Whose Body?

When a body is found in a bath, wearing only a pair of pince-nez, things are bound to be interesting. In Dorothy L. Sayers' first Lord Peter Whimsy book, Lord Peter is called upon to help answer the question of who the decedent is and how he came to be in a man's bathroom in the middle of the night, while helping a friend solve the mystery of a man gone missing.

Usually, I am not one for mysteries unless they are by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle but I think I will have to add Dorothy L. Sayers to my list now, as this was an excellent read. It was first recommended to me over a year ago and I had never had the chance to read Whose Body? or any other Lord Peter Whimsy tale until recently. While I was able to guess the culprit before he was revealed, I still found the story to be very creative and very enjoyable.

I have to say that the tone of this book was wonderfully funny and gave the story much of that which I found enjoyable. I found Sayers' off-hand comments about how things work in mystery novels, as opposed to real life, very amusing and I loved Lord Peter's character. Take this exchange between Lord Peter and his servant:

"Bunter!"
"Yes, my lord."
"Her Grace tells me that a respectable Battersea architect has discovered a dead man in his bath."
"Indeed, my lord? That's very gratifying."
"Very, Bunter. Your choice of words is unerring."

This is just one example and much of the dialogue has a great sense of humor to it.

In short, I loved this book and now that I have finished Whose Body?, I think I am going to go to the bookstore and find the next Lord Peter Whimsy book, called Gaudy Night. If you enjoy mysteries, you are sure to love this one!

Rating: 5.0