Whose Body, Dorothy L. Sayers
Whose Body, Dorothy L. Sayers
15 Rating(s)
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Whose Body
A Lord Peter Wimsey Mystery

Author: Dorothy L. Sayers

Narrator: John Rayburn

Unabridged: 6 hr 51 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 08/17/2021

Synopsis

This is the first story written about a man who became interested in criminal investigation as just a hobby. It came as somewhat of a surprise to him when it became an occupation. This was Peter Wimsey, referred to as Lord Peter because he was the younger son of a Duke, justifying the courtesy title. He didn’t have a right to sit in the House of the Lords, but that didn’t seem to matter among his friends and associates. This initial disclosure of his activities began when a man’s dead body was found in a bathtub in a London flat. He was nude and wearing only gold pince-nez glasses on his nose. The body was first thought to be well-known financier Sir Reuben Levy, who had disappeared overnight. There was a resemblance, but it was quickly discovered he wasn’t the victim, even though he was still missing.There was a teaching hospital nearby, and suspicions were aroused that the corpse may have been placed as a prank by medical students. That, too, proved erroneous when respected surgeon-neurologist Sir Julian Freke disclosed no body was missing from the dissection room.The lack of information brought Scotland Yard Inspector Charles Park to the investigation, and he welcomed the assistance of Lord Wimsey. It was three years before another book about Lord Wimsey, but author Dorothy L. Sayers eventually turned out ten more stories featuring him. We listen now to the original effort.

About Dorothy L. Sayers

Dorothy Leigh Sayers (1893 – 1957) was a renowned English crime writer best known for her mysteries featuring the aristocratic amateur sleuth Lord Peter Wimsey. The only child of an Oxford chaplain, she was one of the first women to receive a degree from that institution. A prolific writer of poems and plays as well as novels, she was a contemporary and friend of Agatha Christie, C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien.

About John Rayburn

John Rayburn is a veteran of over sixty years in broadcasting. He served as a news/sports anchor and show host, and his TV newscast achieved the largest share of audience figures of any major-market TV newscast in the nation. John is a member of the Broadcast Pioneers Hall of Fame. He is well suited to bring fascinating stories to life concerning the people, places, and things that combine to present lively observations of our day-to-day lives.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Emily May on January 24, 2024

What tremendous fun! No wonder Sayers is considered one of the "Queens of Crime" alongside Agatha Christie. Assigning a motive for the murder of a person without relations or antecedents or even clothes is like trying to visualise the fourth dimension — admirable exercise for the imagination, but......more

Goodreads review by Jack on October 17, 2022

The very first Lord Peter Wimsey novel, and thus the genesis of one of the most engaging characters I've ever encountered, literary or otherwise. Actually, make that at least two (since Bunter is equally astounding), and maybe three (because the Dowager's quite engaging, too). In rereading this, I f......more

Goodreads review by Anne on February 11, 2025

This kind of reminds me of a cross between Agatha Christie's Poirot and PG Wodehouse's Jeeves series. Not as interesting mystery-wise as Poirot and not as funny as Jeeves. The gist is that Lord Peter Wimsey is a gentleman detective (much to the annoyance of his older brother) who has a faithful valet......more

Goodreads review by Melindam on August 20, 2020

Time to meet Lord Peter Wimsey, archetype of amateur gentleman detective & his sidekick, the invaluable valet Bunter. “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.......more

Goodreads review by Jaline on July 31, 2017

Dorothy L. Sayers wrote mysteries (notably, the Lord Peter Wimsey series) from the 1920’s through the early 1950’s. She also did translations, such as Dante’s Inferno. She was a controversial writer of her time and a very accomplished one. From letters she wrote, she had begun working out her plot f......more

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