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3.51 AVERAGE
3.51 AVERAGE
http://www.literaryfeline.com/2007/02/headline-story-body-discovered-in.html
Didn't even finish it. I made it about 3 chapters and disliked the writing style so much I didn't even care who killed the guy.
A fun introduction to the series with lots of pieces present -- Bunter, Parker, the Dowager Duchess, Peter's shell-shock -- that whets your appetite for the later books.
This is a delightful mix of P.G Wodehouse and Sherlock Holmes. I love a murder mystery that shocks me with the sudden realization that something very sinister is going on. As a warning: It has some un-PC views and is definitely a book of it’s time.
Much better than Clouds of Witness. I now have the joy of another 9 to look forward to!
DNFed at page 30.
My first DNF of the year and I’d been looking forward to this one too, how disappointing! I’ve been wanting to read more classic mysteries and this had been recommended to me, but unfortunately it’s not my cup of tea. It’s mainly the writing style I didn’t jive with, as the balance between dialogue and narrative prose just wasn’t there for me. There are huge slabs of dialogue on most pages, some of it taking up whole pages, and I struggled to get through it - it felt monotonous to me without some movement or action or any prose to break it up. Also, the pacing felt off, with things happening at a breakneck speed and I kept having to go back and reread bits because I couldn’t work out how we’d ended up where we are. On top of that, I wasn’t a fan of the main character. I know he’s a Lord, but he seems excessively arrogant and not in an endearing way (see Mr Darcy). Also, there were undertones of anti-Semitism in what I read and while I understand it’s a product of its time, that doesn’t mean I want to read it. Sadly, it’s a no from me.
My first DNF of the year and I’d been looking forward to this one too, how disappointing! I’ve been wanting to read more classic mysteries and this had been recommended to me, but unfortunately it’s not my cup of tea. It’s mainly the writing style I didn’t jive with, as the balance between dialogue and narrative prose just wasn’t there for me. There are huge slabs of dialogue on most pages, some of it taking up whole pages, and I struggled to get through it - it felt monotonous to me without some movement or action or any prose to break it up. Also, the pacing felt off, with things happening at a breakneck speed and I kept having to go back and reread bits because I couldn’t work out how we’d ended up where we are. On top of that, I wasn’t a fan of the main character. I know he’s a Lord, but he seems excessively arrogant and not in an endearing way (see Mr Darcy). Also, there were undertones of anti-Semitism in what I read and while I understand it’s a product of its time, that doesn’t mean I want to read it. Sadly, it’s a no from me.
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
Clever little mystery. Many details make it absurd, but still fun. I am impressed that this was written so long ago - 1923. I look forward to reading more Dorothy Sayers as she is a prolific writer.
2016 Reading Challenge- Mystery Novel
The narrator for this audiobook was great at British accents and voices, especially British men. She did a sort of southern twang for a character from Chicago, which confused me, but I chalked it up to the vastness of the United States and the difficulty to actually do different accents from the US.
Story-wise, this book was okay. Written about 1919, just after the first World War, Whose Body has some great dialect and words that are so “1920s,” which, because you know, it was written them. The characters are great- Lord Peter Whimsey as the upper class Brit who solves murder because he’s bored, his manservant/valet, Lord Peter Whimsey’s mother, the inspector who works for Scotland Yard, etc.
The only problem is that due to the era in which this mystery was written, it falls into some of the classic tropes, such as the murderer revealing his plan and how he carried it out. It helps the reader figure out how the murder actually took place, but nowadays that’s c considered “too easy”.
The jump from third person POV to second person POV was disjointed and odd, and to be honest I have absolutely no idea why Sayers included it. Sometimes you just gotta say “what the fudge…”
I’ll keep reading this because it’s Dorothy Sayers (c’mon… you can’t not read her!) or at least listen to the audiobooks while there are any.
The narrator for this audiobook was great at British accents and voices, especially British men. She did a sort of southern twang for a character from Chicago, which confused me, but I chalked it up to the vastness of the United States and the difficulty to actually do different accents from the US.
Story-wise, this book was okay. Written about 1919, just after the first World War, Whose Body has some great dialect and words that are so “1920s,” which, because you know, it was written them. The characters are great- Lord Peter Whimsey as the upper class Brit who solves murder because he’s bored, his manservant/valet, Lord Peter Whimsey’s mother, the inspector who works for Scotland Yard, etc.
The only problem is that due to the era in which this mystery was written, it falls into some of the classic tropes, such as the murderer revealing his plan and how he carried it out. It helps the reader figure out how the murder actually took place, but nowadays that’s c considered “too easy”.
The jump from third person POV to second person POV was disjointed and odd, and to be honest I have absolutely no idea why Sayers included it. Sometimes you just gotta say “what the fudge…”
I’ll keep reading this because it’s Dorothy Sayers (c’mon… you can’t not read her!) or at least listen to the audiobooks while there are any.