The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club by Dorothy L. Sayers

It is not in dispute that General Fentiman is dead. It's a sad thing. And on Armistice Day, too. The problem arises from whether or not he predeceased his sister. At stake? Half a million pounds. Lord Peter Wimsey is among the people who found the old man and he noticed something strange about the body. But what does it mean? And is that the only thing that is going to make this case complicated?

Lots of British culture included in this story. Lord Peter is a fantastic character to begin with but this book really paints a picture of what it was like to live in England following the first World War. 

Three and a half stars

This book came out in 1928

Follows Unnatural Death

Followed by Strong Poison

Borrowed as hard copy from library

Opinions are my own

Unnatural Death by Dorothy L. Sayers

What happens when a doctor suspects murder but has no way to prove it? If he's overheard by Lord Peter Wimsey and his friend Charles Parker, police detective extraordinaire, he might have a chance.  A doctor believes that a niece has killed her aunt but can't prove it. The local village rallies around her and he is forced to leave town. But he still believes that the death was not accidental. Lord Peter helps him prove that the niece is not as innocent as she appears to be but not before a couple more murders.

Love, love, love Ian Carmichael as the narrator. He is simply amazing.

Four stars

This book came out in 1927

Follows Clouds of Witness

Followed by The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club

Borrowed as audiobook from Audible Plus

Opinions are my own

Clouds of Witness by Dorothy L. Sayers

Lord Peter Wimsey's brother, Gerald, the Duke of Denver, is in a bit of a pickle. He's been arrested for the murder of his sister's fiance. And, while he says he has a witness, he refuses to say who it was that he was with. Now, he's going to trial but the court of public opinion is already swinging against him. Sister Mary isn't saying what she knows, their mother is wildly amused, and Gerald's wife is coldly shutting down. 

Peter will nearly lose his life twice in this book, once in a bog and once on a transatlantic flight but he is able to come through in the end.

Four stars

This book came out in 1926

Follows Whose Body?
Followed by Unnatural Death
Borrowed as audiobook from Audible Premium Plus

Opinions are my own

Whose Body? by Dorothy L. Sayers

A body has turned up in the bathtub of a house that he didn't belong to. This is at the same time that a prominent financier has disappeared. Lord Peter Wimsey is called in to help when the man who owned the bathtub is accused of the murder. He is thrown into a mystery that comes down to the underpinnings of one man's ego.

Great instance of Peter having PTSD which, of course, wasn't talked about at the time so, I think, a wonderful addition to the story. Disappointingly casual racism in the book especially towards Jewish people.

Four stars

Followed by Clouds of Witness

This book came out in 1923

Audiobook from Audible Plus Catalog

Opinions are my own