A review by barrettbooks
Lord Peter Views the Body by Dorothy L. Sayers

funny lighthearted mysterious relaxing 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? No

3.0

I have read a lot of Agatha Christie (whose early work was written in the same time period) but this is my first Dorothy Sayers book. Honestly kind of regretting putting it on my tbr so soon after I enjoyed that book where the queen solves mysteries because now I feel like a gentry stan. But I did enjoy it! There's an atmosphere to these earlyish detective stories that I haven't really been able to find in modern ones (though I am always looking for recs!) and I found Lord Peter very charming despite his many faults (i.e. being a Lord.) It's also very funny to me that he is out here being a full on amateur detective and his fancy and rich friends and family are just like "well, gotta have a hobby I guess. Don't mind Peter."

There are unfortunately a few moments of antisemitic/ national stereotypes (mostly about Italians to be honest) but otherwise I found the stories pretty enjoyable with a variety of mystery types and an entertaining trip to the solution. The wide cast of supporting characters in the various stories were fun, especially since Sayers writes out all their various British accents phonetically. If you don't mind stories about rich white men and servants who really love their jobs, it definitely has those between-Wars British vibes that I crave for some reason. I will probably be picking up more of Sayers' detective novels when I find them used.