Whose Body?

“Whose Body?” is a solid little first mystery in the Lord Peter Wimsey mystery series. While the novel could have used a bit of tuning up to shift it to the 3.5 or 4.0 level, it is still enjoyable, especially for those who like the old pip-pip cheerio of the British upper class often found in escapist lit between the world wars. I shall take a crack at the next one in the series at some point, although I'm trying not to gorge on an entire series at once, so as not to get author/character fatigue.

“Whose Body” shines in characterization, many of whom practically leap off of the page, particularly Lord Wimsey's family. I particularly liked Merwyn Bunting, Lord Peter Wimsey's servant; he writes an engaging letter to Lord Peter about 3/4 of the way into the story that cracked me up. Also, Ms. Sayers hints at a backstory for Lord Peter by referring to the early case of Lord Attenbury's emeralds, which gives the reader a hint at what the younger son of the family was up to and why he might be approached to help solve a crime. Lord Peter himself has bits of Bertie Wooster (my favorite landed dingbat) and Sherlock Holmes.

Another element of the book, and, perhaps, the series, are parodies of Sir Arthur's Holmes and his methods, as well other typical Golden Age whodunnits. While the novel generally follows many of the “official” rules of the genre, it also breaks away from time to time, which is what piques an interest in continuing the series.

Is this solution to the mystery particularly surprising? No, not from my perspective. The villain's motive was a bit ho-hum and the confession a bit too detailed. But, I still enjoyed the book for its Wodehouseian nonsense.