The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club, by Dorothy L. Sayers. Pub 1928
Another enjoyable mystery with Lord Peter Wimsey. This time, an elderly gentleman makes real the saying that London’s men’s clubs are so stodgy that a member could die and no one would notice. The sleuthing is conducting with Wimsey’s usual whimsy, with old favourite characters playing things straight and enough red herrings to keep you guessing till the end. The resolution is very stiff-upper-lip as befits the club members.
I enjoy this series of mysteries for the detective story and the enjoyable cast, as well as for the details of inter-war life in England, with the aristocracy on the wane and having to contend with the incursions of the other classes. Wimsey is adept at moving somewhat seamlessly between all ranks and regions and demonstrating an ongoing tension between justice and compassion.
Fate: Off to the little book library down the street.
1 – book with a murder
3 – published before 1939
8 – female author
9 – made into miniseries (BBC)
28 – old favourite
36 – part of a series
rclr 