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Murder Must Advertise (Lord Peter Wimsey, Bk 10)
Murder Must Advertise - Lord Peter Wimsey, Bk 10 Author:Dorothy L. Sayers When ad man Victor Dean falls down the stairs in the offices of Pym's Publicity, a respectable London advertising agency, it looks like an accident. Then Lord Peter Wimsey is called in, and he soon discovers there's more to copywriting than meets the eye. A bit of cocaine, a hint of blackmail, and some wanton women can be read between th... more »e lines. And then there is the brutal succession of murders -- 5 of them -- each one a fixed fee for advertising a deadly secret.« less
I decided to give Sayers a try after I had exhausted PBS's supply of Ngaio Marsh novels. Murder Must Advertise is my first and I must say I haven't been disappointed. It's shocking how up-to-date a novel written in 1933 can seem. The author's observations of the advertising industry (the protagonist's cover occupation) are remarkable and ring just as true today as when this story took place. Imagine, for instance, that even back then an advertising agency was trying to cover up the fact that cigarettes are bad for the lungs! Not to mention that in their spare time, some of the office crew are engaged in party-going that could not be topped by today's Kardashian crowd. This is an entertaining plot but I enjoyed it even more for the author's humorous and insightful observations of The Great British Public. I'm not surprised Sayers' books end up on many Must-Read lists even those that generally eschew detective fiction.
A great Lord Peter Wimsey Mystery. Wimsey goes undercover in an ad agency to find out who murdered one of the ad men. Interesting look into how the publicity agencies ran in 1930' London. Excellent plot lines and characters.
Murder Must Advertise was published in 1933 and is the eighth novel by Sayers featuring Lord Peter Wimsey, who is also an amateur detective. In this one, Lord Peter goes undercover at an ad agency using the name Death Bredon to try to find out if an ad copy writer was murdered. He takes the place of Victor Dean, who died in a fall down the office's iron spiral staircase. But was the fall an accident or murder? And if it was murder, why? Most of this book was set in the advertising agency of Pym's Publicity Ltd. Dorothy Sayers was very familiar with this environment since she had herself worked as an advertising copywriter until 1931. The story has Wimsey working undercover at the agency but also has him infiltrating a lair of party-goers who also are cocaine users. Is the ad agency also a front for cocaine smuggling?
This one was really outside the norms of the other Wimsey books I have read. It has Peter in the depths of the advertising business with some very detailed descriptions of the advertising world at the time and how advertisers try to paint rosy pictures of the products to entice the public to buy (not much has changed since the 1930s!). This one was full of dialog among the workers at the agency as well as a myriad of whimsical campaign slogans for various products. The novel was very British and contained many words and phrases that I had to google to get the meaning strait. One point in the novel involved a "catapult" as a possible murder weapon. Based on how this was used, I surmised correctly that a catapult was the same as a sling-shot. (I don't recall the word being used as such, rather I always pictured catapults as medieval machines that threw heavy objects at fortifications). The novel also has a chapter detailing a game of cricket. Lord Wimsey is portrayed as a champion cricketer and athlete which played into the story but I didn't really understand any of the cricket details about how the game was played. It obviously is not baseball!
I enjoyed this one overall but thought there was too much detail spent on the advertising agency leaving the plot related to the murder and cocaine business as somewhat secondary. This one also did not include Wimsey's love interest, Harriet Vane, who Wimsey had been romancing in the previous novels. This one is included on the list of 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die but I think some of her other novels are better. I have been binge reading and enjoying several books in this series and look forward to reading more but may take a break from them for now.
This is her treatise (pan if you will) on that stalwart of trade: advertising. When an account executive falls to his death on a spiral staircase, Lord Peter Wimsey goes undercover and comes up with murderone after another. But, oh lord, a cricket match. well, it will have significance later on. True to detective fiction of the period, Wimsey convinces a drug dealer and his squeeze that he has a twin: a cousin no less. But, as this is England, where relationship boundaries seem non-existent, I suppose it might very well be. Of course, he hoodwinks them hook, line, and sinker. Give me a break! Yet, this is still one of the author's best yarns.
Here's another Lord Peter Whimsy murder based around the odd goings on at a publicity firm. Lots of corpses, a bit of cocaine, hints of blackmail and a few wanton women enmeshed in a great mystery.
As always, Dorothy Sayers keeps us guessing as to "Who did it?" This one, with Lord Peter in disguise, is especially good. Haven't quite finished it, but Lord Peter is such a great character - can't wait to finifh and discover "Who did it?"
Dorothy Sayers worked in an advertising agency after she graduated from Oxford. She new first hand how they operated and that is one reason why this book is so true to life. One of her best books.
Nelly D. (nellbell) reviewed Murder Must Advertise (Lord Peter Wimsey, Bk 10) on
I am a big fan of Dorothy Sayers, and Murder Must Advertise is a wonderful mystery story set in an advertising agency. The information about working in an advertising agency adds a lot of interest to the story, and as always, her characters are ALIVE. Great read.
Joy L. (vintagejoy) - 
