Whose Body? cover art

Whose Body?

Lord Peter Wimsey: Book 1

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Whose Body?

By: Dorothy L. Sayers
Narrated by: Jane McDowell
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About this listen

It was the body of a tall stout man. On his dead face, a handsome pair of gold pince-nez mocked death with grotesque elegance. The body wore nothing else.

Lord Peter Wimsey knew immediately what the corpse was supposed to be. His problem was to find out whose body had found its way into Mr Alfred Thipps' Battersea bathroom.

©1923 The Trustees of Anthony Fleming (P)2014 Hodder & Stoughton Cosy Crime Fiction Fiction Mystery Traditional Detectives Detective Crime

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Critic reviews

"She brought to the detective novel originality, intelligence, energy and wit." (P. D. James)
"I admire her novels . . . she has great fertility of invention, ingenuity and a wonderful eye for detail." (Ruth Rendell)
"She combined literary prose with powerful suspense, and it takes a rare talent to achieve that. A truly great storyteller." (Minette Walters)
All stars
Most relevant
Dated but fun despite some questionable attitudes to Jewish people. However, reflective of the characters and the attitudes of the time. Unfortunately, the narration was so jarring that I had to stop before finishing it. I’ll return it and try another edition

Spoiled by narration

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Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

I have been waiting for a reading of the Lord Peter Wimsey books for a long time and down loaded this with glee. It is the first of the series so it seems that the originators are doing it the right way and starting from the beginning.

How did the narrator detract from the book?

The narrator seems to think that the characters all gabble. They are all done in funny voices, at odd pitches and even odder speeds. Yes - Lord Peter's speech is affected and speedy but she really gets him wrong I think.
The worst thing is the lapses in pronunciation. Lord Peters college is Balliol. His time at Oxford is fundamental to the man, the stories and so much of what is to come. It is pronounced Bail - e - ol. The narrator says Bal i ol.
I really worry when she gets to Magdalen, not wanting to be maudlin about it but my expectations are low.
Another is when Lord Peter is looking around the roof of the mansion flats and checks what the narrator calls 'the leeds'. She means 'the leads'; the word comes from the lead used to make the channels and downpipes in traditional buildings, now often stolen.

The lady has a lovely voice. When just narrating it resonates and could do Harriet Vane well later. Meanwhile PLEASE stop gabbling and research the words before launching into the next one?

More work on pronunciation please

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If you can't offer the Ian Carmichael narrations which were practically perfect in every way, please can you record a narrator who performs the books instead of just reading them?

Worth listening to because the books survive the narration but it does NOT do them justice.

Great writer, bad narrator

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It's such a shame to have such a wonderful series ruined by a dull inappropriate narrator. It's so difficult to work out who's dialogue it is because she sounds the same all the way through except when she shouts, which is not helpful either!!

Terrible Narration

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The story was good and well structured. Sadly, the narration was not. Obviously, such long narrations have to be recorded in chunks. In this case there were obvious changes in tone between sections. The narrator had the habit of occasionally pausing mid-sentence producing what sounded like two sentences which, inititially, was coburg until mentally stitched together. Another problem was differentiating different characters. The narrator's tone didn't always help to identify which character was talking. However, it was good enough for three stars.

Good story impaired by poor narration

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