Murder Must Advertise

Hope you are all enjoying Summer, this is Heather again! My mother and I did a book swap and I was, very fortunately, given this book to read. I loved it. If you have read any of the novels in the Lord Peter Wimsey series then do comment your views on them.

Author: Dorothy L. Sayers

Published: 1933

Publisher: Victor Gollancz

My rating out of five: ★★★★ (I found some star text thingy, very exciting!)

It would be tricky to write about this murder-mystery novel without spilling a few spoilers, so please do be aware of that before reading. This is the first Lord Peter Wimsey novels that I have ever read and I did, indeed, enjoy it. The plot is rather complicated but basically: Dean ‘fell’ down the stairs at an advertising firm, but he leaves a letter on his desk which insinuates that perhaps it was not quite as accidental as first presumed. Lord Peter Wimsey hence whisks in to the firm under the pseudonym of ‘Death Bredon’ to covertly investigate.

I thought it pure genius that Sayers should set the murder within an advertising firm. Wimsey comes up with some truly scintillating slogans and lines, resulting in a novel jam-packed with witty comments. I am in awe of the complications of the plot; honestly I think detective novels are underrated for the astonishing amount of hard work that goes into finding possible and inventive murder methods. My memory is awful so I had a piece of paper with basic descriptions of each character scribbled onto it. The paper was crammed full by the end of the novel with over thirty people mentioned. I send my thanks to wasps for inspiring Réaumur to spread the theory of how to create paper – because without my paper and pen I would be entirely lost. The ample amount of people was a benefit for this type of book; everything felt more realistic with endless possibilities of who could be confided in and the intricacy involved in drugs and murder.

The one aspect of the novel that I found unpleasant was the death of Tallboy. Given the period in history the book is set in, to be hung for his crimes would have been catastrophic for Tallboy’s child and wife and have had the same outcome of his death. Nevertheless, I disliked how Wimsey basically told him to kill himself instead of finding a more practical solution. He could have faked Tallboy’s death, waited for a year or so then smuggled his family out of the country (okay, admittedly my own alternate ending is hardly realistic and could go wrong in many ways). Wimsey was probably a strong believer in justice and the ‘fairness’ of killing criminals. A minor thing I should also mention is that occasionally some characters pop-up that have had a past in the series. Being ignorant in Wimsey’s family history I was puzzled at who exactly the Duke Gerald was to him, let alone Helen! This is, of course, my own fault though for having not read the series in the correct order.

Many people steer away from detective fiction, I am not quite sure why. It is not as simple as some of the fiction available and the reader has to not only read but also analyse a lot. For this reason, I would not recommend reading it when you feel shattered as you may feel lost in the plot. Overall, it is an excellent book though with some very clever and entertaining lines.