Whose Body? A Lord Peter Wimsey Novel

A little about the story

A body discovered in a London bathtub presents an unusually awkward problem: nobody seems to know who the dead man is, or how he arrived there. Lord Peter Wimsey finds the puzzle irresistible, even when the police appear ready to settle upon an easy explanation. Meanwhile, the disappearance of a financier offers another mystery whose possible connection to the first demands careful attention rather than a convenient guess.

Dorothy L. Sayers introduces a detective whose cultivated manners and apparently frivolous conversation conceal considerable seriousness. With help from his resourceful servant Bunter and his police acquaintance Charles Parker, Wimsey follows evidence through respectable drawing rooms and less comfortable surroundings. The investigation combines the pleasures of a carefully managed identity puzzle with an awareness of the human costs of treating murder as a pastime. Beneath its wit, the novel gives room to the aftereffects of war, the responsibilities of detection, and the unease that can survive even an investigator’s most accomplished performance.

Things You May Not Know About Whose Body? A Lord Peter Wimsey Novel

• Wimsey’s first novel. Published in 1923, this was the first novel to feature Lord Peter Wimsey, who became Sayers’s principal fictional detective.
• An unusual alternative title. The edition includes the subtitle The Singular Adventure of the Man with the Golden Pince-Nez, highlighting the victim’s conspicuous accessory.
• Bunter has practical skills. Wimsey’s servant contributes technical expertise to the investigation, making his role substantially more active than simply announcing visitors or serving meals.
• A personal dedication. Sayers addresses the dedication to M. J., thanking him for insisting that she carry Lord Peter’s investigation through to completion.
• War beneath the comedy. The detective’s wartime experiences complicate his elegant public manner, giving this apparently playful mystery an unexpectedly vulnerable central character.