Reviews

Murder Must Advertise by Dorothy L. Sayers

rosieclaverton's review against another edition

2.0

There's a reason this book took me so long and it has very little to do with my newborn baby.

Sayers really embraces research. But now to the point of tedium! I do not care about the minutiae of advertising. And while I am a great cricket fan, I did not need a recap of the whole match.

Coupled with a weak murder mystery, in the context of a larger drug plot and high society "shenanigans" that feel disconnected and lacking emotional impact, this is a really terrible crime novel.

fiatlux78's review against another edition

mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

annika2304's review

dark mysterious slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No

4.0

moonlitmeda's review against another edition

dark funny lighthearted mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

I love this book very much, and it will always be a comfort read, but I can't quite give it 5 stars because of Sayers' casual racism, which crops up just infrequently enough to startle me every time.

katharine_whitfield's review against another edition

adventurous funny lighthearted mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.25

mariafernandagama's review against another edition

4.0

As a person who has (unfortunately) worked in a few different advertising agencies throughout her life, I can say that most of the daily life aspects and department dynamics Sayers portraits here rings true. Except, of course, for this pathetic notion that people get to leave work on time every day. That's ridiculous. But apart from that, all of the absurd nonsense of the clients that pay you for your expertise on how to write or illustrate something and then try to make their ideas and whims prevail at all cost is a totally true, and so it would seem, timeless experience. But the greatest similarity to real life is Sayers's absolute contempt for the kind of work she does. Since she wrote this based on her experiences as a copywriter herself, I can totally understand where she's coming from. Advertising, as she explains in this book, is not that different from dealing drugs: you feed people on tiny illusions to get them through the week, and in that process you make yourself (or, to be fair, the people you work for) very rich. It's a foul business. On the other hand, it was very special to read a book from 1933 where the author feels in such a similar way to me about such contemporary issues.

Regarding the mystery itself, I again am a bit disappointed with her choices. There are things you simply cannot do when writing detective stories, and she does them here. If you're going to treat that part of your book with that level of carelessness, maybe you should write a different type of book altogether. And what can I say about the Harlequin stuff? Or the cricket match described in all its details, spanning several pages? Sigh. I think I'll take a break from her books for a while. I'm reading them one after the other and I think this is making me very attentive to flaws.

But I really don't want to give the impression that this is a bad book. It's not. The pacing is good, and Dorothy is a really good writer. I just wish that she would stick to the things she's good at and pay a little closer attention to how she crafts these murder cases.

bookminx's review against another edition

mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

yash590's review against another edition

adventurous lighthearted mysterious sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

The story is engaging but more than that, the way the advertising world is described, with a healthy dose of cynicism thrown into the mix, makes it a good read. The suspense was broken halfway through as I was able to guess what happened and became more and more sure of it as the story progressed. There was no aha moment which generally accompanies such books. 
Where the book stands out is in not pronouncing any person as a villain. All are different characters trying to get by with what they have and there are no perfect ones. That makes the ending a little sad primarily because it feels like no one deserved what they got.

jarvvis's review against another edition

funny lighthearted mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

I read this over quite a long period of time wherein I was very busy and distracted, but that all notwithstanding, this is a pretty good book. It drags in parts, and some chapters are outright incomprehensible (cricket? What do I know about cricket. Why would anyone want to know about cricket), but it’s a smart little mystery with a fairly fun detective at the centre of it.

nmorin's review against another edition

4.0

3.5 This was fun!! Sayers writing about an advertising firm was more fun than the actual mystery IMO.