Rating: 
Summary: Not as good as the ones with Harriet
Review: "Whose body" isn't bad - but the books really only get good after "Have His Carcasse," when Peter meets Harriet. Up 'til then, they're just mysteries.
Rating: 
Summary: Let Her Whimsy Take You
Review: "Whose Body?" is the first Lord Peter Wimsey novel written by Dorothy Sayers in the 1920s, and was the second I read after "Gaudy Night." As someone who generally likes to read series in order, I still have to say it was fun knowing the type of put together gentleman that Lord Peter will become even as I enjoyed reading of his casual manner and clever impulsiveness in his first big fully-recorded case.Lord Peter must figure out what happened to a naked dead man that an architect friend of his mother's finds in his London bathtub one night wearing only a pair of pince-nez glasses. Meanwhile a rich London financier has turned up missing. Peter is not the first to make the connection, but no one but he can possibly figure out that what connection there is to be made wasn't quite the one the police came up with. "Whose Body?" is short, clever and enjoyable. Sayers is an excellent and sympathetic writer who respects both her characters and the reader. Her very much alive English settings, both the cold wet bogs and the warm dry fireplaces make Wimsey's world feel like a place I could happily call home. And if you like this one they keep getting better as the series progresses. Cheers!
Rating: 
Summary: BORING, BORING, BORING
Review: From the very beginning we are capture by her writing style and characters. She only gets better from here. It is the interaction and relationship of her characters that make the story come alive.
We start off with two mysteries at once. A naked man wearing sunglasses is found in someone else's bathtub. Across town an important person goes missing. The local policeman had figures it out already (or has he). He has even nabbed the suspects. Lord Peter (armature sleuth) and friend of Inspector Parker must figure out if one plus one is one or two. Whose body?
Rating: 
Summary: One of the greatest mysteries ever written?
Review: I would say that Sayers' writing only gets better from here except for the fact that it's been said too many times in the previous reviews and that it doesn't. Now this not to say that her following mysteries are not good, they are excellent - but when considering 'Whose Body?' in the context I'm considering it, which is to say, 'one of the greatest mysteries ever written'.
Most would probably disagree with me, but there's one thing I desire for every mystery and that's for the writer to not just focus on the mystery, but on the characters. This is because in real life there are 2 types of mysteries: those that will never be solved and those that can be solved with the regular investigation done by the police.
I think Sayers pulls off the 'perfect' mystery that balances realism with entertainment. She can be said to be an incredibly humorous writer that does mystery on the side, but to say that would be almost sacrilege lol.
I could and would go on, but of course I'm only stating my opinion and why debate that? Suffice it to say that I prefer 'Whose Body?' to Sayers' other mysteries (though I love those too) :D.
Rating:
Summary: Meet the Wimseys
Review: In Lord Peter Wimsey's debut novel, Dorothy L. Sayers provides her detective with quite the conundrum: a known missing body as well as a found unknown one. While the modern reader won't likely be puzzled by whodunit for long, the story is still an enjoyable read. While the class distinctions seem anachronistic - at least in 21st Century America - I can see that the story could have easily been a sensation for the time and place it was written.
In addition to introducing Lord Peter, we also meet his mother, the Dowager Duchess, and his brother, Gerald, the Duke (sadly, his sister, Lady Mary and nephew, Gherkins, don't make an appearance in this book), as well as his future brother-in-law, Parker, the Honorable Freddy Arbuthnot, and, of course, the indispensable manservant, Mervyn Bunter. While all of the characters have some growing to do as the novels progress, Lord Peter's relationship with Bunter is firmly established here. There's little wonder Sayers' series became a hit and has continued to be enjoyed down the years.
While the "mystery" portion of the book isn't the most challenging, Sayers includes a few entertaining tangents, like the one about the future of mankind's vestigial conscience (which includes an aside about "backwards individuals" like myself who can wiggle their ears). I enjoyed her philosophical/theological musings here (and moreso in her non-Wimsey mystery, Documents in the Case), and wish she had included more of them in her later novels.
If you've never read any of the Wimsey novels, this is a great place to start. The villain is well-constructed, if insufficiently hidden, and the story has a charm that, while old-fashioned, is charming nonetheless.
Rating:
Summary: Sayer's First Novel
Review: In this novel, Whose Body, we are introduced to the dapper Lord Peter Wimsey. While I love Sayers, I was fortunate to not have read her novels in order. This first novel had a rather undeveloped plot, where we learn more about the characters than we do about the mystery on hand. The plot deals with the discovery of a body being found in an architects bathtub. At the same time, a Jewish financeier disappears. Is it this man who is in the tub? Lord Peter tries to find out, with the aid of his valet Bunter, and his police officer side-kick Parker. We are also introduced to his Mother the dowager duchess, who we will see again in later works. As the novel moves along, the reader discovers that the body was given a shave, and a manicure after death. This leads to more questions, and the plot basically unfolds at this point. The issue of anti-semitism has also been brought up in several other reviews. Sayers does seem to have some rather gratuitous anti-semitic remarks in the context of the novel, that have no bearing on plot or character development. That aside, this is an excellent first attempt on her part to write a novel in this genre. Her work only gets better from here.
Rating:
Summary: The First in a Classic Series
Review: Published in 1923, WHOSE BODY? was the first of Dorothy Sayers' novels--and in it she introduces the supercillious Lord Peter Wimsey, who conceals his depth under the veneer of London fop and who dabbles in criminal detection. And when a naked body is found in a timid architech's bathtub, Wimsey wastes little time in exploring the possibilities.
As others have noted, WHOSE BODY? is plagued by a certain degree patronizing racism--a disturbing note that Sayers will repeat in virtually every novel in the series. This is not defensible, but in fairness to Sayers it should be noted that she was of the "British Empire Era," a period in which such attitudes were the norm. And she is hardly the only writer of that period to strike such poses; the same attitudes arise, for instance, in Agatha Christie's novels of the 1920s and 1930s.
That aside, to a certain extent this is indeed an apprentice work, and it reads as somewhat stiff and mannered in comparison with Sayers' later work--but considered on its own merits the novel holds up unexpectedly well. This is largely due to the humor with which Sayers approaches her story, and while she will qualify, soften, and further humanize Lord Peter in later works he is nonetheless an instantly fascinating and completely original creation. While this particular novel will always be of more interest to established Wimsey fans than to newcomers, it is nonetheless the beginning of a series that would produce at least four masterworks--and as such it deserves to be read.
GFT, Amazon Reviewer
Rating:
Summary: Introducing Lord Peter (possible spoiler)
Review: Sayers' novels were the first adult fiction I read aged 12 or so, and Lord Peter was my guide to the real world. I loved being with the characters as they dined out or walked London's rainy streets (or rooftops), talking about fascinating subjects like old books, or the conscience. Lord Peter becomes a more stable character in later books. In this one he is suffering what we now call post-traumatic stress, or battle stress. At the start of the book he talks and jokes constantly and is filled with glee to be given the problem of the unknown corpse in the bath - "Such a joke!". Now he can use all those cunning amateur detective gadgets he's had made - the matchbox that doubles as a torch and a mirror, and so on. He does seem, as another reviewer has said, like a parody of a fictional amateur sleuth, with hobbies and title all thrown into the mix. The reality of what he's investigating begins to get to him, though. His friend Parker chides him for being too "playing fields of Eton" about it. Then as he solves the mystery he suffers a flashback to the war (WWI) and begins to hallucinate. Not such a joke. His mental instability is played down in later books, just as Holmes quietly drops the drug-taking.
Wimsey's babbling may be less funny than Sayers seems to find it, but there are layers to her books that make them worth rereading many times. Was she anti-Semitic? When the Duchess casually remarks that her husband, the late Duke, wouldn't invite Jews to the house, Sayers is recording attitudes that an aristocrat of circa 1900 might well have held. The Duchess has no problems about her old friend marrying Mr Levy. We never meet him alive, but he is described sympathetically.
Rating:
Summary: Introducing Lord Peter and company
Review: This is the first of the 'Lord Peter' series and therefore spends a lot of time laying the groundword for the series. We learn of Peter's wartime experiences and subsequent post traumatic stress (to use 21st century terms), meet many of the characters that will return through the series, most notably Bunter, Parker, and the Duchess Dowager. The on going conflict that Peter feels about the consequences of his 'poking around' is also introduced.
The mystery centers on the disappearance of a wealthy businessman and the appearance of a naked corpse in a bathtub. Peter finds the connection between these seemingly unrelated events after following a trail through various strata of 1920's English society. Although the mystery is clever for me at least the real story here is Lord Peter and his world. The lives of Peter and his friends and family are much more engaging than the mystery. This is definitely a 'cozy' series, anyone looking for a more hardcore challenging story should look elsewhere.
This story was written and set in the early 1920's and is definitely a product of those times. There a numerous comments that are typical to the time but are very offensive to the 21st century reader. Ignore those and enjoy the rest of the story.
This is also a first novel and has some flaws common to first novels. Sayers gives us far too much information and detail. The subsequent novels are better edited and move along more easily. Still this is a must read for any fan of this series.
Rating:
Summary: New twist on mysteries
Review: When I first read this book about two years ago it disgusted me profoundly. I found the main character, Lord Peter Wimsey, exasperant, his servant too 'servile' and the language bewildering. Two years later I am inclined to be a little less partial; still... "Whose body?" was the first mystery story Dorothy L. Sayers wrote, where she introduced us to her sleuth, the debonair, rich, book collector and nonsense-talking Lord Peter. He lives in a posh Picadilly apartment with a manservant by the name of Mervyn Bunter. I always thought Bunter could have been further developed; simply because he seems to have much more of a head on his shoulders and his feet on the floor than his employer does. In this, their first adventure, Lord Peter is made aware by his mother, the enchanting and very shrewd Dowager Duchess of Denver, of an unknown body being found on a neighboor's bathroom. No one seems to know who the unfortunate individual was, nor how he happened upon the bathroom of poor old Mr. Thipps. So in comes Lord Peter with his nonsense talk and his charming ways to investigate. He has a good friend who 'just happens' to be an actual detective and who will, in time, facilitate his work through official channels. I must say one thing that surprised me is how Lord Peter can make all the deductions until he finally elucidates the crime, while still being so much devoid of bright comments; but there we have it. There is a lot of dialogue in this novel and I find that a plus. I am a big fan of dialogue in fiction because I find it a great tool for natural development of the story. However, not everyone will understand a Londoner's words and mannerisms and this could be confusing, even irritating, at times. Sayers is not, and I repeat, is not, your typical mystery writer 'a la Christie'. She was a scholar and a Christian writer at that and likes to bring these ideas into her stories. I think that's why she also decided to show in this book such anti-semitic ideas against the Jews, that not even the now deceased Dowager Duke of Denver (Lord Peter's father), could tolerate them in his castle. Anti-semitism aside, this book is not for everyone. It demands a bit of an open mind and a good knowlegde of both British customs and language. What I did like about the book is what I always try to find in mysteries: the description of the different settings. Fine rare books and mahogany furniture, prime dining and a big estate in the country surround Lord Peter's life. Idealistic? Maybe, but no less charming.
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