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3.77 AVERAGE
3.77 AVERAGE
Really great mystery featuring a very rollicking adventure. The solution isn't just pulled out of a hat (you can work it all out along the way - maybe not beyond doubt but I'd worked out most of it quite a bit before the end) and is pretty interesting (although the murderer's initial murder and motive is kind of strange, even if the facts work out ok). Somewhat formulaic but really excellent writing for the genre, with enjoyable dialogue and great characters. There's some serious stuff - lesbian relationships, most obviously - that are dealt with pretty well and though Sayers doesn't avoid injecting her own morality regarding them into the book she's remarkably delicate about it and never condemns lesbians - I mean the portrayal is hardly that great and relies on stereotypes but it's never cruel and it comes across pretty well, at least in my opinion.
HOWEVER, as multiple other people have pointed out, there's a really iffy bit. A black character is referred to using the n-word. This is reported by another character in a letter, who places the word in quotes and pretty clearly indicates their distate for it - although probably not clearly enough, and it's obviously really disgusting to see whatever. The character is minor except for a later part where there's a short bit about the media's racist smear campaign against him. Another person goes into why this is pretty iffy in detail but basically the police use him as bait to try and snare the real criminal. Unbelievably dodgy and dangerous. Otherwise the way he's talked about isn't racist, outside of maybe some patronising descriptions and one or two people leaping to bad conclusions based on racism - I don't really think Wimsey himself comes across as racist. But it's still pretty bad. It's the sort of thing that'd probably be considered particularly well done 90 years ago but now looks pretty shameful. I don't think it destroys the book because the racism is, imo, disapproved of within text but that's not shown clearly and I'd find it hard recommending the book without qualifications for that.
Following is some rambling on the main plot point cause I felt it was a bit weak if you thought about it but not a big deal:
HOWEVER, as multiple other people have pointed out, there's a really iffy bit. A black character is referred to using the n-word. This is reported by another character in a letter, who places the word in quotes and pretty clearly indicates their distate for it - although probably not clearly enough, and it's obviously really disgusting to see whatever. The character is minor except for a later part where there's a short bit about the media's racist smear campaign against him. Another person goes into why this is pretty iffy in detail but basically the police use him as bait to try and snare the real criminal. Unbelievably dodgy and dangerous. Otherwise the way he's talked about isn't racist, outside of maybe some patronising descriptions and one or two people leaping to bad conclusions based on racism - I don't really think Wimsey himself comes across as racist. But it's still pretty bad. It's the sort of thing that'd probably be considered particularly well done 90 years ago but now looks pretty shameful. I don't think it destroys the book because the racism is, imo, disapproved of within text but that's not shown clearly and I'd find it hard recommending the book without qualifications for that.
Following is some rambling on the main plot point cause I felt it was a bit weak if you thought about it but not a big deal:
Spoiler
Why did the murderer feel the need to murder her great-aunt at all? The whole plot hinges around the law change changing how inheritance works for those who die without a will. Yet the lawyers we read are all unsure on what exactly the impact will be. The opinion the murderer gets is basically "it's unclear what will happen and you might lose out, BUT if it's clear that the intention of the dead woman was to give her money to you then you'll almost certainly get at least a very large chunk of the money. in addition, you might just get it all anyway, depending on how the law is interpreted by the courts". As far as I know, she didn't know of any other possible claimants - or rather, we know of one, but he was ineligible and it's likely that the murderer's research showed that too. So the murderer murdered to guard against a very unlikely circumstance (a court deciding that the money should go the crown, even with a next of kin). Regardless of the law's wording, I can't imagine it even getting to that point - hardly anyone even seems to know about the law so it's unlikely whoever decides the fate of the aunt's estate would know or notice any problem. I guess you could say she was just someone who wanted certainty, but it still seems a bit extreme. I just expect the author to set it up a bit better, y'know? It could easily be resolved with a few lines
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
adventurous
dark
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Racial slurs, Racism, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Cancer, Murder, Lesbophobia, Toxic friendship
Minor: Cursing, Homophobia, Car accident, Alcohol, War, Classism
dark
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Well. As far as a mystery, Unnatural Death is more a how was it done rather than a whodunnit. The perpetrator was pretty obvious from the beginning. Overall, the mystery itself was ok.
But oh boy, the racism and homophobia. It was apparent that Sayers was trying to condemn it through some awful characters, but it permeated the text. I know this is said to be of it’s time, but that doesn’t make it any less gross to me.
But oh boy, the racism and homophobia. It was apparent that Sayers was trying to condemn it through some awful characters, but it permeated the text. I know this is said to be of it’s time, but that doesn’t make it any less gross to me.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia, Racial slurs, Racism, Antisemitism, Religious bigotry, Lesbophobia
Moderate: Murder
challenging
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This is a tough one. An intriguing mystery that is complex and challenging to untangle- including inheritances, disguises, lots of peril and an abundance of gossipy villagers and hard working women. But casual racism, a lean in to homophobic fears and just too much othering took the joy out of the mystery. ☹️
The beginning of the shift from the early Lord Peter to the Peter we're more familiar with from the books which feature Harriet. The plot is as convoluted and vaguely implausible as you might expect, focused more on the how- and whydunnit than the who. It's mostly interesting as an artefact of its time: the breathtakingly casual level of the racism exhibited by many of the characters; the faintly stereotypical yet entirely sympathetic depiction of the only character of colour in the book; the wonky gender essentialism; the hinted at lesbian relationships, one of them portrayed as happy and life-long, the others... not so much.
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
funny
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Loveable characters:
Yes
I think this was the first Sayers novel I read where I first realized just how funny she could be with her characters. Enjoyable mystery that not only has some great twists, but at the deepest level just has some delightfully quirky characters to spend time with.
Rating: 3.5-4 Stars (Good).
Rating: 3.5-4 Stars (Good).