BINGO THE ROARING 20s
This is the third Lord Peter Wimsey novel, but it does not matter what order you read them in (although in the first book you get a good sense of Lord Wimsey which helps one to understand who he is and where he is coming from). Basically, he is a bored, rich, second son of a Duke who befriends a Scotland Yard detective and fancies himself an sleuth. Always cleverer than the police, and due to his title he is able to move in society where the police might not otherwise be able to go. Also due to his privilege he is able to stick his nose into things that are none of his business, and people let him.
The book is set in the 1925 between London and a small village. One of the things I struggled with was the characterization of people – which is reflective of the attitudes at time in which the book was written – but still difficult to read today. For example, there is ample use of the N Word, and statements from characters lamenting how a nice English girl could be seen with a black man, or how disgraceful/scandalous it is to have a black man in your family. Similarly, characters speak of the “Hebrews” in a disparaging way. Women are also really just there to find husbands, and “old maids” play a prominent role in this book.
One bright spot is that there are some lesbian undertones between a few of the characters, although I don’t know how intentional that was, or if I am just reading into it with a 21st century lens. I have not read enough of Sayers to know if she, like Austen, is writing to mock the “feminine ideal” of the time. Her own personal history would suggest it is possible.
If you can get past the obvious racist, sexist and anti-Semitic language, then this, and the Lord Peter Wimsey books in general, are really good for the mystery lover.