Unnatural Death cover art

Unnatural Death

Lord Peter Wimsey, Book 3

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Unnatural Death

By: Dorothy L. Sayers
Narrated by: Jane McDowell
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About this listen

The best of the golden age crime writers, praised by all the top modern writers in the field including P. D. James and Ruth Rendell, Dorothy L. Sayers created the immortal Lord Peter Wimsey.

His third appearance is a story of murder in a most respectable seaside resort. 'No sign of foul play,' says Dr Carr after the post-mortem on Agatha Dawson. The case is closed. But Lord Peter Wimsey is not satisfied . . .

With no clues to work on, he begins his own investigation. No clues, that is, until the sudden, senseless murder of Agatha's maid. What is going on in the mysterious Mrs Forrest's Mayfair flat? And can Wimsey catch a desperate murderer before he himself becomes one of the victims?

©1927 Trustees of Anthony Fleming (deceased) (P)2014 Hodder & Stoughton Classics Crime Crime Fiction Historical Mystery Traditional Detectives Fiction Murder Detective

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Critic reviews

"She brought to the detective novel originality, intelligence, energy and wit." (P. D. James)
"I admire her novels . . . she has great fertility of invention, ingenuity and a wonderful eye for detail" (Ruth Rendell)
"D. L. Sayers is one of the best detective story writers." (E. C. Bentley, Daily Telegraph)
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This is a brilliant crime story with great imagination of the crime. With lots of quirky characters.

Unnatural Death

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Initially I found the narrator's female voice uncomfortable as I have always felt these stories should be read by a man, there are so many more male characters than female ones. However it was soon over looked as the story progressed and became stronger and more ridiculous and curious. It was the kiss of the spider woman; characters were dying off like flies.

Although it seems like an early story - Whimsey, Bunter and Parker are not drawn with the assured hand, I felt from other stories, it is still a gripping who dunnit or rather a why and how dunnit tale.

A little bit of a time warp in that it is almost a golden age of innocence in crime writing compared to the brutal and graphic tales of the modern detective and policing. It make a pleasant change to leave some of the blood, gore and bad language unsaid.

A deathly swathe

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A good story well read, who can ask for more. Takes you back to a long gone world. Highly recommended

Great book

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The narrator of this story had no idea of the characters she was speaking for and generally spoilt the whole story for me. her voice and characterisation were at complete odds with the story.

terrible narrator

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Lord Peter Whimsey's ability to empathise crown the young aristocrat's piercing powers of deduction making him sharper, wittier than ever.

Lord Peter Whimsey's Savoire

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Excellent, it is a book of its time, full of intrigue, and it is beautifully read

Beautifully read

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Where does Unnatural Death rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

near the bottom

Who was your favorite character and why?

Peter Wimsey of course, though his mother is a close second - they're delightfully eccentric.

Would you listen to another book narrated by Jane McDowell?

Certainly not a Peter Wimsey book.

Did you have an emotional reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

The narration of this audiobook made me cringe.

Any additional comments?

Please find another narrator for the Peter Wimsey books! Jane MacDowell just doesn't seem to really find the correct pace of the narrative - quite often she seemed only to realise the meaning of a sentence when she was half-way through it; and I really didn't like the voice she gave Charles Parker. I love the books, and kept trying with this one, but I gave up in the end as it was just annoying me.

Great story, shame about narration

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Another excellent story from Dorothy Sayers, but the narrator doesn't do it justice.
The racist language and attitudes are of its time, and it would be difficult to adapt the book to moderate these but a warning should be given in the description that there is repeated use of a term now regarded as a racist slur, and descriptions of race which are not considered appropriate today.

Should carry a warning about racist language!

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Is there anything you would change about this book?

I would use a different narrator to read this book.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Lord Peter is the most interesting character.

How did the narrator detract from the book?

The narrator's tendency to make her voice go high and shouty especially when being Miss Climpson was a major turn off.

Was Unnatural Death worth the listening time?

I persevered and listened to the end.

Spoilt by performance

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Enjoyed the story although hearing it read by a female voice was a bit different for a Lord Peter Wimsey book. I soon got used to it although I had to change the speech speed to 0.9 to catch all the words!

Enjoyable.

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