A gem - and amusing slice of office life
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Normally I find Lord Peter Wimsey a slightly annoying but this tale set in 1930s advertsing office is a really amusing and not too serious vignette of office life. I really enjoyed
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"They start new copywriters at four quid a week--about enough to pay for a pair of your shoes."
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When Lord Peter Death Breden Wimsey, privately investigating the "accidental" death of an employee of an advertising firm, takes a copywriting job there, he raises curiosity among the female employees. Known on the job only as "Breden," he is regarded as "a cross between Ray Flynn and Bertie Wooster, " complete with silk socks and expensive shoes, and obviously not from the same background as the rest of the staff. Assigned to advertise Dairyfield's Margarine and "domestic" tea, he occupies the dead man's office, churning out slogans while poking into relationships and possible motivations for murder. He soon discovers that the dead man, with limited resources, actively participated in the drug culture of upperclass parties, though how he became involved is an open question.
Lord Peter, as aristocratic as his title would imply, is adventurous and imaginative, a man of action and intelligence who does not hesitate to get down and dirty if necessary (though he'd prefer not "too" dirty). With a "tongue that runs on ballbearings," he can talk his way into and out of almost any situation, and as an ad agency employee, he provides the reader with some terrific one-liners and quips as he tries to sell products. Author Dorothy Sayers, who worked in an advertising agency herself for seven years, brings the agency to life with all its petty infighting and cynicism, creating a vibrant environment in which Wimsey's familiar wordplay and cleverness can be highlighted during his investigation of the murder--and the gruesome murders which follow in its wake.
The author's total control is obvious as she carefully introduces quirky and memorable characters, provides Wimsey/Breden with a sounding board for his discoveries (his brother-in-law, a police superindendent), integrates him successfully into all levels of society, and creates a realistic picture of life in the 1930s--while keeping the reader completely engaged with the mystery and with Wimsey's shrewdness. The wordplay and dry humor throughout the novel are delightful, and the conclusion, in which Wimsey/Breden finds a unique way of bringing the investigation to a satisfying resolution comes as a surprise. Described on several Sayers web sites as the best of the Lord Peter Wimsey series, this novel is a classic--as entertaining now as it was when it was written in 1933. n Mary Whipple
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Best read as light entertainment.
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Dorothy L Sayers’ detective fiction output was not large. From the total of eleven novels, two at least have never been regarded as highly by critics and readers as have the others. “Murder Must Advertise” is one of them. Re-reading it recently, I decided that most of its weaknesses are less apparent if it is treated as a light entertainment. Why should I expect the scholarly Miss Sayers to always provide verisimilitude, evidence of thorough research and scientific investigation? It soon becomes clear, in this book, that the pukka, debonair Lord Peter Wimsey is highly unlikely to be doing a stint as an advertising copywriter, that he would be fool enough to dive from a great height into a fountain, and that a murder such as the one he is investigating could ever be committed. Deciding not to take these things seriously, I enjoyed my time with the book, especially the description of Lord Peter Wimsey winning the cricket match for his advertising agency. It became impossible, however, at the end to regard the book as light entertainment. The tone changes. Miss Sayers is forced to meet the problem of dispensing justice to the killer, once identified. Her solution is heavy-handed. Ah! well, many whodunits have disappointing endings. Approach this one as I have suggested, and you’ll enjoy most of it. Don’t expect Harriet Vane to feature, however. Dorothy L Sayers never mentions her by name, only referring to the woman in Lord Peter’s life who is being “deliberately excluded from these pages”.
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Good local colour
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Most of the amusement derives from Miss Sayers' use of an advertising agency as a setting. (Pym's Publicity is based on an office where she used to work). The plot seems a little ridiculous now, involving as it does Bright Young Things getting involved in criminal activities, and Lord Peter Wimsey infiltrating the gang in disguise. (As in Shakespeare, no one recognises him).
The office life parts are more convincing, although I wonder whether some one with no experience at all could walk into a job as a copywriter, and there are some interesting characters, including one based, I think, on the author herself (a dry run for the ghastly Harriet Vane?)
The means, however, whereby the members of the gang communicate with each other seems to be merely a convenient way of getting Wimsey into a setting she wanted to use, as well as being unnecessarily complicated. The Bright Young Things section is also dotty, and would seem to be based on a reading of the Yellow Press.
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Death comes to the office
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Lord Peter Wimsey is one of the greatest of all fictional detectives and 'Murder Must Advertise' presents us with one of his most intriguing mysteries. Set in the confines of 1930's advertising agency, Pyms Publicity. Lord Peter is called in to investigate the death of copywriter Victor Dean.
Not only is the story first rate, with all the expected twists and turns, but the atmosphere of the agency drawn from Sayer's own experience is vividly real. Sayers' was arguably the most complex of the pre war 'Queens of Crime' and this book certainly works on a number of levels. For those who are unfamiliar with either Sayers or Wimsey, this book makes an excellent introduction, and demonstrates why their popularity has persisted.
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