Read Ebook {PDF EPUB} On the Case with Wimsey Three Complete Novels Unnatural Peter Wimsey Books In Order. Publication Order of / Books. Thrones, Dominations (1998) Amazon.de | Amazon.com (2002) Amazon.de | Amazon.com The Attenbury Emeralds (2010) Amazon.de | Amazon.com The Late Scholar (2013) Amazon.de | Amazon.com. Lord Peter Bredon Wimsey the leading role in Dorothy L Sayers series, plays the role of a detective with no legal law enforcement permit. As depicted in the series, Wimsey is an aging man born in 1890. He is of average height, a beaked nose straw-colored hair making an impression of a foolish face. He also exhibits athletic capabilities and considerable intelligence by playing cricket for Oxford University. He spends his life solving mysteries without receiving payment all for his amusement. The well rounded character has other exception interests including classical music, food and wine matters and male fashion. He has excellent piano skills and does incredible work for Bach. A twist of interesting facts like his 12-cylinder 1924 Daimler car which he refers to as Mrs Merdle are some of his hilarious aspects. While working for Pym,s Publicity Ltd he conducts successive publicity campaigns for Whifflet cigarettes. His playful roles both as very helpful investigator and a lover play on through the whole series. The so nearly perfect series will leave you intrigued and asking for more. · The Major Mysteries Played by Lord Peter Bredon Wimsey Clouds of Witness— A blend of astonishing turn of events comes to play when Wimsey’s brother in law is murdered. Intense suspense holds a degree of interest in the viewer as Lord Peter attempts to untangle the mystery. To make the matters even more intriguing there is a death of two siblings in Bellona Club on the very same day. Wimsey has to decide how and who shall inherit the fortune left. · — in this section, with every progression in the tale, more astonishing events take place, keeping the viewer hooked. In this scene Lord Peter does dark undercover jobs trying to shed some light on the death of a copywriter at Pym’s Publicity. This death will lead to secrets being unraveled as well as keep the story interesting. More secrets are brought to light and more guilty persons brought to justice. The story never ends and will leave you interested and asking for more of the secret ful story in the entire series. Not only are the characters fun but also interesting. · Five Red Herrings— this series contains a roller coaster ride of a story as Wimsey investigates the murder of an unpopular artist. With little to no evidence has to gather all the evidence he can possibly gather in order to find out who murdered the poor artist and bring them to justice. · The Nine Tailors— A blend of astonishing secrets revolving around stolen emeralds and decade old unidentifiable corpses takes place making the mystery full series one of a kind. Lord Peter tries to find out who stole the emeralds while also solving the mystery about corpses. Murder mysteries From Crime Novels Of Dorothy L. Sayers. The romantic scenes depict the relationship of Lord Peter Wimsey and Harriet Vane in three mysteries; “Strong Poison,” “Have His Carcass” and “.” despite the murders that occur wherever Harriet happens to be, Lord Peter Wimsey hardly believes her complicity. · Strong Poison- A blend of romance and thrilling fantasy forges a memorable scene as Lord Peter finds himself enchanted to Harriet Walter. Harriet is unfortunately on trial with murder charges. Even with irrefutable evidence, Wimsey believes she is innocent and once again seeks to reveal the real killer. Brilliant speculation and unpredictable scenes emerge and one can do nothing but watch more. This intense beautifully presented romantic scene is a fantasy drama done right. It is a total aw-worthy display of life toughest challenges and the courage to move on. Sayers presents intense suspense in the mystery and builds it up to a satisfying climax. A touch of comedy brings about fun in these intense moments. The mind is taken through an intriguing adventure without compromising on attention to detail. A combination of great performance and classical introduction of characters makes the story memorable. Petherbridge does justice to his role as Wimsey bringing about his enticing qualities brilliance and ability to fall hopelessly in love without losing his dignity. Walter’s role as Harriet is well played as the story depicts that her silence speaks more than words. · Have His Carcass- In the quest to get over the despicable circumstances in trial, Harriet finds herself in contact with a killed body and once again Lord Peter has to come to her rescue in the case. Sayer shows the great character of Lord Peter as he tries to help Harriet. Breath taking locales in this cleverly conceived story keeps the reader intrigued in this roller coaster ride of a story. · Gaudy Night- Harriet has not yet given in to Lord Peter’s frequent proposals despite his relentless determination. Wimsey is on journey to do Foreign Service work as Harriet moves on to visit her Oxford alma bringing about the poison-pen scandal. Since Harriet is a mystery writer she is responsible for the investigation. A great continuity in turn of events takes place and a view can only wait to see what happens next. This is the most interesting and unique series ever created. This series is one of a kind and every viewer will be interested with the twist in the turn of events. Though there have been many mystery stories this series stands out in uniqueness and great content. It is exciting to see the difference between the mysteries Lord Peter solves on his own for his amusements and those revolving around Harriet he did out of love. The depiction of him as a British man plays a great importance to culture in the entire series. The series from the famed Sayer will introduce you to a world of first class mystery stories. Not only does Sayer know how to capture the suspense of a viewer, she also makes a twist to lead to a memorable climax. The scenes are perfect and roles well played and a viewer cannot lose interest while watching. This series will create a lasting memory that you will never forget. You can now go ahead and make an informed decision to watch this breathtaking series for an experience of your life. Unnatural Death (1927) Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book. No current Talk conversations about this book. In which Sayers makes it clear that she is so much more than a mere writer of mysteries. Wimsey still spouts his doggerel on occasion, but he is also forced to confront the fact that his meddling has resulted in the deaths of two rather harmless people. In the first book he apprehends a murderous sociopath, who did it partly for the interest. In the second book, the accused is exonerated, his sister his preserved from imminent marriage to a socialist hypocrite, and the abused wife of a minor character is freed from his brutal tyrany. Wimsey might have started to think that he could do naught but good, but here the effects of his actions are disastrous and the moral questions are troubling. The surreal encounter with the second victim is distressing, and the ending is dismal. But Wimsey will persist in solving quite a few more crimes. The plot is intricate and well-formed. The investigators are forced to admit that the murderer would never have been brought to justice if it weren't for one small mistake and some luck. The murderer's later actions are less and less well considered, and eventually lead to their apprehension. There is a good deal of humour, mostly due to the introduction of one new character, Miss Climpson. ( ) Title: Unnatural Death Series: Lord Peter Wimsey #3 Author: Dorothy Sayers Rating: 3.5 of 5 Stars Genre: Mystery Pages: 222 Words: 81K. Lord Peter Wimsey and his friend Chief Inspector Parker are told about the death, in late 1925, of an elderly woman named Agatha Dawson who had been suffering from terminal cancer. She was being cared for by Mary Whittaker, her great-niece and a trained nurse. Miss Dawson had an extreme aversion to making a will, believing that Miss Whittaker, her only known relative, would naturally inherit everything. Wimsey is intrigued in spite of the fact that there is no evidence of any crime (a post-mortem found no sign of foul play), nor any apparent motive (on Miss Dawson's death her estate did indeed pass, as she had expected and wished, to her great-niece). Wimsey sends his private investigator, Miss Katharine Climpson, to the village of Leahampton to investigate. She discovers that shortly before her death Miss Dawson had dismissed her maids, the sisters Bertha and Evelyn Gotobed. Wimsey places advertisements in the press asking them to get in touch. A few days later, Bertha is found dead in Epping Forest. On the body is a £5 banknote, originally issued to a Mrs Muriel Forrest who lives in an elegant flat in South Audley Street, Mayfair. Wimsey and Parker visit her. She claims not to remember the banknote, but thinks she may have put it on a horse. Wimsey tricks her into providing her fingerprints on a wineglass. In a drawer he finds a hypodermic syringe with a doctor's prescription "to be injected when the pain is very severe". Evelyn Gotobed tells Wimsey of an episode shortly before the sisters were dismissed in which Miss Whittaker had tried to get them to witness Miss Dawson's will, without the latter's knowledge. A mysterious West Indian clergyman named Hallelujah Dawson had also turned up, claiming to be an impecunious distant relative. Mrs Forrest asks Wimsey to visit her at her flat in London where she clumsily makes advances to him. Wimsey suspects blackmail. He kisses her and realises that she is physically revolted by his caress. Wimsey discovers a motive for Miss Dawson to be killed before the end of 1925: a new 'Property Act' coming into force on 1 January 1926 will change the law of inheritance, resulting in an intestate's property no longer passing to a closest-relative great-niece but being forfeit to the Crown. Much play is made of a fictionalised uncertainty in the meaning of the word "issue". Mary Whittaker – who Miss Climpson has concluded "is not of the marrying sort" – disappears from Leahampton along with Vera Findlater, an impressionable young woman who is besotted with her. Several days later Miss Findlater's body is found on the downs, apparently killed by a blow to the head. Mary Whittaker has it seems been kidnapped. There are indications that the culprit is a black man, and a distinctive cap found nearby is linked to Hallelujah Dawson. However, a post-mortem finds that Vera Findlater was already dead when she was struck, and Wimsey realises that the whole scene has been faked in order to frame the entirely innocent clergyman. Tyre tracks from Mrs Forrest's car are found nearby, and Wimsey suspects her and Mary Whittaker of acting in collusion. Wimsey's manservant, Bunter, realises that the fingerprints on Mrs Forrest's wineglass are identical to those on a cheque written by Miss Whittaker. Wimsey at last understands that Muriel Forrest and Mary Whittaker are one and the same person, and that she carried out the murders by injecting air into her victims' bloodstream with a hypodermic syringe, causing blockage and immediate death through heart failure. Meanwhile Miss Climpson, unable to contact Wimsey, heads to South Audley Street where she is attacked by Mary Whittaker. Wimsey and Parker arrive just in time to save Miss Climpson from becoming the final victim. Whittaker is arrested, and commits suicide in prison. My Thoughts: Much, much, much better than the previous book. No french letters, of any kind! Or any stinking lawyers either! Of course, Lord Peter screws up and gets a woman killed. Which leads to some serious soul searching on his part. It is easy to forget that Sayers was a lay theologian in her own right but she really delves into some aspects of the moral rights and responsibilities of someone who is not authorized by the Law to investigate crime. Wimsey really shows that he's not just a bored toff looking for a thrill. He has a sincere desire to see justice done. It is also interesting to see how crime was investigated about a century ago. The issues they had to deal with (missed communications, travel issues, the press, inter-departmental rivalry, etc) made me realize that while investigation methods might have changed due to technology, people are still exactly the same and act the same then as they did then. As the Teacher of Israel says, there is nothing new under the sun. With this book, my hope for this series is re-kindled. I tore through it one Saturday too, so I wasn't dillydallying around. Literature / Lord Peter Wimsey. The hero of eleven books, a play, and a number of short stories created by Dorothy L. Sayers, with four sequels by following her death. The character and the stories he stars in are often considered among the best of the pre-World War II "Golden Age" mysteries, to the point where modern readers may see them as more like deconstructions of, parodies of, and occasionally paeans to British culture in the Interbellum that just happen to be about murder. The youngest brother of the , Lord Peter is an Amateur Sleuth with a keen observational faculty, an intense sense of justice and deeply ingrained trauma from his service in the trenches, all of which he hides behind a diffident and flippant personality. As he has no need for a job, he spends his time collecting rare books and acting as a police consultant in murder and grand larceny cases, frequently alongside Inspector Charles Parker of Scotland Yard and Mervyn Bunter, his loyal valet and old war comrade. Other recurring characters include Harriet Vane, Peter's love interest and a rare example of an Author Avatar done exceptionally well; Miss Climpson, an elderly spinster whom Peter sometimes sends on fact-finding missions; The Honourable Freddy Arbuthnot, financial genius, and one of the oldest Boisterous Bruisers in the book; Peter's mother, the Dowager Duchess of Denver; Peter's sister Lady Mary, who rebels against her aristocratic family by involving herself in socialist politics; and a sleazy actress named Miss Vavasour who seems to be a Weirdness Magnet of some strange kind. The Wimsey stories take place between 1922 and 1936, and (a bit unusually for a mystery series) the characters age in real time: Lord Peter is thirty-two in Whose Body? and forty-six in Busman's Honeymoon. While there is an film called made in Sayers's lifetime based on the character, she disliked it, a feeling seemingly reciprocated by the public and fandom, as it has not survived. In the 1970s, the BBC produced five miniseries starring Ian Carmichael as Lord Peter ( Clouds of Witness , The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club , Five Red Herrings, Murder Must Advertise , and The Nine Tailors ). Carmichael also starred in the BBC's radio drama series from the '70s to the '80s which adapted nearly all the novels, save for Gaudy Night, which was finally adapted in 2005. The '80s saw Edward Petherbridge and Harriet Walter adapt the three main Harriet Vane novels, Strong Poison, Have His Carcase, and Gaudy Night. Carmichael brought both humor and depth to the role, while Petherbridge emphasized the melancholy and romantic sides of the sleuth. CIS: The Best of Dorothy L Sayers. Dorothy L Sayers may not be quite as much of a household name worldwide as Agatha Christie, but is thought by many to be the better writer. Funnier, more nuanced and unafraid to address social issues, Sayers is often cited as an inspiration by authors like PD James, Ruth Rendell and Elizabeth George. But has the work of Sayers stood the test of time? Her earlier novels are relatively straightforward mysteries, great fun to read, but often implausibly plotted and peopled by entertaining but two-dimensional characters. Her amateur detective, Lord Peter Wimsey, is a foppish figure inspired by PG Wodehouse’s Bertie Wooster. However, both Wimsey and the stories grow darker and more mature as the series progresses. In her later work, she pushed the boundaries of the genre creating original and thought-provoking work that has put her up in the stratosphere, way above more ordinary crime authors. The following five novels are among her best and were all written within the space of just five years. The Nine Tailors (1934) The isolated village of Fenchurch St Paul in the East Anglian Fenlands becomes the central character in this haunting, atmospheric novel. Lord Peter Wimsey is stranded in this village following a car crash and gets involved in a scandal involving the death of the local squire, a major jewel theft, escaped convicts and unidentified corpses. And, of course, the ringing of change bells. Contemporary critics branded it a ‘manual of bell-ringing’, but this eccentricity has become one of the most memorable aspects of the book, along with the vividly drawn local characters, such as village simpleton Potty Peake or the Rector and his wife. This is the first book in which the author hints that sometimes it is best to leave a mystery unsolved, because the solution may cause more pain than relief. Buy now on Amazon. Murder Must Advertise (1933) Set in the pretentious world of advertising, this is a terrific precursor to Mad Men, and by far the funniest of Dorothy L Sayers’ novels. When upwardly mobile young copywriter Victor Dean falls to his death on a staircase at Pym’s Publicity, Wimsey joins the advertising agency under a pseudonym to try and solve the case. It appears that the agency may have been used as a base for drug-dealing, so Wimsey starts leading a dangerous double life in order to unravel the mystery. Although Sayers herself was not happy with what she called the ‘fashionable dope-traffic’ aspect of the story, the descriptions of the rumours, creative rivalry and blatant lies of the advertising world are spot-on. Buy now on Amazon. Strong Poison (1930) This is the first Sayers book to introduce Harriet Vane, a successful author and the sparring partner/love interest for Lord Peter Wimsey. It is also the first one to raise social issues far beyond the scope of the genre, marking Sayers’ promotion to the premier league of crime fiction. Harriet is accused of poisoning her former lover, the jury and public opinion cannot help but be skeptical of her ‘immoral’ ways, but Wimsey is convinced of her innocence. He has to work against the clock before the retrial to find the real killer. The opening chapter is a masterpiece of rhetoric, containing the judge’s summary of the facts of the case, clearly aimed at prejudicing the jury against her, and expressing the mainstream views of the period. This unfair and hostile statement stands as a constant reminder that speculation and gossip have no place in a murder trial, even though we may initially doubt Harriet’s motives. Buy now on Amazon. Have His Carcase (1932) Harriet is recovering from the tribulations of her trial on a walking holiday on the Devon coast when she comes across a body on an isolated rock by the shore. The man’s throat has been slashed and blood is still flowing. Quick-witted and practical, she manages to take some pictures before the tide comes in to sweep the body away. Although she is very briefly considered a suspect herself, given her previous history, she soon joins the police and Lord Wimsey to investigate the case. The murder plot seems unnecessarily convoluted – but maybe Sayers was mocking the impossibly complex puzzles and explanations written by her contemporaries. Harriet and Peter have to reformulate their hypothesis again and again. Yet, ultimately, it’s not a mere puzzle to be solved purely through intellect, and that is the overriding sentiment you are left with after reading the novel. It’s a real murder, with sordid, pitiable details, putting a brutal end to a real person. Well, fictionally, anyway. Buy now on Amazon. Gaudy Night (1935) Perhaps one of my favourite books of any genre, this is the book about which Sayers herself confessed: “It is the only book I’ve written embodying any kind of a ‘moral’ and I do feel rather passionately about this business of the integrity of the mind.” This book is even better on a second reading, as there is so much humour, conflict of ideas and loving descriptions of Oxford which you might otherwise miss. There is no murder at Harriet Vane’s college reunion in Oxford, but plenty of poison pen letters and vandalism. We are exposed here to the vicious gossip and intrigue of a closed community and feel, as Harriet does, the strong pull yet gradual disenchantment with the romance of collegiate life and the myth of having it all. Buy now on Amazon. And so back to our original question – does the author’s work stand the test of time? Unlike other Golden Age authors, the xenephobic and classist views that appeared were traits of her more loathsome characters rather than of the author herself. The slow pace may be a little trying to modern readers. I have to admit skipping over some interminable passages describing cricket or code-breaking, but there is so much more than plot to enjoy in these richly textured tales. Sayers’ style may not be to everyone’s taste. Erudite and proud of it, she liked in-jokes, literary allusions and foreign language quotes. However, if you accept this cleverness as sheer exuberance rather than showing off you’ll succumb to the charms of her writing. After reading a few of her wittier works you may find other writers seem immature in comparison. Watch for our look at Dorothy L Sayers and the Fenland links in her books, also part of Classics in September 2013. Review: Unnatural Death by Dorothy L. Sayers. Unnatural Death is the third Lord Peter Wimsey mystery novel which Dorothy L. Sayers wrote, following Whose Body? and Clouds of Witness . We are still several books away from Sayers’ best work—the Harriet Vane trilogy—but Unnatural Death is still very good. It is a solid, though flawed, mystery filled with interesting characters which Sayers writes extremely well. The premise of Unnatural Death is that Lord Peter and Inspector Parker accidentally make the acquaintance of a doctor in a restaurant. Their interest is piqued when he tells them the story of trouble he had because he insisted on a post-mortem (examination) for a woman with cancer who died suddenly, several months at least before the disease should have taken her. No cause of death was found in the post-mortem but Lord Peter suspects murder and sets out to prove it, as well as to figure out who murdered her and why. Unnatural Death is very much worth the read and I do recommend it, though it does have its flaws. The biggest of these flaws is that much of the mystery hinges on the murder method, and once it is revealed it would not work as described. However, something similar, if far less practical, would work, so I think that the book can be forgiven on those grounds. The pacing is also somewhat off. Progress is made in the case and then stalls out in an unsatisfying way, only to plunge us into an almost breathless final act. Patience with this is rewarded with a satisfying ending, however. In short it is not one of Sayers’ masterpieces, but if one goes into it with the right expectations it is a very enjoyable mystery. If you like murder mysteries and especially if you like Dorothy L. Sayers’ Lord Peter Wimsey stories, you might like murder mystery, The Dean Died Over Winter Break . (If you haven’t read the story and don’t want spoilers, stop reading here.) (In what follows, I discuss the structure and execution of Unnatural Death with the purpose of learning from it because it is a good story. Everything I say should be understood as an attempt to learn from a master mystery writer. Criticism should in no way be taken as disparagement, as I dearly love the Lord Peter stories.) Sayers starts out Unnatural Death in a manner she would repeat more than once in her short stories: by not naming Lord Peter for quite some time. If I recall correctly, Lord Peter’s name isn’t mentioned until the end of Chapter 2. I’m not sure what the purpose of this is within Unnatural Death as it’s fairly obvious who the pair discussing crime in a restaurant are. It’s possible that it was just Sayers being playful. Also possible was that it was meant to tell the story partially from the perspective of the doctor. This approach I really can’t figure out. I’ve never liked it when Sayers did it, but evidently she did given how often she used it. I can’t help but wonder at the purpose. The first mystery which Lord Peter needs to solve is the identity of the doctor and his patient. This is an interesting choice on Sayers’ part because it didn’t serve any large structural purpose in the plot; Lord Peter would have had to send Miss Climpson to visit Leahampton anyway, so it was not necessary in order to bring her into the story. This may serve simply for realism, then, as doctors tend to be reticent to give details of their patients to strangers. And of course Unnatural Death introduces us to Miss Alexandra Katherine Climpson, whose most famous performance is probably in Strong Poison . She is a very interesting character both in herself and in her broader role. For various reasons, a great many of the early detectives in fiction were male, though quite often written by women. In fact three of my favorite detectives (Poirot, Lord Peter, and Brother Cadfael) are male detectives written by women. But however good the reasons were for most of the very early detectives being male, they were not essential. Women are inquisitive and social, but what hey tend to lack that the detective requires is free time. One obvious solution to this problem is age: old women have social skills sharpened over many decades and quite a lot of free time to go with them. And with this observation, we have Miss Climpson. (Lord Peter put it in a more in-character way, but I think you can see the wheels turning in the authoress’s head as he explains it.) It’s also interesting to note that Miss Marple would first appear in a short story a year after Unnatural Death was published and would first appear in a novel two years after that. The characters are not particularly similar past both being old spinsters, but it would be interesting to know if there was any influence. Miss Climpson represents a very interesting complementarity to Lord Peter. They are both clever with great skill at conversation, yet they engage in very different conversations. Both also command instant respect; Lord Peter because of his rank and Miss Climpson because of her age. They are also both experts at sizing people up in a few sentences, within their respective spheres. On the other hand, she might be better considerd a counterpoint to Charles Parker. Both of them get saddled with the grunt work of things like looking up every death certificate in a county or every lawyer in a London neighborhood. They are both at the direction of Lord Peter, though Inspector Parker has some modest independence. Putting them together, I think that Miss Climpson is something new. Looking over the various roles played by people in detective stories, the roles her’s bares some resemblance to are partner and subordinate who gets stuck with the gruntwork. Yet her role is neither of those; she might be best described as a sort of sub-contractor. It’s an interesting role. Speaking of roles within a detective story, Inspector Charles Parker’s role stays much the same as it was in Clouds of Witness and Whose Body? , though it is slightly diminished because there is not an official crime as far as the police are concerned. And here we come to a bit of a limitation of Parker as a constant companion to Lord Peter. Being a policeman grants him all sorts of privileges and access Lord Peter would not have on his own, but it also comes with limitations. If Parker were more of an equal to Lord Peter intellectually, this would not be a problem as Parker could at least converse with Lord Peter about the problem. And to be fair, a bit of that does go on, but Parker simply doesn’t contribute much. His main contribution is to throw cold water on all of Lord Peter’s conjectures. And that’s not really long-term sustainable. That said, most murder mysteries do feature a body, so it’s hardly an insurmountable obstacle for Inspector Parker as a companion to Lord Peter. Ultimately I suspect that he was replaced by Harriet Vane because she was simply a better fit. Miss Climpson’s investigations prove very useful, though the downside to her mode of intelligence gathering being gossip means that one needs to read through a fair amount of gossip. Sayers does a good job of rendering it tolerable, but at least to me it was not the highlight of the book. With the advertisement Lord Peter puts in or the Gotobed sisters and the subsequent murder of Bertha Gotobed, the plot shifts gears. What had started as a cold case mystery suddenly became an ongoing mystery. I have mixed feelings about ongoing mysteries, though I should note that they’re popular for good reason. They are, however, not nearly as calm as mysteries about crimes which are completed by the time the narrative begins. Much of that will come down to mood and temperament on the part of the reader. Having, as I do, three young children, I always appreciate calm since every day of real life is an adventure. In this case the ongoing murders make good something Lord Peter says several times in the book—that murderers can cover up their tracks so excessively as to leave more clues than had they not covered their tracks. And indeed this happens here, with each murder (or attempt) getting progressively more daring and sloppy. This is very well for Lord Peter and Inspector Parker, who in the end do not have enough evidence to charge Miss Whittaker for her original crime. Which brings up the issue of the method which Miss Whittaker used to kill her victims. It is true that air bubble introduced in the blood stream can kill a person, but from everything I’ve heard and read they have to be very large bubbles. Small bubbles—I was once assured by a nurse—are no problem at all and simply dissolve away without causing any harm. The reason why one always sees doctors (in TV, anyway), holding syringe up and flicking it to get the air bubbles out has to do with accurate dosing, not with the bubbles themselves being a problem. Ultimately I don’t know the exact quantity of air which would be necessary to kill a person, but it’s large . This is not an insurmountable problem for a murderer, as one could ultimately hook up a bicycle pump to an IV. Such an apparatus would be a bit silly and take away some of the sinister element of a merely empty syringe, but it would be doable. One would tend to suspect that such a thing would be detectable by the large quantity of air to be found in the circulatory system, but Miss Whittaker did tend to kill people in ways where their body would not be examined for some time, and I suspect that between blood settling and gas absorption, it seems at least plausible that such a method of killing would be hard to spot unless it was looked for. On the other hand, I can’t recall ever having heard of this method of killing people since, either in fiction or in reality, which suggests that it is not really a practicable method of killing people. Which, it must be noted, is just as well, since it’s good for people to be hard to kill without leaving a trace. Both for the sake of fiction and for the sake of reality. The other curious element of Unnatural Death is the way that in the end, Miss Climpson is very nearly murdered. What’s particularly curious about this choice is that she is both put in danger by a series of coincidences and saved literally at the last moment also by coincidence. Had Wimsey and Parker been sixty seconds later in breaking into “Mrs. Forest’s” flat, Miss Climpson would have been dead. Given that they had no idea that Miss Climpson was in any danger, this is very fortunate indeed. But on the other hand, it was pure luck that Vera Findllater had confessed to a priest that she had lied for Mary Whittaker and moreover written down notes to her confession complete with an street name in London, and moreover had dropped the note in a place that Miss Climpson found because she had dropped something in the same place. And had this string of coincidences not been enough, she still would have been safe had she not spotted Mary Whittaker (dressed in her disguise as Mrs. Forest) on the street. And that would not have been sufficient had Miss Climpson had an unerring memory for backs. I must confess that I’m very dubious about the claim that while faces may be confusing, backs are unmistakable even in disguise. I’ve mistaken enough strangers from the back that this just doesn’t seem plausible to me. So, ultimately, what to make of this string of improbably coincidences culminating in a last-moment salvation from death? Sayers did make it work, but I don’t think that it’s something to emulate. Improbably coincidences are most at home in comedies and Greek tragedies. The events starting with the faked gang-attack are probably my least favorite part of the book, as they really feel like they’re part of a different story. They’re well written, of course, but when I re-read Unnatural Death I tend to read this part very quickly. In the final act of the story, Mary Whittaker kills herself. This seems to happen fairly often in Lord Peter stories, and I’m really not sure what to make of it. It’s seems far more accepted than makes sense for a putatively Christian society, though really devout Christians seem pretty think on the ground among people of action in Lord Peter stories. I find this part very distasteful, though I’m not sure that there’s much to learn from it other than “don’t do it”. Dorothy L. Sayers was, from what I’ve read, a devout Christian, so I’ve really no idea what to make of suicide coming up so often and so little remarked upon. Perhaps Brittain of the 1920s was more pagan than is appreciated today.