Sayers, Dorothy L - Whose Body? (1923)

Review by Nick Fuller

4/5

The first Wimsey novel, and one of the most consistently entertaining. Although Wimsey is too bright and breezy, he is an entertaining companion to crime, although suffers too much from conscience. (Dr. Priestley's amoral attitude is preferable!) He enjoys the detection, "but if it comes to really running down a live person and getting him hanged, or even quodded, poor devil, there don't seem as if there was any excuse for me buttin' in, since I don't have to make my livin' by it. And I feel as if I oughtn't ever to find it amusin'. But I do." The reader, who has no conscience to worry him, enjoys the whole thing without a single moral qualm, for the story is bright and amusing. Despite the humour, the serious business of detection is not neglected. Opening with the fine and striking idea of the body in the bathtub, rightly described as an "uncommon good incident for a detective story," the plot is complicated by the disappearance of Sir Reuben Levy. The murderer's identity is revealed half-way through, and the pleasure of the second half is in seeing an elaborate, ingenious and gory plot unfold, and Wimsey's attempts to gather evidence.

One middle-aged gentleman disappears, and a similar-looking corpse turns up in a Mr Thipps's bathroom, naked except for pince-nez. Wimsey is called in by Thipps's mother when her son is arrested.

Sayers was a very competent writer from the very beginning, and her narrative skills and 'modern' voice go a long way towards making up for the failings of this short first novel. The main problem is the absence of suspects, which makes the only credible murderer stand out like a sore thumb from the first chapter. The plot is ingenious -- far too much so for credibility -- and clues are sparse but fair.

Wimsey is an engaging character, though there is a little too much emotional hand-wringing and pathos. The minor characters are drawn with subtlety and skill - and thank goodness for Inspector Parker, who goes about his business with calm competence. But only a crazy murderer makes the contrivances of the plot remotely possible.

Jon.

See also: http://classicmystery.wordpress.com/2012/08/12/whose-body-by-dorothy-l-sayers/