Monday, November 20, 2017

A Little Less Whimsy in the Wimsey

Unnatural Death (Lord Peter Wimsey, #3)Unnatural Death by Dorothy L. Sayers
Reviewed by Jason Koivu
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

The continuing adventures of that dandy Lord Peter Wimsey continue.

In Unnatural Death, our somewhat foppish hero, the amateur detective Wimsey suspects there may be more to the cancer-assumed death of an older lady. But what are the means? What is the motive?

I've read about five of Sayer's Wimsey books so far and this is the least engaging. There's nothing blatantly wrong with it, it's just not quite up to standard. I struggled to get a grasp on why I felt this way. I think it's because there's very little action and a whole lot of talking, specifically between Wimsey and his friend Inspector Parker. They spend a good deal of time sitting about talking this one over. They literally don't move. Yes, of course there is SOME action somewhere within the book: a bit of dash at the end; a touch of insinuated violence. But most of this seemed to me to be Wimsey spouting his theories with Parker poopooing them.

However, Unnatural Death contains all the humor and old world panache (as well as old world borderline racism) one comes to expect from these books, and any fan of the Wimsey stories will enjoy this one regardless of its minor failings.


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