Unnatural Death
A Lord Peter Wimsey Mystery
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4.3 • 43 Ratings
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- $2.99
Publisher Description
Published in 1927, Unnatural Death is the third book in the Lord Peter Wimsey series.
Wimsey and Charles Parker are interrupted, while in a teashop, by a doctor who overhears them talking about crime. He relates a tale of how he was treating an elderly lady for cancer, whose niece insisted was much nearer than death than he felt she was. When she died suddenly, without leaving a will, the doctor insisted on an autopsy, leading to bad feeling with both the niece, Miss Whittaker, and the local community. Indeed, his actions led to him having to leave the area and begin work elsewhere. Of course, Lord Peter is immediately intrigued - how many people do 'get away with murder'? However, Parker is not convinced there is a case to answer. Presumably, as an officer of the law he had enough real work to be getting on with, but Wimsey is determined to investigate.
Customer Reviews
Unnatural Death
I'd rather have rated this on a 10 star scale, 11 stars. That's ridiculous, I know, but I rated the previous Dorothy L. Sayers I read five stars & felt it an honest rating, but this book caused me to regret that rating.
This story is most compelling, mysterious and, for me, most importantly, terrifying! The suspense builds from the beginning & just doesn't stop! I have a tendency to race through the best books, glutton that I am, but in this case I didn't feel my heart could take it & so I contrived ways to prolong the reading by looking up references &/or words on the internet. The digressions the author took also helped to slow down the pace when, even she must have felt, it would be too much for her readers to bear.
I have been reading mysteries since I was able to understand them and I am now 62 years old. I rarely put too much energy into solving the mystery I'm reading, but occasionally I make a guess here or there. Often I have the satisfaction of being right in my hunches, but not at all in this case. Ms. Sayers covered every track!
In the end, I found myself comparing this book to the book I rate as the best mystery I have ever read, "A Place of Execution" by Val McDermid. At the end of the day it did not edge out that extraordinary mystery, but never before has such a consideration ever occurred to me! That, for me, is high praise indeed! Enjoy!