A naked body is found lying in the tub, a gold pince-nez perched before the sightless eyes. Telltale signs indicate that the face was shaved after death. Despite evidence to the contrary, the police are certain that the victim was a prominent financier. Lord Peter Wimsey knows better, but can he prove it? First published in 1923, Whose Body? established the disarmingly debonair, and somewhat foppish, Wimsey as one of the most enduring characters in English literature. It remains one of the most significant — and most charming — of the Golden Age mysteries.
Added by: Kahena | Karma: 11526.37 | Fiction literature | 29 September 2011
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Whose Body
The stark naked body was lying in the tub.Not unusual for a proper bath, but highly irregular for murder -- especially witha pair of gold pince-nez deliberately perched before the sightless eyes. What's more, the face appeared to have been shaved after death. The police assumed that the victim was a prominent financier, but Lord Peter Wimsey, who dabbled in mystery detection as a hobby, knew better. In this, his first murder case, Lord Peter untangles the ghastly mystery of the corpse in the bath.
Added by: Kahena | Karma: 11526.37 | Fiction literature | 29 September 2011
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Unnatural Death
The plot concerns Lord Peter's investigation into the death, three years earlier, of an elderly lady in the last stages of cancer. The lady's death has aroused no suspicion, despite her doctor's dismay at her end coming so quickly, but Wimsey suspects that it may, after all, have been 'unnatural'. The difficulty of discovering the method is compounded by the difficulty of discovering someone with the motive and opportunity to kill.