Murder Must Advertise (1933)

Wimsey goes undercover in an advertising agency and proves he could earn a living should he ever need to. I didn't actually understand everything that goes on in the cricket game, but it's still my favourite Wimsey novel. ( )

This book had the advantage of having a lot of Lord Peter in it, and a fair amount of Parker, and even a couple of glimpses of Parker's family. I always liked the idea of Parker and Lady Mary as a couple, so this was gratifying. It suffers from a lack of Harriet and Bunter, though.

The solutions are rather obvious, too, I think. I figured it all out quite early on. The thing that really struck me was the end -- with Mr Tallboy. That left me feeling a little quiet and stunned.

As usual, it's solid and entertaining, with a few bits that really shine. ( )

Another reread. I liked this one more this time round, actually, though I can't quite put my finger on why. I'm not sure why I thought the solutions were all so obvious, the first time I read it; they were reasonably obvious now, but then I've read it once before and listened to the BBC radioplay, so of course they were. Couple of winces from me with several of the female characters -- Dian de Momerie, mostly, and also Tallboy's mistress. They were plot devices, not people; Dian could almost be a person, but then Sayers just drops her at the end. Pamela Dean wasn't precisely treated wonderfully, either, and Miss Meteyard wasn't used to full effect.

Otherwise though, it's all very fun and very vivid, obviously formed partly from Sayers' own experiences, and therefore feeling 'right' to the reader.

The ending still brought me up cold. I somewhat wish that the penultimate chapter was the last: we don't need to see Peter ambling round and clearing everything up after the nasty end of that chapter; it takes the edge off the impression the novel leaves in your mind, and while I know it's a convention with mystery stories to do that, Sayers could've bucked the convention and carried it off. ( )

No Harriet, but quite sensible and not so ludicrously adored Peter Wimsey. ( )

No Harriet, but quite sensible and not so ludicrously adored Peter Wimsey. ( )