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Unnatural Death
by
Dorothy Sayers
amateur sleuth, vintage mystery in a Kindle edition that was published by Open Road Media on July 31, 2012 and has 324 pages.
Explore it on Goodreads or Amazon
Other books by this author which I have reviewed include Thrones Dominations, Whose Body?, Clouds of Witness, Lord Peter Views the Body, The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club, Strong Poison, The Five Red Herrings, Book Review: Dorothy Sayers’ Hangman's Holiday, Murder Must Advertise, The Nine Tailors, Gaudy Night, Busman's Honeymoon
Third in the Lord Peter Wimsey vintage mystery series and revolving around an amateur sleuth in 1920s London. The focus is on a “death” in Leahampton. Unnatural Death was originally published in 1927.
My Take
A fascinating mystery that appears insoluble but for Lord Peter’s knowledge of engines. I suspect that knowledge came from all of Peter’s experiences with Mrs Merdle (the name he gives all his cars) — and Lord Peter’s love of speed.
These days, it’s not PC to write dialogue as characters speak it, but Sayers was under no such restriction and makes very good use of it. Yeah, it does make it harder to read . . . I wonder if that’s why it’s no longer considered acceptable? Since so many people today can’t read, ahem.
Christie uses third person global subjective point-of-view from various perspectives, mostly Lord Peter’s, but also Parker’s, Miss Climpson’s, and several others. It does seem to give a more rounded view to a story.
Miss Climpson’s way of speaking drove me nuts, although she is an excellent example of why women need to be accepted as intelligent humans in their own right and able to be employed. Lord Peter certainly expounds on the nation’s need for old maids, lol. He’s right too.
Oh, lord. Then there’s the bigotry of religion: “She was a Papist. Being brought up that way, she wouldn’t known any better . . . but Mr Henry soon taught her to be a Christian, and she put away her idolatrous ideas.”
Ya gotta love Clara Whittaker — she had the nerve to refuse offers, cut her hair short, and set herself up in business — determined to be her own person! And gathered herself a very good reputation. The nerve! Actually, I wonder if Clara and Agatha had their own relationship.
Peter has a very scary comment about the difference between failed crimes and successful ones. He goes on to discuss how a successful murderer behaves.
It’s fascinating to read of the forensics and crime scene investigation of the day and compare it to today’s. The tearing apart of a case in order to solve it.
There’s definitely action but mostly a lot of talk as Lord Peter and Parker figure out what happened and uncover some nasty plots in today and in the past. As for characters . . . oooh, mama!
Be prepared, for it’s one cold murderer.
The Story
When a terminally ill woman dies much earlier than expected, Lord Peter suspects murder . . .
Though never quick-witted, Agatha Dawson had an iron constitution and a will to fight that never abated in her old age. Even after three operations failed to rid her of her cancer, she refused to give in. But as her body began to weaken, she accused lawyers, nurses, and doctors of trying to kill her and snatch her fortune. The town physician, an expert in cancer, gives her six months to live. Three days later, she is dead.
Though the autopsy reveals nothing surprising, the doctor suspects that Agatha’s niece had some hand in the old woman’s death. When Lord Peter Wimsey, the dashing gentleman detective, looks into the matter, he finds that death stalks all those who might testify. How can he continue his investigation when every question marks another innocent for murder?
The Characters
Lord Peter Wimsey, the second son to the late Duke, has found a goal in life — solving mysteries. Bunter, Major Wimsey’s former sergeant in the War to End All Wars, now takes care of him. “Mr Simms-Gaythorpe” has a nervous wife, pregnant for the first time.
Scotland Yard
Inspector Charles Parker is with CID and is Peter’s best friend. He also becomes Miss Climpson’s nephew, Adolphus. Sir Andrew Mackenzie is the chief of Scotland Yard and an old friend of Lord Peter’s. Collins. Sir James Lubbock is an analyst and a friend of Lord Peter’s. Dr Faulkner. Dewsby is the head of the fingerprint department.
Superintendent Walmisley is with the Epping Forest PD. I think Hopkins and Steve were constables. Alf was the guide to the body. The doctor was a tutster. Mr Andrews is a photographer.
Miss Alexandra Katherine Climpson is an spinster employed by Lord Peter as an inquiry agent. Mrs Winbottle is the cleaning lady at Climpson’s apartment building. Holborn is the vicar of St Edfrith’s where Miss Climpson goes. J Murbles, a solicitor of Staple Inn, is the Wimsey family lawyer. Towkington is a specialist in inheritance law.
Leahampton is . . .
. . . a village? where Agatha Dawson, an old lady with cancer, lived at her house, The Grove. Miss Mary Whittaker, a nurse and very professional, is Miss Dawson’s “niece”, the daughter of Charles and granddaughter of Harriet. The Reverend Hallelujah Dawson of the Tabernacle Mission is a clergyman AND black!!! He’s also a cousin of Agatha’s through his grandfather Wicked Simon, a.k.a. Harkaway. Hallelujah’s father was Bosun.
Bertha and Evelyn Gotobed are sisters and maids at The Grove. Both girls were waitresses at the Corner House after they were fired, and Evelyn has since gotten married, as Evelyn Cropper. Her husband is a pip! Dorcas Gulliver is Bertha’s landlady. John Ironsides was to have married Bertha. Miss Timmins is a former housekeeper for Miss Dawson. Mr Thomas Probyn had been the Clara Whittaker’s and Agatha Dawson’s family lawyer. Messrs Pointer and Wikin are Agatha’s current lawyers. Hodgson also appears to be a lawyer.
There was a Barnabas Dawson, a grocer, who had been Mr Henry’s grandfather, so Frederick’s father? Frederick Dawson had sons: Barnabas was killed at Waterloo, Roger died of smallpox, Simon ran away — he was wicked for many reasons, Henry, and Paul, who went over to the Scarlet Woman and became a monk.
Clara Whittaker, Mary Whittaker’s great-aunt on her father’s side and a school-fellow of Agatha’s, had been Miss Dawson’s friend and companion before Clara died. Agatha’s sister, Harriet, married Clara’s brother James Whittaker. Another brother, Stephen, should have been the Whittaker heir. Charles Whittaker, Mary’s father and Clara’s nephew, was a very un-Christian clergyman. Mr John was killed in the war. Allcock is a first cousin.
Dr Edward Carr would like to specialize in cancer. Nurse Philliter was the first nurse engaged, first for the patient, and then to Dr Carr. Sir Warburton Giles, a doctor in London, had been Carr’s mentor. Nurse Forbes was the last engaged. Mrs Budge runs a rooming house, Fairview?? Mr Tredgold is the vicar at St Onesimus and has a wife. Mr Stanniforth is the sacristan. The gossipy ladies of Leahampton include Miss Murgatroyed, Mrs Peasgood, and the judgmental Mrs Timmins. The Parfitts are neighbors. The youngest Miss Vera Findlater has a pash for Miss Whittaker.
Mrs Forrest is trying to get a divorce. Sylvia Lyndhurst is a fiction. Bishop Lambert of the Orinoco Mission is a practical and kind man. “Esmeralda” is the smart young lady Lord Peter engages to protect Mrs Merdle. Lawyers in London include J.F. Trigg with his own adventures; his assistant is Babcock. Miss Grant is a client. Marion Mead needs to leave a will. Sir Charles Pillington.
Crofton is an old-world village where Misses Whittaker and Dawson used to live. The Fox-and-Hounds is an inn and pub run by Mr and Mrs Piggin. Joe appears to be the potboy. Mr Cleveland bought the best of Miss Whittaker’s stock. Colonel Fletcher is trying to keep up with the hounds. The eighty-six-year-old Ben Cobling had been Clara’s groom for forty years; he started under Johnny Blackthorne. Ben married Agatha’s maid. William is the Coblings’ grandson.
Dr Paterson wasn’t satisfied by the cause of Mrs Taylor’s death. Pritchard murdered his wife. Sir Julian Freke had been a surgeon in Whose Body?, 1. Pettigrew-Robinson (Clouds of Witness, 2) had a nasty Lafite ’76. Dr. Richard Austin Freeman keeps showing up in various stories as a popular detective mystery writer. I gotta check him out . . .
The Cover and Title
The cover has a mauve background with a thin red border at top and bottom. At the top is the series info in black. The graphic is of the upper part of a man’s suit in a deep gray and pale gray pinstripe with a black-and-white plaid vest, a white button-up shirt, and a deep red tie. A monocle swings up to the left of the neckline, encircling the title in white. The author’s name is just below the graphic in a deep, almost purplish red. Below that is the publisher’s imprint.
The title is definitely of an Unnatural Death.
