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Murder Must Advertise
by
Dorothy Sayers
vintage mystery in a Kindle edition that was published by Open Road Media on July 31, 2012 and has 404 pages.
Explore it on Goodreads or Amazon
Other books by this author which I have reviewed include Thrones Dominations, Whose Body?, Clouds of Witness, Unnatural Death, Lord Peter Views the Body, The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club, Strong Poison, The Five Red Herrings, Book Review: Dorothy Sayers’ Hangman's Holiday, The Nine Tailors, Gaudy Night, Busman's Honeymoon
Eighth in the Lord Peter Wimsey vintage mystery series revolving around an amateur sleuth in 1930s England. The focus is on Death Bredon, an undercover copywriter. It was first published 1 January 1933.
My Take
Talk about an immersion is the culture of the day! Lord Peter has gone undercover in advertising, so we’re privy to the “popular” products of the day. Lord Peter takes pride in earning his own money for the first time: four quid a week. Don’tcha wish we could go back in time with our savings? We’d be rich!
We’re also exposed to the inner workings of an advertising agency, and it’s too funny for words — and another exposure to the time’s culture, mores, and manners. All the gossip provides a lot of insight into the personalities of the staff — that Copley certainly thinks a lot of himself!
There’s plenty of gossip — that third person global subjective point-of-view is so handy to let us in on what so many are thinking, doing, and feeling — and the arrival of the beautifully mannered Death Bredon provides fodder for the troops — it seems he has a flair for writing copy. He also has the staff curious about his queer antics doing “acrobatics on dirty pipes”, exploring the roof, and all the questions he asks.
Peter also goes undercover at vamping Dian de Momerie. It seems she seduced Victor Dean into hanging with her set and Peter is curious as to the attraction. He intrigues her with Harlequin Peter who is amazingly rude to Dian, and she laps it up, totally intrigued. In both cases, Peter is intent on learning who murdered Dean and helping Parker uncover the drug ring.
It’s a clever scheme. Another clever plan was inserting Peter into the advertising company, and his disguise is holding up until, that is, he gets ticked off at the cricket game. Oops.
We get a brief look-in at how Parker and Lady Mary manage their finances, well, how Lady Mary manages their combined moderate income. There’s a description of how Parker has increased the size of his flat.
Young Ginger is fascinated by mystery stories and is eager to help Death. He does very well at questioning his fellows.
At the end Miss Meteyard sums up the difference between her approach in life and Lord Peter’s. Both have their merits.
The Story
When ad man Victor Dean falls down the stairs in the offices of Pym’s Publicity, a respectable London advertising agency, it looks like an accident. Then Lord Peter Wimsey is called in, and he soon discovers there’s more to copywriting than meets the eye. A bit of cocaine, a hint of blackmail, and some wanton women can be read between the lines. And then there is the brutal succession of murders — five of them — each one a fixed fee for advertising a deadly secret.
The Characters
Lord Peter Wimsey, a.k.a. Harlequin, the second son of a duke, is wealthy with a fascination for books and mysteries. Bunter is his personal man and assistant in detecting. Gerald is Peter’s older brother, the Duke of Denver; the snotty Helen is his wife, the duchess. I think Bracket is the London butler. Tomlin is a footman.
The Honorable Frederick “Freddy” Arbuthnot, who’s brilliant at money, is married to Rachel Levy (Whose Body?, 1).
Scotland Yard
Chief-Inspector Charles Parker is Peter’s brother-in-law married to Lady Mary. They have two children: Charles “Peterkin” Peter and Mary Lucasta. Mrs Gunner is the Parker’s cook. Police Constable (PC) Moffat patrols Dian’s neighborhood. Sergeant Lumley dislikes Parker. PC Eagles is determined to take the risk.
Pym’s Publicity, Ltd, is . . .
. . . an advertising agency owned by Mr Pym. Miss Hartley is his secretary. Mr Armstrong, Mr Miller (a painstaking cricketer), and Mr Hankin are directors / copy chiefs. There is a huge staff. There’s greater detail on those employed in the Copy department: The group managers, who work for a variety of commodities and are responsible for layouts and sending stereos to the newspapers, include Jim Tallboy with Mr Wedderburn his group-secretary; Mr Cole works with Harrogate Bros; Mr Smayle works with Dairyfields, Ltd while Mr McAllister is his group-secretary; and, Mr Daniels. Miss Meyteyard makes vulgar limericks and can write about anything but women’s goods. Mr Haagedorn deals with Sop and their allied products. Death Bredon is the new copywriter. The serious, old-fashioned, and married Frederick Copley has a knack for appetizing copy. Mr Ingleby specializes in snobbish copy. Mr Atkins is a group secretary. The priggish Alec Willis is brilliant with women’s goods, not so good at handling women, for he’s in love with Miss Dean and disapproving of Dean’s lifestyle outside work. Victor Dean took a header down the iron staircase. Pamela Dean is Victor’s sister.
Miss Rossiter and Miss Parton are typists who proofread and supply the office with coffee and cake. Mrs Johnson rules Dispatching where Joe Potts, a.k.a. Ginger, is one of the office-boys as well as Clarence Metacalfe who’s head boy, Cedric, Tom Faggott who has a peashooter, Bill Jones, Sam Tabbit, Wilfred Cotterill, and George Pyke. Cyril was on the Executive and Switchboard that fateful day. Horace is the messenger-boy in Vouchers. Harry is the lift-man. Tompkins is the reception clerk. Miss Beit is a telephonist and is in charge of the office address-book. Mr Binns is quite the dart thrower. Mrs Crump is the head charwoman.
Mr Beeseley is in Printing and not much good with a bat although he’s a decent bowler. Mr Harris and Mr Grimbold, the umpire, are in Pym’s Outdoor Publicity Department. Mr Prout is the photographer. Mr Spender works in Vouchers. Mr Thrale in Printing is a perfect tartar. Mr Barrow and Mr Vibart work in the Studio. Others include Mr Adcock, Miss Fearney, Mr Freeman, Mr Garrett, Mr Hornby, Mr Jones, Mr Pinchley, Mr Newbolt, Mr Hamperley, Mr Sidebotham, Miss Griggs, Mr Woodhurst, Mr Stanley, and Mr Vickers.
The active clients include the troublesome Messrs Toule & Jollop, proprieters of Nutrax, Matogene, and Jollop’s Concentrated Lactobeef Tablets for Travellers. Simon Brotherhood is with Brotherhood’s, Ltd.
Dr Emerson gave medical evidence. Ginger’s brothers are Wally, a policeman, and the nosey Bert. Weekes and Hector Puncheon, a junior reporter; and, Mr Hawkins, the news-editor, work for the Morning Star. Mr Drew is from the Cormorant Press.
Dian de Momerie is a bored society girl who gets her thrills through drugs and wild antics. Major Tod Milligan is her supplier and bosses Dian around. Some of Dian’s fellow partiers include Spenlow, Harry Thorne, the handsy “Spot” Lancaster, and the septic Babs Woodley.
Some of the criminals include Gentleman Jim, Dogsbody Dan, and Knockout Wally.
At the White Star, Joe is a bartender. Mr Tweedle has a chemist’s shop. Cummings has a tobacco shop. Lady Mendip attends a party. Ethel Vavasour is the other woman. Betty and Eliza Tebbut are witnesses. Dr Herbert Garfield steps up. Horace Mountjoy is a bachelor of quiet habits. Withers is his valet, and Mrs Trabbs does for him. Smith is Tallboy’s stockbroker. Simmonds is the Brotherhood’s demon bowler.
The Cover and Title
The cover has a grayed purple background with a thin red border at top and bottom. At the top is the series info in a dark purple while the author’s name is at the bottom, also in a deep purple. The graphic is consistent with the upper torso of a black and white deeply-veed chevron plaid with a black and white pinstriped wool vest, and a white shirt with two black buttons, and a deep purple bow tie. A monocle swings left and up, framing the title in white.
The title is a bit convoluted, and I suspect it involves the whole drug distribution scheme, Murder Must Advertise, as advertising plays an important part.
