Whose Body?

By: Dorothy L. Sayers

Narrated by: Nadia May

Length: 5 hrs and 51 mins

Publisher's summary

Sayers' most renowned amateur detective, the engaging and amusing Lord Peter Wimsey, sets out to unravel a puzzling case involving the disappearance of a wealthy financier and the discovery of a nude corpse, wearing a golden pince-nez, in a bathtub. He does succeed in solving things to everyone's ultimate satisfaction, but only after a series of bloodcurdling and hair-raising episodes that will hold the listener spellbound with anticipation.

Dorothy L. Sayers, long considered one of the top mystery authors of our day, has excelled herself in this delightfully macabre tale, a truly rare find for anyone interested in top-flight crime fiction.

©1995 Dorothy L. Sayers (P)1998 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Critic reviews

"The tale is better written and has a good deal more characterization than one finds in the average detective story." ( New York Times)

Good fun!!

I tried to read a Lord Peter Wimsey mystery before, and couldn't get past his arch preciosity. However, this reader smoothed that out for me. She clearly enjoys it, distinguished characters well, and kept my attention throughout.

I thoroughly enjoyed the mystery, and Ms Sayers made what could have been tiresome contrivances fit neatly & convincingly into the characters and plot. It all worked very well for me and I'm glad I tried it.

Narrator overtook the story

The narrator was a distraction to the story. Many years ago, I read this book and enjoyed it. The over-theatrical narration was too distracting, too fast-paced and too energetic for my personal preference.

Not completely unabridged

This is an excellent entry in the Sayers line of work with Lord Peter Wimsey, and the reading works well.
However, part of the text was left out. For one not already familiar with the story, the missing piece may cause a little confusion coming into the conclusion. On the other hand, maybe it wouldn't be noticeable to someone who hasn't reread most of Sayers' novels several times!

Golden Age Mystery

This was so well done and such a delight to be transported to England 1923.

Good story, hard to understand, need 100% attentio

I enjoy this author. These stories are based on how a "simply goofy" aristocrat can get himself, into places, get answers from others without them realizing, and is able to deduct the correct conclusion.
At first, I felt the reader was a match for the story, kind of high pitched and squirmy, but as time went on the speed of delivery and the reader became very difficult to understand. I repeated many parts and re-listened to whole chapters.
Without the flow of ideas it was difficult to get the gist of what was happening. Yes, I am going to re-listen hopefully straight through this time. Hate to give up.

Excellent book, terrible performance

Dorothy Sayers is an excellent spinner of murder mysteries, and this book is no exception.

But Nadia May’s reading is shrill and annoying to the point of unbearable. Think fingernails on a chalkboard. I had to take frequent breaks to get through this recording. It’s not just her female voice — Peter Wimsey and most of the characters in these novels are male and need male voices — it’s her extreme overemphasis of the British aristocratic tone that makes Wimsey sound clownish.

Ian MacDonald reads other Sayers mysteries. He’s a much better choice in terms of both voice and style.

I Admit I Didn't Think This Would Work

A story with a preponderance of male characters being read by a female voice? That's what I wondered about when I took this from our public library years ago on audio cassette. But I was surprised and delighted then and remain surprised and delighted now. May conveys Wimsey, Bunter, Parker, the dowager duchess--everyone--to perfection.

Of all the Wimsey stories, this first in the series stands out as the one with the most comedy. Yes, it's a dark tale chillingly told. But there are fine moments of levity that relieve the gloom; sometimes this early edition of Lord Peter can almost sound as if he were about to drop in at the Drones Club for a quick spot before lunch.

And the story is good. In fact it's superb. But I'm not gong to say any more for fear of spoiling it for you.

Strange and Satisfying

Gentlemen of Lord Peter Wimsey's class aren't expected to take up employment, and some view his involvement with crime to be in very poor taste. But he can't help getting wrapped up in a good case of murder, and this one is a doozy: a man is found laying in the bath at an architect's home completely naked, save for the presence of a pince-nez perched on his nose. The architect can't have committed the murder and the body strangely resembles Sir Reuben Levy, a powerful banker who has disappeared overnight. I liked the ongoing construction of the Lord Wimsey character and the many incongruous elements of the story that Sayers weaved in were very entertaining. Definitely a series worth pursuing, which I hope Audible will make available in the unabridged editions sooner than later.

Great reading!

This book relies heavily on dialogue! I felt fortunate that the reader was immensely talented. She was able to pull off the trick of essentially reading a play aloud, a performance with many characters and but a single actor.

The Narrator has done her best to ruin an excellent story.

Narrator has done her best to ruin an excellent story.
Also, it is blatantly obvious that the cover artist never read the story. 😕