Sayers, Dorothy L - Unnatural Death / The Dawson Pedigree (1927)

Agatha Dawson was old, and suffered cancer in terminal phase. There are really no reason to think her death might have something not natural, the more so as autopsy and various tests were fruitless. It really takes a crooked mind to keep thinking murder occured. A crooked mind like Lord Peter Wimsey's, for instance... As usual with Sayers, whodunit is non - existent and reader has no difficulty figuring out why and how. The pleasure is in the smooth uncovering of the truth by a Lord Peter at top of his form. Sayers' doylean tropism is glaring here, as her detective has several truly 'sherlockian' moments, and seeing his mind at work alone is worth price of the ticket. But it is by no means the only appeal of the book that has everything makes early Sayers delightful: witty dialogue, great characters, slight irreverence and a communicative pleasure of writing. ***

Xavier Lechard

Review by Nick Fuller

5/5

Sayers' masterpiece. Wimsey, assisted by Chief Inspector Parker (erroneously called 'sir' by a Superintendent!), shines as he attacks the death of Agatha Dawson, whom he believes to have been murdered, yet without any evidence to suggest how she could have died other than from natural causes. Several successive deaths from natural causes follow, the second of which, that of Bertha Gotobed, Miss Dawson's maid, is a brilliantly Fortunate investigation. Like [Whose Body?] and Strong Poison, this is a tale where the villain is known from the beginning; the interest lies in working out how the crime was committed and how the murderer will be arrested, a similar idea to R Austin Freeman's inverted tales, but with more mystery. The New Property Act, an empty syringe (superb!), and a moral discussion of euthanasia and Catholicism all feature.