Whose Body?: The First Lord Peter Wimsey Mystery

By Dorothy L. Sayers

The first novel by one of the greatest mystery writers of the twentieth century, in which she introduced her popular amateur detective, Lord Peter Wimsey.

"[A] pure pleasure to read." —The New York Times Book Review
 
A famous London financier vanishes from his bedroom, leaving no trace. Across town, a corpse is found in an architect's bathtub, wearing nothing but a pair of pince-nez. The body is not that of the missing financier, so—whose body is it? When Lord Peter Wimsey is asked by his mother, the Dowager Duchess of Denver, to help clear her architect of suspicion, he eagerly obliges. With the assistance of his valet, Bunter, a skilled amateur photographer, he quickly becomes convinced that the two cases are linked, despite the skepticism of the police.
 
But what begins as an amusing puzzle takes on darker overtones, as Lord Peter wrestles with intrusive memories of his traumatic service in the trenches of World War I—and as his own life is endangered by the murderer he is about to unmask.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
• Release date: May 7, 2019
• ISBN: 9781984899859

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.

Reviews for Whose Body?

[zhoud2005 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Very happy to discover Dorothy L. Sayers, a true master of classic cozy mystery.

[eadieb-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Lord Peter Wimsey is the epitome of the elegant, eccentric sleuth, and one of the great characters of mystery fiction. In Whose Body, Dorothy L. Sayers' first book, Wimsey himself views the stark naked body lying in the tub. And of course, the brilliant detective untangles the ghastly murder in spite of incorrect assumptions by the police. Started slow but kept me guessing until the end. Good mystery with twists and turns, humor and wit. Well plotted with engaging characters. Sayers is a beautiful writer and I would recommend to those who love English mystery.

[laytonwoman3rd · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

When a mysterious naked body turns up in a bathtub, and a prominent Jewish businessman disappears, Lord Peter tries to put one and one together. He comes to the right conclusion, without any red herrings, (he leaves those to the police, in classic fashion) but it is a bit daunting to follow his reasoning. This was my first Lord Peter Whimsey outing. I was surprised at his character, which struck me as somewhere between Sherlock Holmes and Bertie Wooster, with a hint of American sloppiness of speech thrown in. I see that it was also Sayers' first novel, and other readers have noted that she refined his character over time. That being the case, I may try another. I hope she also cast aside the unmistakable anti-Semitism that stains this story. I thought I was missing something of Wimsey's back story until I realized this was the earliest of his adventures. I can't rate it very highly, but as I said, there is enough there to make me want to see if this series got better.2014

[aliceunderskies · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Very fun! The mystery was fairly obvious, but it was an enjoyable romp to see it through. Lord Peter has the makings of a quite interesting character: easily bored, a bit of a dilettante, sufferer of PTSD from the great war, enormously charismatic. I chortled at all of the little meta-touches on the conventions of detective fiction; my favourite of which was a round-about questioning of a witness, disguised as a conversation/complaint about how witnesses in detective stories always remember everything perfectly. Delightful! I hadn't even finished before I got my hands on the next several in the series--something I rarely do, a highest compliment.

[julesjones_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

BBC Radio 4 full cast dramatisation, on two CDs, with Ian Carmichael as Lord Peter Wimsey.The first Lord Peter Wimsey book, dramatised for radio in 1973 in five half hour episodes. It's a superb dramatisation, with a wonderful cast, and while it does of necessity leave out some of the book, it captures the story and the characterisation very well. I think you would enjoy this even if you haven't read the book, but if you like the books, this is a wonderful adaptation. Very much recommended if you're a Sayers fan, particularly if you're a fan of Ian Carmichael as Wimsey.The cast also includes a fair bit of interest for fans of 1970s and 1980s cult TV. Amongst others, there's Peter Jones, Gabriel Woolf, and Peter Tuddenham.

[page.fault · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

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.

[jeremypreacher · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

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.

[raschneid_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This is the second Dorothy Sayers novel I've read. I'm not a mystery reader in general, but Sayers really is a fantastic writer; I'm in love with her characters and dialogue. Lord Peter really feels like a protagonist, which is difficult to pull off in a mystery novel. And the just-on-the-cusp-of-modernity setting is extremely inviting as well.

There's not quite as much social and philosophical content as in Gaudy Night, the other Sayers book that I've read, but much of the focus is still on larger issues - the ethics of detective work and medicine, the nature of morality, and Peter's experiences as a WWI veteran. It's smart reading!

Also, the mystery is pretty good. :)

Reread: 5/4/11. Add "the interconnectedness of things" to list of philosophical content.

[nordie_2 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

The stark naked body was lying in the tub. Not unusual for a proper bath, but highly irregular for murder -- especially with a pair of gold pince-nez deliberately perched before the sightless eyes. What's more, the face appeared to have been shaved after death. The police assumed that the victim was a prominent financier, but Lord Peter Wimsey, who dabbled in mystery detection as a hobby, knew better. In this, his first murder case, Lord Peter untangles the ghastly mystery of the corpse in the bath

Considering this is the first in the series, Wimsey (plus Bunter, plus the Duchess) are strong characters already, with Wimsey being presented with a dead body in a bathroom, whilst the police are investigating the disappearance of Sir Reuben Levy, a financier who disappeared whilst on a night out.

It's fairly evident the significance of the unidentified body, but it's just a case of proving it. The written confession unfortunately, comes late in the book, and is all but redundant, as the reader should have worked it all out for themselves by the time it comes out (and it's all done bar the shouting).

[rainpebble_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Whose Body? by Dorothy L. Sayers; (3*)Having just recently found my way into this genre, I must say that I enjoyed this book. From the very beginning we are captivated by Sayers' writing and her character sketches. She only gets better from here. The interaction and the relationships of her characters make the story come alive.We start off with two mysteries at once. A naked man, oh wait...he is wearing sunglasses, is found in someone else's bathtub. Across town another person goes missing. The local policeman has figured out the relationship,; or has he? He has even nabbed the suspects. Lord Peter, our amateur sleuth and friend of Inspector Parker must figure out if one plus one ewuals one or two. Hmmmm...........A very enjoyable read.

[litalex · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This is the first mystery that I figured out the killer and the method of body disposal before the end. Though the author was pretty explicit by then.Good book.

[helenliz_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

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.

[bookworm12_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

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.”  

[crowyhead · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

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.

[rubyscarlett-1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

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.

[mrslee_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

One of the best first lines ever. "Oh damn". It begins as a bit of a farce, but by the end of the book, things are very sober indeed. A great study on the debate, Do we have the right to take another man's life? Do we have the capability to assign value, high or low to another's life? A great story.

[alicebook_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

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.

[bcquinnsmom · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Ah! I'd forgotten just how very much I enjoyed these books. I think everyone should reread a book they haven't read in ages once in a while. Whose Body is the opener of the Lord Peter Wimsey series, written by Dorothy Sayers. Since this is the introduction to this famous detective, we get to learn a lot about him right away. He has a personal servant named Bunter who is helpful as a sleuth by talking to others who are servants and of course, know the comings and goings of their employers. Wimsey also collects works by Dante; a marvelous touch by Sayers since she is an esteemed Dante scholar. Lord Peter had a bad experience in WWI; he suffers periodically from what we now call post-traumatic stress syndrome and what was called in 1923 (the date of writing of this novel) shell shock, which is triggered by certain noises & certain conditions. Lord Peter is not a member of House of Lords; that is reserved for his brother, the Duke of Denver. And finally, I have seen much made of the racist remarks in this book; if you would just please try to put yourself in the mindset of the 1920s, you'll realize that these were perfectly acceptable for their time. If you can't get past that, you're missing a good and fun story.In this first case of Lord Peter's, a body turns up naked in a bathtub wearing only a pair of glasses. At the same time, a businessman goes missing -- are the body and businessman the same person? And who killed the man in the tub and why? Lord Peter puts himself in jeopardy to find out the answers to these questions. Very fun first novel; very British and just a good read. I rarely rate a series opener so high, but this one deserves it.

[ashleytylerjohn · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Delightful to rediscover Lord Peter Wimsey. This was a surprisingly grisly murder, once all was said and done, but not too much for my delicate sensibilities, thank goodness. Although I can recall have a marked preference for the novels which Harriet Vane appeared in, this was an awfully fun read, it went very quickly, all the characters seemed delightfully differentiated, and I'm so pleased to get to read them all again.

(Note: 5 stars = amazing, wonderful, 4 = very good book, 3 = decent read, 2 = disappointing, 1 = awful, just awful. I'm fairly good at picking for myself so end up with a lot of 4s).

[casualfriday_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

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.

[mrsrk-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This is my favorite of the Lord Peter Wimsey series of books.

[margaretfield · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

naked body with only pince eres found in bath tub, Lord Peter Wimsey series

[hopeevey · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Why haven't I read Sayers before? This is so good!!!

[orange_suspense · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Having just finished reading the first Lord Peter Wimsey novel „Whose Body?“ by Dorothy L. Sayers, I reached a first cornerstone of my literature journey through the beginnings and the Golden Age of crime fiction: Hoffmann’s Fräulein von Scudery, Poe’s Dupin, Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes, Christie’s Poirot and Marple, Allingham’s Campion, Marsh’s Alleyn and finally Sayer’s Wimsey. With those I think I created a good basis for further reading and deepening the subject. The next classic detective fiction novels will be by Collins and Van Dine (starting to look over the pond a little bit) together with other novels by the listed authors as well as modern classic detective fiction writers such as Penny or James. I’m highly curious where this journey will lead me to.Back to Whose Body? The plot is classically: there was a murder and now the culprit has to be found. Only this time nobody knows who actually got murdered for nobody knows who the dead peron is that’s found naked in the bath tub of the worker Mr. Thipps.Informed by his mother, Lord Peter Wimsey, his funny and never resting servant Bunter and Wimsey’s friend and Scotland Yard inspector Parker have to dig deep for clues revealing a dark and ingenious plot at the end by establishing the missing link between one of Parker’s cases and the case of the dead body in Thipps’ bathtub.In creating the characters of Wimsey and Bunter Sayers showed her craftsmanship to produce remarkable persons with highly individual characteristics. Especially Wimsey with his loose tounge and his sharp intellect is always a pleasure to follow through his dialogs and deductions. Maybe Wimsey is a bit to unprepossessing at times and Bunter could have been a little bit more Wimsey’s sidekick than Parker. But I don’t think that this bears anything negative to the novel. The plot and its turns, Sayers highly variable language and her skill creating atmospheres (and not just dialogs) is just striking (I highly advice you to read chapter XII twice just for the greatness of it). This said I start to understand why Christie, Marsh and Sayers are called the queens of British detective fiction (although I hope the next Campion novels by Allington will turn out better than the really bad first Campion mystery, so I can rightfully include Allingham in the list as well). But for now I just know that I’ll keep on reading this Wimsey series for damn sure.

[deltaqueen50 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I was looking forward to my first sampling of Dorothy L. Sayers. Whose Body?, the first book in her Lord Peter Wimsey series was published in 1923 and this series went on to establish her as on of the greatest mystery writers of her time. The book started off well with the discovery of a unknown naked man in a bathtub, at the same time a well known financier went suddenly missing, could these two cases be connected?I had a little trouble warming to Lord Peter Wimsey, at first I found him to be very brittle and supercilious. Then at the end of Chapter 8 an event happens which explained a lot about the inner workings of this man.However, I totally fell in love with his admirable valet/sidekick Bunter. How I would love to have such a competent, caring man overseeing every detail of my life! The other character introduced in this book that is worth her weight in gold is Wimsey’s mother, the Dowager Duchess.I found this book an enjoyable read, the mystery was good, although I did figure it out quickly. I enjoyed the setting of 1920’s London and the glimpses of fashion, food and pastimes. The characters are interesting and I am looking forward to seeing what they get up to in future books.

[citizenjoyce · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This first of the Lord Peter Wimsey series was very well done with well written characters and good psychological and sociological assessments.

[stefferoo · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I've been reading a lot of fantasy lately, and decided to try something different for a change. I asked around for recommendations of some classic mystery, and Dorothy L. Sayers was suggested to me. Hence Whose Body? was my first exposure to Lord Peter Wimsey.Anyway, the book starts out with a naked dead body found in a bathtub. You just know there's going to be a good story there.My first observation was that this book was written in the early 1920s, and it really showed in the writing as well as in the language and mannerisms of her characters. Dorothy L. Sayers is in no way a bad writer, but I couldn't help but notice some very awkward sections where the author attempts to tell the story from another point of view in the form of letters, and you just gotta think to yourself, Surely no one ever speaks or writes like that!Still, I took it all in stride, and didn't even mind too much the overly verbose nature of Lord Peter Wimsey. Having mistakenly thought he would be a stuffy old lord, what I didn't expect was his dry sense of humor ("Well, if he only murdered me you could still hang him--what's the good of wasting a sound, marriageable young male like yourself?") and I liked him right away.I later realized that Whose Body? was not only the first Lord Peter Wimsey book, but also Sayers' first detective novel. It is no wonder that I found some of the "mystery" aspects of the story amateurish. I guessed who the murderer was very early on, and later his explanation didn't even really make a lot of sense to me. In a few sections, I felt the author was a bit unsure of which direction to take, and some of the clues and explanations came through feeling a tad forced. Like one reviewer said, at times the novel felt like a parody of a detective story, complete with a few satirical touches.I am not going to judge the rest of the Wimsey books by this one alone, however, as I know how "rough" first novels usually are, and no doubt Sayers goes on to polish her writing because of how successful her detective works became. Furthermore, even though Whose Body? didn't really do it for me as a mystery, as a novel I found it to be a very pleasant and fun read.

[countrylife_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

My first foray into the world of audio books and I found it hugely enjoyable. The narrator provided unique characters, and the story unfolded under her voice very nicely. And yet, I had no pages to mark, no notes to take; I am undone! This is a book that I've seen recommended over and again through LT, so I was anxious to give it a try. Though written in the 1920s and set in England, a setting and era not familiar to me, I enjoyed the story very much. A murder mystery well written and narrated. (3.4 stars)

[bell7_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Lord Peter Wimsey loves a thumping good mystery. When a body shows up in a vicar's bath tub, his mother the Dowager Duchess - who can never quite admit that her second son is an amateur detective - asks him to help discover its identity. Then his friend Parker turns up with a second mystery: Reuben Levy is missing. The body is certainly not Levy, but the two men decide to help each other in their investigations.I didn't know quite what to expect of Lord Peter, since my only other introduction to his sleuthing was in a collection of short stories. In some ways, I was a little surprised that this was the first book in the series - we're not really introduced to people, such as Parker, as if this was the first time we have encountered them. Instead, we're thrown in to Lord Peter's discussion with his mother, told that he's dabbled in detecting before, and even given references to past cases. There are intriguing hints of the past that I hope are explored further as the series goes on. Lord Peter was really quite funny, and I generally enjoyed this tale, even though I figured out who and just a bit of how the murder was done before he did. I was a bit bothered by the antisemitism inherent in some comments regarding Reuben Levy. This was generally confined to the beginning of the book when we're told he has a good character, while "despite..." is implied. The particular copy from my local library was, I think, a 1923 first edition which was a little nerve-wracking (I was a little afraid it would fall apart in my hands, as the spine was damaged and had been repaired at least once), but neat.

[kaitanya64 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

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.