Akiva Reads

Whose Body? (Lord Peter Wimsey, #1)

by Dorothy L. Sayers

Good source of 1920's British slang and pop culture references and 1920's British antisemitism. Sayers might be attempting hipster antisemitism**, but if I can't actually tell and if it's reminding me of that one Agatha Christie book, is there a difference?

It's interesting to observe how identifying more strongly with the family of the victim than with the detective changes the experience of reading a mystery novel.

Finishing the book hasn't really changed my opinion. I think I see why so many women have recommended the series to me, though---the part where Wimsey's extreme jocularity gives way to the vulnerability of a PTSD flashback and he's cared for by his butler Bunter pings at least three common narrative kinks.

** by which I mean, presenting her characters' antisemitic (and classist!) views as ridiculous, and presumably intending her readers to conclude that said views are ridiculous, but not actually refuting said views in any way