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I don’t usually review two books at once, but since reading these two books back to back was rather serendipitous, I decided to do one review. Both books are cozy mysteries.
In case you were wondering:
“Cozy mysteries, also referred to simply as “cozies”, are a subgenre of crime fiction in which sex and violence are downplayed or treated humorously, and the crime and detection take place in a small, socially intimate community.â€
Whose Body? (Lord Peter Wimsey Mystery Book 1) by Dorothy L. Sayers
Why am I reviewing a 92-year-old book? Simple, I decided to read some of the classic mysteries books and particularly books written by women. Dorothy L. Sayers name appears on almost all the lists of older mystery books. So I grabbed up her eBook and was off and running.
Whose Body?
Whose Body? is the first of the Lord Peter Wimsey Mysteries, written in 1923, and is a cozy mystery. Think Agatha Christie!
Brief Summary:
When a stranger’s naked body turns up in an architect’s bathtub, and of course, no one knows how it got there. Did the poor man just crawl through the window, decide to bathe, and then die? Lord Peter, amateur sleuth, pops over to see what he can make of the death. He also notes the strange circumstance surrounding the disappearance of a financier and connects the two events. The police think Lord Peter is a nuisance and slightly addled.
My Response:
I found this book delightful on several levels. I love British mysteries and 1923 language of the nobility, not to mention Lord Peter’s complete disregard for the police and their abilities to solve the crime. Often, I had a feeling that the language in the novel was poking fun at the nobility. This may be pure nonsense because I often have that feeling about British mysteries. Even in the most serious of mysteries and crimes, there seems to be an inside joke about language bubbling just below the surface of the story, which is probably just my fancy taking flight.
Lord Peter is delightfully eccentric and has a nervous condition from Shell Shock or PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder), which makes him slightly contemporary, except that today no one of wealth and means would serve in the military. So contemporary ring but with very old-fashioned values.
This is a fun romp as Lord Peter sets out to solve the mystery without the benefit of modern forensics. I’ll admit that there are moments when credibility is stretched to its limits, but overall I enjoyed this book. The story, as well as the historical light it sheds on mysteries as they unfolded ninety-plus years ago, is informative, and the story holds up of after all these years.
Her Royal Spyness (Royal Spyness Mysteries Book 1) by Rhys Bowen
Are you wondering why I’m pairing this book with Whose Body?
They both have a dead body show up in the bathtub. Of course, I didn’t realize this connection when I picked the books. I wanted to read another book set in a similar time period, 1932, but by a contemporary author (2007). The bathtub connection was a complete surprise, and I have to admit that the coincidence made me chuckle. I did wonder if Bowen had read Sayers.
Brief Summary:
Lady Victoria Georgiana Charlotte Eugenie, daughter of the Duke of Glen Garry and Rannoch, has an extraordinarily long name and is a great-granddaughter of Queen Victoria and thirty-fourth in line to the throne. She is also penniless, and her sister-in-law sends her off to London to make her way in life. Georgie is more than happy to leave and avoid her fate: she tells the reader that her destiny was to marry “some lunatic, buck-toothed, chinless, spineless, and utterly awful European royal, thus cementing ties with a future enemy.†She’s also in the unfortunate position to have been educated to do nothing, but she can curtsy properly.
In London, she tries several normal occupations, the most amusing of which is starting a domestic agency, which she owns and operates alone. She hides her identity from her peers who hire her. It could, after all, be embarrassing to find that your hired maid is a peer and heir to the throne. Some delightful escapades follow, including the Queen asking Georgie to spy on her son who is dating an American divorcée—yes, that story.
When a body shows up in the bathtub and her brother, lovable and sweet but inept, is the prime suspect, Lady Georgie works to solve the crime and falls into an occupation that suits her: amateur sleuth.
My Response:
This book is funny, witty, charming, and well written. Rhys captures the changing morals and attitudes of the time as well as the snobbery of the aristocracy. There are plenty of eclectic characters, and Lady Georgie is delightful, naïve, and determined to break free of her aristocratic burden. I’m looking forward to more Royal Spyness Mysteries.
Think Downton Abbey 1932 with a large dose of humor and plenty light-hearted adventures.
The Usual Reminders:
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