Whose Body?

 Whose Body (1923) by Dorothy L. Sayers; read by Ian Carmichael

For a more complete run-down of the story, please see my first review HERE. If I were offered the chance to read any single author again for the first time, I think I'd choose Sayers. At this point I have read the Lord Peter novels so often that I rarely have anything to add to my thoughts on the actual mystery. What I can say (and have said before) is that these are my comfort reads. Whenever I need something soothing or familiar, I tend to turn to Sayers. And recently I've wanted something to listen to as I settle down to go to sleep. So I popped in my audio version starring my first video Lord Peter, Ian Carmichael. I love Carmichael narrating Sayers--his vocal take on Wimsey in these early cases is, in my opinion, perfect. And he does an excellent job with most of the voices. He doesn't have quite the range for women's voices that he does with men's, but he still manages to give each lady her own flavor. 

It was quite lovely to settle down and listen to this familiar story with Carmichael guiding the way. And it is always a delight to hear the passages involving the Dowager Duchess--from her rendition of the Coroner's interactions with the deaf Mrs. Thipps to her mental tennis match with Mr. Milligan as she tries to figure out what invitation her son has delivered in her name (without giving away that she has no idea what the man is talking about). And the book is worth the price of admission just to hear/read the scenes with the young medical student. His thoughts on Lord Peter in particular:

This Lord Peter was not very tall--in fact he was rather a small man, but he didn't look undersized. He looked right; he made you feel that to be six-foot-three was rather vulgarly assertive; you felt like Mother's new drawing-room curtains--all over great big blobs.

 A thoroughly entertaining story at any time. ★★★★★

First line: "Oh, damn!" said Lord Peter Wimsey at Piccadilly Circus.

Last lines: "Bunter!"  "My lord?" "The Napoleon brandy."

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Deaths = 2 hit with blunt objects