Lord Peter Wimsey - March - Book 3 - Unnatural Death

Welcome to March and the reading of the third Lord Peter Wimsey book. Peter managed a far too close call in the last book, let's see how well he manages in this one.

Just want to post the link to Unnatural Death in the thread so people can easily find it.

Thanks! I will probably start my read next weekend.

My library hold on the Ian Carmichael audiobook has come in so I will probably start Sunday.

I also want to post the link back to the planning thread that lists the future months, since it kind of gets lost if no one comments on it in awhile: https://www.librarything.com/topic/314134

>5 thornton37814: thank you!

Having missed the February thread until today (it was a tough month), I am here to say that I'm about to start my reread of Unnatural Death. I adore Miss Climpson!

I've forgotten - how are we handling the short stories? Are we tackling the short story collections (some of which have non-Peter stories) or leaving it to the discretion of each reader to read them or not as they wish?

I love Miss Climpson too! In fact, I think it is her presence in this book that makes me give it a solid 4* (not that I don't enjoy Lord Peter & Parker). I started yesterday and am done now. The method of murder in this made a deep impression upon me when I first read it & I have always carefully watched doctors & nurses when getting shots ever since! Not sure that is a spoiler but don't want to ruin it for anyone...

Despite the publishing date, I was surprised that this book was listed as third in the series. There's a spoiler in the introduction regarding a future relationship.

>7 Dejah_Thoris: & >8 leslie.98:, I also am a great fan of Miss Climpson; she's so very much an individual, while knowingly fitting into a type. I wouldn't doubt Sayers had a lot of fun writing her.

>8 leslie.98:, I also vividly remember the murder method of this novel and will admit that it's added a bit to my preexisting trypanophobia. I remembered very little of the novel itself other than that, but it does rather give away the murderer also. Though even without knowing the method, the villain of the piece is more or less clear from the beginning, assuming there has been a murder at all, which is an interesting way to frame a mystery.

Unnatural Death by Dorothy L. Sayers

This is a thoroughly enjoyable book on different fronts: the characters (especially Miss Climpson), the mystery (we can guess whodunit, but the real mystery is how), and the look back at the Roaring 20s in England. A couple uses of archaic racial words can be skipped over due to context.

Now that I've read this one, I'm positive that somehow I missed it when I was binge-reading all the Wimsey books in my teens!

Thanks to Overdrive's new "delay hold" feature or to someone's early return, a copy of the audiobook of Unnatural Death arrived yesterday. I had not been enjoying the audiobook I'd been listening to, so I decided to return it and listen to Wimsey instead!

>12 thornton37814: great news!

>12 thornton37814: I have heard that happening to a few other people too. It seems like the new feature is working out ok! Enjoy your time with Lord Peter!

I'm in! I got an ebook from the library, so I'm all set to go...

Karen O.

April thread for LP is up: https://www.librarything.com/topic/318091

I didn’t remember Unnatural Death either so didn’t know the murderer until it was revealed at the end of the book. Its fun to revisit these mysteries but I’m waiting for Harriet to show up.

I'm not sure I read this one before. I really didn't remember anything from it! So, good to read something new when I was expecting a re-read!

I read this one in my teens. I didn't remember anything about it other than the means for the murder, which was so unusual that I've never forgotten it.

>19 cbl_tn: Same here!

>17 Familyhistorian: I think as a teenager, I was a bit in love with Lord Peter & that made me not like Harriet (jealousy). I am hoping that I will finally warm up to her during this reread.

>20 leslie.98: oh my, me too (being in love with Lord Peter).

>20 leslie.98: >21 fuzzi: I confess to being a bit in love with Lord Peter as well, but I still liked Harriet.

I finished Unnatural Death today. It's my favorite so far, mostly because it includes a forensic genealogy angle.

>23 thornton37814: if the forensic aspect interests you, check out a book Harry read recently: https://www.librarything.com/topic/317320#7105921

>24 fuzzi: Forensic genealogy is genealogy work done for the legal system--estates, military repatriations, oil and mineral rights, etc. as well as DNA used in legal situations. I was referring to the "estate" aspect in my comment.

>25 thornton37814: a little more specialized than regular forensic work.

Finished a few days ago...enjoyed the read (in fact, I'm into the next book already) but the few instances of racist and anti-semitic language were horrific. I know the book was written decades ago, but it made me a little nauseous. Otherwise, like I said, a good read.

Karen O.