Murder Must Advertise
by Dorothy Sayers (Victor Gollancz, 1933); audiobook read by Ric Jerrom (Chivers, 2012)
Sayers throws herself into the advertising world, exhibiting the same whimsical, satirical bent as her protagonist. Yet, the entire caper is laborious in the extreme. Characterisation and context are all very well, but a good 50% of this novel is utterly extraneous.
The Nine Tailors
by Dorothy L. Sayers (Gollancz, 1934); audiobook read by Ian Carmichael (Playaway, 2011)
As a period piece this is passably interesting. As a mystery it is nothing but a disappointment (and could easily have been edited down to half the length). Lord Peter Wimsey is a minimal presence at best, listening to other characters’ ramblings.
Clouds of Witness
by Dorothy L. Sayers (T. Fisher Unwin, 1926); audiobook read by Ian Carmichael (BBC, 1992/2009)
An unhurried mystery from which the protagonist seems oddly removed. Lord Peter Wimsey is a character cut from the Wodehouse mould, yet the writing—despite its occasionally witty turn of phrase—leaves him untethered, a whimsy (as it were) without true purpose.