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I enjoyed this mystery set in the 1920's. I liked Lord Peter Wimsey's and Mr. Bunter's sense of humor. It was a page turner as I was wanting to find out what happened to Mr. Levy and who the mysterious body found in the bathtub belonged to.
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This is a funny mystery that does a great job satirising and gently ribbing the popular detective fiction at the time especially Sherlock Holmes. I loved the quirky characters (the put upon servant Bunter was a particular favourite) and the fourth wall breaking comments about what was going on in the mystery.
I was, unfortunately, less invested in the mystery itself and felt that the big reveals happened too early which made the ending drag a bit.
I was, unfortunately, less invested in the mystery itself and felt that the big reveals happened too early which made the ending drag a bit.

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This procedural detective novel was hugely disappointing. I had hoped this famous series would start with a bang rather than a whimper. There were sections of the novel where a spreadsheet was required to layout and understand the clues; they were all but incomprehensible as prose.
I'll try another Sayer's novel in the series in hope of improvement. My recommendation for this book is to suggest "a hard pass". 2- Stars
EDIT: April 2024, I'm attempting this tale in a Librivox performance format. Th ...more
I'll try another Sayer's novel in the series in hope of improvement. My recommendation for this book is to suggest "a hard pass". 2- Stars
EDIT: April 2024, I'm attempting this tale in a Librivox performance format. Th ...more

Not a bad start to a series! At first I didn't like Lord Peter, but then I warmed up to him. Not my favorite (Miss Marple is still my favorite) but I'm looking forward to reading more of this series.
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Mar 18, 2015
Robert Bryant
marked it as to-read

Oct 08, 2015
Andrea
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Apr 27, 2017
Sam
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Jul 07, 2017
Mindy
marked it as to-read

Sep 11, 2018
Aqsa
marked it as to-read

Feb 14, 2019
Rae
marked it as spooky-reads

Feb 24, 2019
K. 🦉
marked it as to-read

Dec 29, 2020
Donna Dixon
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Oct 31, 2022
Glenn Patterson
marked it as to-read

Feb 18, 2023
Maddy
rated it
really liked it
Shelves:
detective,
crime,
mystery,
fiction,
classics,
books-movies,
historical,
floab-2023,
uno-2025,
floab-2025