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    Unnatural Death: A Lord Peter Wimsey Mystery
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    Unnatural Death: A Lord Peter Wimsey Mystery
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    Unnatural Death: A Lord Peter Wimsey Mystery
    Ebook320 pages5 hours

    Unnatural Death: A Lord Peter Wimsey Mystery

    By Dorothy L. Sayers

    4/5

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    About this ebook

    Lord Peter Wimsey undertakes an investigation into the death of an elderly woman who had succumbed to cancer three years earlier, and whose death profoundly affected the medical career of the doctor who had been entrusted with her care.

    Putting his associate, the indomitable Miss Climpson, to work undercover in the victim’s home town, Lord Peter leaves no stone unturned in his search for a person with the motive and the opportunity to commit murder.

    HarperPerennial Classics brings great works of literature to life in digital format, upholding the highest standards in ebook production and celebrating reading in all its forms. Look for more titles in the HarperPerennial Classics collection to build your digital library.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperCollins
    Release dateOct 20, 2015
    ISBN9781443445832
    Unavailable
    Unnatural Death: A Lord Peter Wimsey Mystery
    Author

    Dorothy L. Sayers

    Simon Winchester is the acclaimed author of many books, including The Professor and the Madman, The Men Who United the States, The Map That Changed the World, The Man Who Loved China, A Crack in the Edge of the World, and Krakatoa, all of which were New York Times bestsellers and appeared on numerous best and notable lists. In 2006, Winchester was made an officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) by Her Majesty the Queen. He resides in western Massachusetts.

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    Reviews for Unnatural Death

    4/5

    816 ratings44 reviews

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    • 4/5
      Enjoy these books very much, she is such a great writer. I was a bit turned off by some of the racial language from a couple of the characters in this one, but one has to remember to read the book in the time it was written. Also, I don't believe that this was the views of the author herself, just the character's.
    • 4/5
      This was quite a surprise on rereading it - I have always liked Sayers' work but they are kind of dated (well, what can you expect?). However, in this story, the action revolves around a chance meeting where a doctor bemoans his fate after being dead sure that one of his patients had been murdered while everyone else was willing to think it a natural death - after all, the lady in question was in her seventies and suffering from cancer so there was no surprise over the death. Lord Peter gets one of his helpers to go to the town in question and see what was what, while his friend Inspector Parker looks on in increasing alarm as it appears that Lord Peter has lost his marbles. Needles to say, things get resolved quite neatly in the end though it does depend rather unusually on a LOST DOCUMENT!!! to break an apparently unbreakable alibi and the early parts of the story are equally unusually polemic over the role of women in post WW1 society until Sayers loses herself in the flow of the story.
    • 3/5
      This starts as an overheard conversation with the doctor's dilemma, was that unexpected death natural or was the old lady helped out of this life? Without there being any clear crime, Wimsey sets off to investigate. In doing so, he sets in motion a chain of events that cause several deaths and narrowly escapes the series being brought to a premature end. The end is a little of an anticlimax, but it's an intriguing little book.
    • 4/5
      Unnatural Death the novel hadn't stayed in my memory, but this was an enjoyable adaptation. Inspector Parker is certain there was nothing to it with the young doctor whose career suffered a setback when he suspected a patient was murdered, but no evidence was found during the autopsy and screening. Lord Peter is certain it was murder.
    • 3/5
      probably my least favorite Wimsey. The point of inheritance law involved is interesting --worthy of Cyril Hare or Michael Gilbert, but I have seen the murder method criticized as unreliable, and the ending is depressingly grim.
    • 5/5
      I picked this one up and started reading it when nothing else appealed. Apparently nothing is as good as a Sayers novel these days. Well, you can see why: Wimsey is hilarious, and Sayers brings an interesting perspective to the genre. She recognized the racism and sexism so prevalent in her time, created characters who shared it, but permits her leads to be more enlightened. And Miss Climpson is one of the best characters ever.

      Rereading it, and realizing how much of the plot had stuck in my brain was interesting. One thing that really jumped out at me this time was the variety of relationships shown. Central to the story are two women school chums who spend the rest of their long lives keeping house together and running a stud farm. I suppose the dearth of single men after the war made it easier for women to establish families with other women without censure.

      Personal copy.
    • 4/5
      In this mystery, Wimsey tries to determine, not who, but why, and most importantly, how, it was accomplished. The labyrinthine 1925 Administration of Estates Act features strongly. Although the plot would not pass muster in modern mystery writing, it was a fun read. This one introduces Lord Peter's elderly assistant, the meticulous Miss Climpson. Well-written and entertaining, this is a perfect example of the golden age of mystery writing.
    • 3/5
      Lord Peter Wimsey can be a lot of fun. I love the way he takes lines from poetry and mangles them for his own purposes. The relationship between Wimsey and the grumbling copper Parker is always amusing. The mystery itself is entertaining, and there are a few twists. The most difficult thing in this book is the racism of all the characters, in this Britain of the 20s.
    • 3/5
      This is another good one, the one that introduces the delightful Miss Climpson, Wimsey's version of the Baker Street Irregulars.
    • 4/5
      I'm reading the Peter Wimsey novels in publication order (after spending many years only re-reading the ones involving Harriet Vane). This one I liked a lot, even though I worked out the central plot twist fairly early in the piece. (Generally speaking I prefer not to guess such things, but at least I didn't work out the "how" until just before Lord Peter came up with it!) As a lawyer, one of the things I really loved was the chapter discussing succession law. I also loved being introduced to Ms Climpson, the easy friendship between Peter and Charles Parker and the depiction of lesbian relationships (which I suspect is not that common for a novel written in the 1920s).
    • 5/5
      THe combination of English upper class eccentricities, a really good twisty detective story, and a wonderful addition to the main characters of the 'spinster' known as Miss Climpton. I really liked Miss CLimpton, and I enjoyed the inflections that are italicized. I read it aloud in my head... I 'hear' this whole book in my head, and it's like a marvelous black and white movie. I would totally make this booka movie. (maybe it already has been years and years ago and I just don't know about it) I think that's why I get into reading it as big chunks, and then once I get into the twists of the mystery, I usually can't put it down once I get to around two-thirds done. (stayed up waaaaaay too late last night to finish this one. When I started reading I was around halfway done.... and didn't stop until I was finished.)
    • 3/5
      Entertaining, if a trifle slow and involuted to suit me. There was definitely some weird homophobic undertones, but there were also some apparently admirable happily paired women (if it's never made explicit that they were lovers, it's still definitely open that they were life partners.) I found that whole theme, which pervades the story, a bit jarring, but the actual mystery was fine and I did not see the solution coming at all.
    • 4/5
      I enjoyed rereading this early Wimsey amateur detective story, first read 20-odd years ago. It is a straightforward story, in that you know who "did it" early on, but the joy of the book is in the period detail and character detail, although any development of Lord Peter as a character was slight in the current story.There were numerous humorous touches and for those who like biographical detail, there was discussion of Anglican "High Church" issues relating to confession (beyond me).Curiously, the story finishes with Wimsey leaving a police station in London with it being dark from a solar eclipse. The solar eclipse would have been that on 29 June 1927(?), the year in which the book was published.
    • 5/5
      Where I got the book: My bookshelf. A re-read. Well I've already failed in my attempt to re-read the Wimsey books in order, because I always thought Clouds of Witness came AFTER Unnatural Death. Wimsey seems younger in the latter, somehow. The Wimsey books, in general, are superb examples of Golden Age detective fiction: intricate plots which give you all the clues on the page and yet count on misdirection to keep you guessing. The plot of Unnatural Death seems to arise from a question: do doctors ever suspect wrongdoing around their patients' deaths? Wimsey meets such a doctor by chance, and sets about investigating the slightly premature decease of an old lady who refused to make her will. There are three interesting points I'd like to note about this book. First, the initial signs of Wimsey's transformation into the godlike figure of the later books are there, notably in the hints about his vast experience of women and skill as a lover. Not to mention his ability to climb drainpipes and locate a body in a large expanse of countryside. Second, we see the hammering home of a theme Sayers weaves through the Wimsey novels: what right does Wimsey have to go around detecting given that his interfering inevitably seems to result in more deaths? I love the way Sayers makes her detective think about the internal logic of detective novels. Third, Sayers gets to tackle the topic of LESBIANS without actually being able to clarify that point to the reader, since the book was written in the 1920s and homosexuality could only be hinted at in the broadest manner. It always makes me laugh that the main "proof" of the villain's same-sex preference is that she doesn't fancy Wimsey. Nice to be so irresistible. Black marks on this book, always quoted by Sayers' critics, are her casual use of racially offensive terms; but the reader needs to remember that this kind of speech was the norm in her day, and if anything she shows greater sympathy toward non-Christians or non-whites than many writers of her time. Clouds of Witness now loaded on my Kindle. Onward!
    • 4/5
      An elderly woman, bedridden in the later stages of terminal cancer, dies suddenly and unexpectedly at her country home, attended only by her niece and a hired nurse. Her doctor is puzzled, but his suspicions seem groundless and no inquest is held. Three years later, Lord Peter Wimsey learns of the case and decides to investigate. In this 1927 mystery by Dorothy Sayers, Lord Peter is determined to discover if Agatha Dawson's death was natural — or unnatural. The case is cold and there doesn't seem to be either a motive or opportunity for foul play. But something isn't right. What really happened? Well, this is a murder mystery, so of course we know it's murder. The method of murder itself, while theoretically brilliant, is not actually physically possible as Sayers describes it. (She took a little heat for that, actually, and it does weaken the whole set-up. I'm glad I didn't know anything about it beforehand so I could enjoy the story.) Plotwise, things are a little forced, especially once the elaborate set-up of a gang is introduced. As is typical in many mysteries of this period, there is some incidentally racist material, which is generally expressed by the characters and is not, I think, indicative of the attitude of the narrator. Indeed, Sayers seems to sneer at the way the "black gang" idea is seized upon with such unthinking acceptance and revulsion by the main newspapers and their readers. Miss Climpson is along for the adventure this time, and who couldn't love her? She is so much fun, with her prim old-maidishness that is surprisingly flexible and insightful. She is a quick thinker, very observant, and I think she and Miss Marple would get along swimmingly. I love when she pops up in the Lord Peter stories!I read this in a day and thoroughly enjoyed it. Yes, some of the plot points are a bit strained and eventually things get a little over the top, but it's a highly entertaining over-the-top, and Sayers' characters are unfailingly fascinating. My one quibble with Dorothy Sayers is this: she didn't write enough Lord Peter novels. I'm close to the end of her oeuvre, and I'll be sad to finish it off (ha ha). But then, of course, one can always reread.
    • 4/5
      I think this is the first appearance of Miss Climpson. Huzzah! I like her. Nerves of steel under a pile of tea-stained lace doilies.
    • 4/5
      Another interesting mystery that LPW took on just because of a casual meeting, then he couldn't stop chasing the problem. This leads to a moral dilemma. The pursuit of the killer leads to further deaths. Would it have been better for him to have left the whole mystery alone after the first death which may or may not have been natural? Poor Lord Peter, always on the verge of depression. Fortunately a version of the famous cattery is featured. That's become my favorite part of Sayers' books.
    • 5/5
      The third book in Sayers' Lord Peter Wimsey series and my favourite so far (although admittedly I haven't got very far yet).Lord Peter and Inspector Parker are having lunch one day when they strike up a conversation with a young doctor who mentions to them that he's convinced that a patient of his was murdered although he was able to find no evidence of foul play when he performed a post mortem. Lord Peter is convinced by the doctor's story and decides to investigate further.I thought this was an unusual and original idea for a murder mystery in that from the very beginning we know 'who dunnit' but not why or how. And it's the why and the how (and some proof) that Lord Peter needs. The body count gets higher as the book progresses and I found myself completely gripped by the story and read the whole thing in one sitting.We also get to see a more serious side to Lord Peter during a conversation he has with a minister about the morality of killing a terminally ill patient and the amount of responsibility Lord Peter should feel for investigating the crime and prompting further murders.
    • 3/5
      The least satisfying and most cliched of Sayers's novels. Full review to follow.
    • 4/5
      Such a delightful book in so many ways. The writing is great, the characters enchanting, the setting fascinating, the mystery interesting. One important character is not developed to the extent I'd wished, but all in all, good.It is sometimes a struggle to decide with a book if the sexism, racism, anti-Semitism, homophobia, and so on depicted in it are shared by the author or are exclusive to the characters. The times and milieu Sayers is writing about had a comfortable and unquestioned superiority which she gently ridicules in places, but there are moments when the question arises for the reader, nevertheless. Luckily, she leaves around enough evidence that we can safely conclude that the author herself isn't promoting these unappealing isms.
    • 4/5
      Dorothy L Sayers and Lord Peter are both on form in this cracking mystery, which is very well plotted with lots of lovely red herrings. I particularly enjoyed the explanation to the legal background to the original murder - showing that DLS expected her readers to be intelligent - and also the discussion Lord Peter has with the vicar about the morality of killing the terminally ill, something which still has relevance to date. The method of murder is ingenious, and has been copied by several other writers in the years since the book was first published, so does unfairly feel cliched.
    • 3/5
      Good solid mystery from Miss Sayers. I came back to this one after reading Agatha Christie's "Appointment with Death" which references the murder method used in this book. Interestingly we can complete the circle back to AC as the description of the picnickers flocking to the scene of the disappearance of the two young women late in the book could be taken from Miss Sayers own first hand visit to the scene of AC's disappearance in 1926! An interesting story where, as DLS herself says (via Harriet Vane) in a later book, she invented a method of murder so watertight it was difficult to find a way of catching the murderer - HV forced a confession, DLS gets the murderer to panic and murder more, finally relying on catching them red handed! Good read!
    • 4/5
      Very much enjoyed the original format of this medico-legal mystery. Even though one suspects the ending, Sayers is aways disconfirming these guesses until the very end.
    • 5/5
      Recently re-read this with a group. It is a fine example of Lord Peter Wimsey. Not a lot of Bunter in it. The mystery is not difficult to solve, but the characters involved are interesting and fun to follow along in their detecting. Introduces Miss Climpson.
    • 2/5
      It is fairly clear from very early on who-did-it, but the questions are how and why - the victim apparently dies from natural causes and the killer has no motive.Reasonably entertaining and follows all the rules of the genre - the answers are there if you look hard enough.
    • 4/5
      This one certainly has the creepiest villain of any of the Sayers stories I've read so far! Another excellently complex mystery, that's for sure.
    • 5/5
      Re-reading these as audio -- the narrator is exceedingly plummy, which works very well. I agree with the other reviewers -- the story's great, it's too bad that it is such a product of its times -- though I loved that despite the racism evident in the book, Cousin Hallelujah was very much the injured person and acknowledged as such by Whimsy and Parker. Wish he'd come through it with even more gain.
    • 4/5
      This is my introduction to Lord Peter Wimsey, who carries his name well: whimsical, clever, almost elfish, he is a dare-devil with smarts whereas his counterpart, Detective-Inspector Parker has more braun. I enjoyed the dynamic between the two.Aspects of the book have aged poorly but it is an interesting insight into how racialised and LGBTQ communities were viewed back then (in a more progressive light than I would have overall expected).Overall a nice, fun, light read
    • 4/5
      Lord Peter Wimsey investigates a murder in which the method perplexes everyone. On the surface it appears, the woman died of natural causes, but a few irregularities exist. Detective Parker needs enough evidence to convict the obvious suspect, but without the "means," the case cannot be prosecuted. I loved the introduction of Miss Climpson, a sidekick who reminds me of Miss Marple, although perhaps not quite as astute. I loved the name Hallelujah Dawson given to a distant dark-skinned relative of the deceased. My favorite section of the novel dealt with changes in the law which created a little ambiguity as to the heir--a little forensic genealogy! Ian Carmichael supplied excellent narration to the novel.
    • 5/5
      A chance conversation overheard in a restaurant puts Lord Peter Wimsey on the trail of a murderer. The motive and the identity of the murderer are clear. But how was the murder committed? The means has Wimsey baffled up to the very end. It’s such an ingenious method for murder that I’ve never forgotten it since I first read this book in my teens, although I forgot everything else about the book. I’m sure I missed the references to other crime fiction writers the first time through (such as Earl Derr Biggers). The Golden Age authors seemed to be very aware of the work of their peers, and even to build on each others’ work. In this book, Wimsey employs a middle-aged assistant, Miss Climpson, who may have inspired some aspects of Christie’s Miss Marple.