages in order to obtain war-time intelligence. He doesn't get it, but it doesn't matter. The only other story I've read which comes even close in using blind wine taste-testing with such verve and savoir-faire as the plot mechanism is Roald Dahl's Taste. Which is one story in another absolutely brilliant collection, and one I will definitely review subsequently. There's also a Jeffrey Archer story in one of his books which revolves around wine tasting, but it doesn't match up to either of these.

The rest of the stories are pretty fascinating too, with motifs ranging from solving life-size crossword puzzles to an iron plated mistress, the latter of which added whole new dimensions to the term 'iron maiden'. In some senses, the Wimsey short stories are better than the novels, and in this day and age particularly so, as it provides the reader with nice, bite sized readings, perfect for a metro journey or to idle away sometime in a car or plane. I would highly recommend all of Sayers' work, but Lord Peter Views the Body is probably the best one to start with. The Lord Peter Wimsey books have also been adapted for the stage (in 1947 and 1957) as well as the screen, the most recent being the BBC adaptation in 1987. I'd say it's long overdue for another re-haul, and Benedict Cumberbatch would make a terrific Lord Peter Wimsey.

Before winding up, I'd just like to natter on about Dorothy Sayers for a bit, because, much like her own creation, she was a fascinatingly intelligent person with a varied multitude of talents.

Dorothy Sayers worked in the Benson Advertising Bureau as a copywriter for many years, and was responsible for coining the "Guinness Is Good For You" jingle, as well as the slogan"It Pays To Advertise". Hence the setting of Murder Must Advertise is completely authentic. In fact, that is probably the best thing about the books, they offer a real window of British society in the early twentieth century, The realism is palpable, and forms a great contrast to some of the other authors of the time, who tended to create very idealized world with stereotypical characters, like Agatha Christie or P.G Wodehouse. Sayers' books are also a lot more political, the Wimsey books tackle the great issues of the time - Nazism, the ethics of advertising, and the modern feminist movement, among others. She also said she only wrote the Lord Peter Wimsey books in order to make enough money to support her career as a Christian humanist classicistplaywright.

She was also a great Christian humanist, and a classical scholar and her translation of Dante's Divine Comedy is largely considered to be the definitive one. In fact her translation of the famous line "Abandon hope all ye who enter here" is different; she translates it as "Lay down all hope, those of you who go by me." This, accodring to Classicists, is a muh better rendition for not only is it a better literal translation, it also fits into the Italian terza rima rhyme scheme.