Murder Must Advertise (The Lord Peter Wimsey Mysteries Book 10)

The book was in very good condition - a vintage paperback with the paper and binding still clean and flexible. It was exactly as advertised, and replaced a copy that had been read to death.
David Lukens

This could have been written by Ms. Sayers yesterday. She satirizes the advertising attitudes and platitudes of 75-80 years ago, but they are amazingly, amusingly and typically reminiscent of today's advertising.

Murder Must Advertise is one of my very favorite books by Sayers. I have read it numerous times, but sincerely enjoyed the narrator's version which we took with us on holiday. Excellent reading; very enjoyable!

I was pleasantly surprised at the quality of the Kindle book; there were very few typos due to poor proofreading of scanned pages. I expected another "Miss Read" experience; hope the rest of the Wimsey books are as well-produced.

In addition to the usual fun of Lord Peter mysteries, this gives a detailed picture of a 1920s era advertising firm in London, based, presumably on Dorothy Sayers' own experiences. A different quality of book than the earlier books in the series.

Masterfully written, including great command of relevant jargon. It was probably top notch when it was written but now it is a tiny bit too long. Wow factor is missing from the detective story and many times characters read as way too naive to be real. I'd rather go for Agatha Christie.

I did not appreciate the "run on" sentences, the use of slang with no reference to the meaning, or the use of 50 words when 10 would have been sufficient. It became a contest of wills to finish the book instead of toss it.

A bit too wordy, too descriptive in parts. The chapter on the Cricket match is soooo long, and the one prior on choosing players is equally too much. Love other Sayers, but in this one she seems to be reaching - takes a long time to get to the point!

Dorothy Sayers enthusiasts will love this book. They will overlook the turgid pace of this 'police procedural' because they truly believe Ms. Sayers is a writer whose talent surpasses the genre. There are others who will have difficulty either staying awake or not skipping large chunks of text. There is no question that Ms. Sayers has talent and writes in an educated way. The main problem with the novel is not her sometimes florid prose. There are readers of the mystery or police procedural who see Dorothy Sayers as an immense talent.
Many others including this writer feel that her slow moving style detracts from the essential story. She can be pedantic, too conscious of her style, and often examines plot bylines that are of little interest to the reader. The character Lord Peter Wimsey, her protagonist, is well drawn and readers of this genre can easily suspend disbelief. This suspension of disbelief is necessary in the case of Wimsey, readers of mysteries do this with authors as diverse as Agatha Christie to Ian Rankin. The superman/woman character is a necessary to an effective police procedural. Poirot and Rebus prove that point. When Dorothy Sayers asks the reader to extend the suspension of disbelief to other characters many of them minor she goes to far. In doing so she loses readers.
Dorothy Sayers occupies a strong historical place in the 'police procedural' genre but so does Ed McBain. My personal view notwithstanding her work will continue to attract and fascinate a portion of readers of mysteries. Elizabeth George is often quoted concerning her desire to be mentioned in the same breath a Dorothy Sayers. George sells herself short.

One of the most famous detectives of the British Golden Age of Mystery is not a policeman, but the brother of the (fictitious) Duke of Denver, Lord Peter Death Bredon Wimsey. He is wealthy enough to do what he wants with his life, and has devoted himself to oenology, bibliophily, and criminology, i.e. wine, antiquarian books, and murderers.

I don't really read Dorothy Sayers' mysteries for the plots, but for the life she breathes into her characters. Lord Peter is a real human being with many flaws, including a tendency to revert to Bertie Wooster at his most vacuous. But I think Wimsey (in spite of being born with the proverbial silver spoon in his mouth) is the most lovable of all the great British Golden Age Detectives. Even though Sayers didn't feel that "Murder Must Advertise" was one of her best, I think she must have been channeling Jane Austin when she wrote it. The witty dialogue and claustrophobic spats over what seem like minor issues, e.g. what kind of wedding present to give to one of the characters made me think of Austin's "Emma."

In "Murder Must Advertise" (1933) Lord Peter is masquerading as his down-at-the-heels cousin, Death Bredon. He hires in at Pym's Publicity, a London advertising agency, replacing a man who fell down the stairs and was killed the previous week. Mr. Pym thinks there was something suspicious about the death and brings in Lord Peter to do a spot of detecting.

Dorothy Sayers worked in an advertising agency herself, and maybe that's why the characters and dialogue ring so true to life. The parts of this novel that deal with a nefarious dope ring are much more like flights of fantasy with Lord Peter disguised as the mysterious Harlequin and diving into fish ponds and whatnot.

The climax of "Murder Must Advertise" involves a cricket match between Pym's Publicity and one of its biggest clients. Lord Peter is attempting to disguise his expertise at cricket when he is hit on the elbow by a wild pitch (or bowl or whatever the heck it's called) and goes on to score 56 runs and win the game for his team. Of course, that blows his cover. It would be like Hank Aaron disguising himself as a bush leaguer and then getting mad and hitting one out of the park every time he came up to bat. Even though I don't know a thing about cricket, the opposing players all had matching uniforms and were inclined to be condescending to Pym's Irregulars, so it was fun to watch them get taken down a notch.

In summary, this isn't one of Sayers' best, but it still sparkles. And we get to listen to Lord Peter piping away on a penny whistle.

I always enjoy Lord Peter, improbable as some of his situations may be. This edition, kindle unlimited, has such a muddle in chapter II, that it was difficult to read. Text repeated or skipped in more than one place and no amount of back and forth made it comprehensible due to omitted text. The story is fine, as expected, but the careless creation of this edition is very disappointing.

When Lord Peter Death Breden Wimsey, privately investigating the "accidental" death of an employee of an advertising firm, takes a copywriting job there, he raises curiosity among the female employees. Known on the job only as "Breden," he is regarded as "a cross between Ray Flynn and Bertie Wooster, " complete with silk socks and expensive shoes, and obviously not from the same background as the rest of the staff. Assigned to advertise Dairyfield's Margarine and "domestic" tea, he occupies the dead man's office, churning out slogans while poking into relationships and possible motivations for murder. He soon discovers that the dead man, with limited resources, actively participated in the drug culture of upperclass parties, though how he became involved is an open question.

Lord Peter, as aristocratic as his title would imply, is adventurous and imaginative, a man of action and intelligence who does not hesitate to get down and dirty if necessary (though he'd prefer not "too" dirty). With a "tongue that runs on ballbearings," he can talk his way into and out of almost any situation, and as an ad agency employee, he provides the reader with some terrific one-liners and quips as he tries to sell products. Author Dorothy Sayers, who worked in an advertising agency herself for seven years, brings the agency to life with all its petty infighting and cynicism, creating a vibrant environment in which Wimsey's familiar wordplay and cleverness can be highlighted during his investigation of the murder--and the gruesome murders which follow in its wake.

The author's total control is obvious as she carefully introduces quirky and memorable characters, provides Wimsey/Breden with a sounding board for his discoveries (his brother-in-law, a police superindendent), integrates him successfully into all levels of society, and creates a realistic picture of life in the 1930s--while keeping the reader completely engaged with the mystery and with Wimsey's shrewdness. The wordplay and dry humor throughout the novel are sheer delight, and the conclusion, in which Wimsey/Breden finds a unique way of bringing the investigation to a satisfying resolution comes as a surprise. Sometimes described as the best of the Lord Peter Wimsey series, this novel is a classic--as entertaining now as it was when it was written in 1933. n Mary Whipple

The setting, a advertising firm in the 1920's, and the theme---the drug trade--define the limits of this Peter Wimsey novel. Sayers knew all about the advertising world, having worked in it herself. I doubt she had much first-hand knowledge of the rich drug-takers and their suppliers as portrayed here. There is also included a blow by blow account of an endless cricket game, uncomprehensible to, I would guess, most readers. What there isn't is the humor we find in more or less degree in the Wimsey novels. Wimsey puts on a mask and a harlequin body-suit to get the interest of Dian de Momerie, and rich and bored society beauty who is at the center of the drugging crowd, and pulls stunts such as climbing a tree in the dark woods and playing the penny-whistle.
This all all feels false and strained. There is a young messenger boy at the ad firm who comes to life, in spite of his lower class hero worship being a little over done. This book was favorite of my mother's, I suspect because it reminded her of her young single days in the 1920's, hanging out with her friends before marriage and motherhood drudgery. To me, it is more interesting than Five Red Herrings, and less boring than Gaudy Night, but not nearly as much fun as Bellona Club, etc.

Dorothy Sayers' mysteries, regardless of how well written they may or may not be, can be hard to digest for those readers not particularly inclined towards English humor. While her best work has at its core well-constructed, concisely executed mysteries, the chaos that typically surrounds these mysteries consists of way too many English people having way too many conversations about way too many things that are way too English. Take this book for example: one of its central scenes take place at a cricket match in which every at bat(is that the right term?) and every wicket (huh?) is described in sporting news worthy detail, along with the overly specific comments and overly obscure strategy that is discussed before, during, and after the match. Ridiculously English, and in this case, ridiculously funny. Like Hemingway spending 50 pages describing the efforts to catch a single fish, Sayers' finds such a solid groove in tackling this scene that no matter how lost you may be in the details, the fluorishes are exhilarating.
So goes the whole book, set in a London advertising agency in which one of its workers has fallen down an iron staircase and died. Accident, or something more sinister? A detective is called in to investigate, undercover, of course, and as he inflitrates the employees around him, all of whom have motive, alibis, and suspicion surrounding them, the dialogue heavy action plays like the best scenes from "The Office" or the more philosophically bent Monty Python pieces. The laughs are smart, cheap, telegraphed a page ahead, unexpected, relentless. The aforementioned cricket match, one of the key scenes in the latter half of the book, ties dozens of threads together to elevate the humor to even greater heights. Integral to the plot is the setting- a London ad agency- and like latter day works by Palahniuk and Easton Ellis, Sayers' has a grand time lampooning the society that allows and then gets duped by such obvious manipulation of the emotions.
All of this, and a darn good mystery to boot.

"Murder Must Advertise" may be the best Lord Peter Wimsey mystery that does not feature his partner in detection, Harriet Vane. Dorothy L. Sayers truly outdid herself with this ingenius whodunit, for it is an unparalleled mix of humor and mystery that intermingles the dreadful activities of the Bright Young Things during the 1930s. "Murder Must Advertise" is a fast paced mystery that will leave readers guessing until the very end and very often laughing out loud along the way.

Lord Peter Wimsey, in the disguise of Death Bredon (two of Wimsey's family names) takes a job with Pym's Publicity after an ad man falls to his death down a set of dangerous stairs. To everyone else, his death was an accident, but Wimsey is convinced that there is more to this death than meets the eye and is soon proven right. Yet unravelling the truth behind this murder leads Wimsey on a far flung search through various sordid characters and the drug induced antics of the cocaine addicted gang of Bright Young Things. Before Wimsey can make a connection or prove his case, several other bizarre murders made to look like accidents occur, and Wimsey knows that if he isn't careful he might be next.

The fact that Lord Peter Wimsey, so singular a creation and so well-known to his imaginary colleagues could masquerade as another character is enchanting and humorous. "Murder Must Advertise" offers a unique look into the moral underbelly of the advertising world and how easily someone of proper moral standards could be seduced to do wrong. The only letdown of the entire novel is a chapter devoted almost entirely to a cricket match between Pym's and a rival publishing agency; anyone not acquainted with the game of cricket will have trouble following Sayers' jargon during the match. And as this chapter comes near the end of the mystery when puzzles are being solved and revealed, it slows down the action, but not the suspense. For anyone who has not read a Lord Peter Wimsey mystery, "Murder Must Advertise" would be a perfect place to start.

This is a strong contender for being the most thoroughly enjoyable of the author's mysteries featuring amateur sleuth Lord Peter Wimsey -- and not only because of the protagonist's detecting. The principal setting is a large London advertising agency in the early 1930s, and because Sayers herself was a successful copywriter for a period, she knows what she's talking about. In fact, she's both sympathetic to the job itself and devastatingly satirical about the people involved in it. Lord Peter, using his middle names as cover, hires on as a new junior copywriter in order to investigate the mysterious death of one of the staff, a man who apparently fell down a circular iron staircase and broke his neck. Wimsey makes an effort to learn the business and even turns out to have a flair for it, while his brother-in-law, DCI Parker, continues to investigate (without much success) a high-society cocaine supply ring. The two plots, naturally, begin to come together and there are several more deaths, not all of them mysterious. Lord Peter finds himself playing his bad-boy alter ego in society, too, as his investigation takes him far afield. The characters are all well-developed and there's hardly a page without an example of deadpan humor. But I have to say, the climactic chapter describing the annual cricket match between Pym's Publicity and one of its big clients could have been written in Homeric Greek for all the sense I could make of it. (Not to say an American football fan wouldn't have similar difficulties describing to a Brit the difference between a nickel defense and a wishbone.) Great fun and a pretty good mystery to boot.

Lord Peter has the rare and highly enjoyable (for himself and the reader) opportunity to play a dual role in this book: himself and his "cousin," Death Bredon. This plot device would be perfected decades later when Peter Brady simultaneously kept dates with two girls, but Ms. Sayers acquits herself admirably in this novel.
An author who frequently made her novels deliver more than just a solid whodunit, Sayers gives the reader a fly-on-the-wall view of an advertising agency in this book. Having worked on the production side of several publications I can verify that her descriptions are spot on. Sayers also includes a couple editorial asides (in the guise of internal soliloquies) about rampant consumerism and middle-class aspirations to luxury and first class footwear. They're as true today as they were in 1930's (and probably the 17- and 1830's as well). And if you hated the idea of The Beatles' music being used to hawk cars, you can imagine how consumers of a previous age felt to see the works of Shakespeare or Tennyson used to promote nerve powder. This is all to say that this novel's verisimilitude has weathered the years exceedingly well.
The central mystery - who slew Victor Dean - gets lost occasionally in the goings-on at the ad agency, but Wimsey, er Bredon, er whoever, is always at work, picking up the odd clue here and there as he goes. Even when the depth of the crime grows - to multiple murders and drug trafficking - Sayers keeps bringing it back to Dean's murder. By the end of the cricket match I found myself floored that I almost understood the game, but also by the way Sayers expertly wove in two crucial revelations about the mystery.
I was satisfied with the story's conclusion. At first the ending seemed cold-blooded and -hearted, but upon reflection I realized that the resolution was well forshadowed - if Wimsey's middle name were Steve it'd be another matter, perhaps. Although we'd spent most of the book with the impish, playful side of Lord Peter, there's another side to his character which values honor most and is not above going beyond the law to preserve it.
If you're not a Dorothy Sayers fan you should probably get to know her detective in an earlier work like Strong Poison first. Then, once you're comfortable with his character, give this novel a read. If you are a Sayers fan, why aren't you reading this book already? 9 out of 10 readers agree, this is a five-star mystery.

I enjoyed Murder Must Advertise the most out of all the Dorothy Sayers/Lord Peter Wimsey books, but that is not to say that it is her best. Ms. Sayers herself considered Murder Must Advertise as a lightweight book, written on the side while taking a break from some of her more complex novels. Three quarters of a century later, it seems that what she considered her most brilliant work and what actually stood the test of time are two different things. I have never been able to get through "Nine Tailors", I found it excrutiatingly boring, and although I finished "The Five Red Herrings", I am sad to say that quite a bit of the intricate plot went over my head. I am not complimenting myself by saying so, since both these books were, I am sure, brilliant. Perhaps I can blame it on the generation gap? (I wish).

But "Murder Must Advertise" is still as funny and as relevant today as it was when it was first published. Ms. Sayers drew on her own experience working in an ad agency, and it shows. (Writing copy was what she did for a living, writing novels was simply not as lucrative in those times as it is today). The characters that populate the ad agency are so real, you can almost feel that they will get up out of the book and walk around. I also loved the character developement of Lord Peter, because to develope from his previous books he sure did do. In "Murder Must Advertise", he shows us a different side to himself than is apparent in the first few books, and I think Dorothy Sayers saw him differently as well. What's interesting in the Lord Peter Whimsey books is that Lord Peter comes across differently in each novel, there is real and true character development. Unlike almost any other series novelists I can think of, where if you pick up the first book and you pick up the last book you will find the same person; if you will pick up "Who's Body" and "Busman's Honeymoon" you will actually meet two different people. (Lord Peter becomes even more developed in "Gaudy Night" and "Busman's Honeymoon").

"Murder Must Advertise" is well-crafted and funny, with a blend of humor and melodrama that complement each other extremely well, in my opinion. Even the ending, which many reviewers have stated was too dark, I found it be just right - this is a murder mystery after all, and murderers must get punished. Although the story is light-hearted and funny, every now and then we see a grim side to Lord Peter as he keeps reminding himself, and the reader, why he is really there - and its not for fun. There is an undercurrent of seriousness throughout the book, which finally breaks through in the "dark" ending. But make no mistake, the ending does not come out of nowhere, if you read the book carefully, you will see that it was there all along.

Was this Dorothy Sayers best? She herself said not, and its hard to argue with an author, especially a dead one. Did I enjoy this book the most? Yes I did, with "Busman's Honeymoon coming in a very close second (another semi-comedy). As far as relevance to today's mindset, I think this book has stood the test of time very well.

I don't think this should be your first Lord Peter book, however. I think you have to read a "stuffy" Lord Peter book first, to better appreciate this novel.

...Lord Peter Wimsey working in an advertising agency?

A young copy writer has met with a fatal on the job accident. But not everyone is so sure that it is an accident and Lord Peter is asked to look into the matter. Peter though is all too aware that at times being a well known, wealthy member of the aristocracy is not an advantage for undercover work and so arranges for that mysterious 'Death Bredon' who bears such a resemblance to him to take the job.

While there Bredon discovers that there is some sort of connection between the rather conservative advertising firm and a very large drug ring that has been plaguing the police, particularly Inspector Charles Parker. In the end all mysteries are solved but only after the reader has been taken into the work a day world of advertising, visited the drug scene, seen Lord Peter's domestic side and gone to a cricket match.

As always with this series Sayers has supplied a large but well defined cast. The reader is given a real taste for English office life of the 1920's. Old friends from previous works also appear including Inspector Parker and Lady Mary, now happily married and raising a young family.

The plot is clever, with the clues all fairly laid out for the reader to follow. The only problem is that at times the story does seem to drag, as if Sayers was determined to give the reader far more detail than needed. At one point even Lady Mary remarks "Then why not say so, instead of continually repeating yourelf?" A suggestion that Sayers would have done well to follow. Still it is a fun read, a definite must for any Lord Peter fans but anyone new to the series would do better to start with one of the earlier works.

This is one of my three favorite Lord Peter Wimsey novels (the other two are Clouds of Witness and The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club), and it's my favorite of the "later period" (1930s) stories (in some part because it doesn't feature Wimsey's paramour, Harriet Vane, whom I often found rather dull). This book is Wimsey at his most whimsical, though because it is to some degree an extreme example of Wimsey's character, it's probably best enjoyed by people who have read the earlier books.
Sayers apparently worked in the advertising business herself for some years, and in this story Wimsey goes undercover as "Death Bredon" (his middle names) at Pym's Publicity to investigate the death of a copy-writer who fell down a spiral staircase. As a result, Sayers pokes all kinds of fun at the advertising business, as well as drawing an enlightening sketch of what that business is like. More than one person who's read this novel has commented to me that it seems that advertising hasn't changed much in the last seventy years!
The victim himself had been running with a fast, drug-taking crowd, which Wimsey infiltrates to tragicomic effect, and when his contacts with this ne'er-do-well group meet his upper-class family later on, he's put in the surreal position of... well, read the novel; the ultimate payoff of this thread is one of the funniest moments in the whole series! The book also includes a chapter featuring everyone's favorite incomprehensible English sport: A Cricket match, which as it turns out fits right in with the rest of the book in both style and outcome.
The mystery itself is about average for Wimsey's adventures, and is a bit more hard-core than we'd usually expect. But that aside, this is a funny, flamboyant, and educational novel, perhaps the most rewarding overall of all of Lord Peter's stories.

Dorothy L Sayers' detective fiction output was not large. From the total of eleven novels, two at least have never been regarded as highly by critics and readers as have the others. "Murder Must Advertise" is one of them.
Re-reading it recently, I decided that most of its weaknesses are less apparent if it is treated as a light entertainment. Why should I expect the scholarly Miss Sayers to always provide verisimilitude, evidence of thorough research and scientific investigation? It soon becomes clear, in this book, that the pukka, debonair Lord Peter Wimsey is highly unlikely to be doing a stint as an advertising copywriter, that he would be fool enough to dive from a great height into a fountain, and that a murder such as the one he is investigating could ever be committed.
Deciding not to take these things seriously, I enjoyed my time with the book, especially the description of Lord Peter Wimsey winning the cricket match for his advertising agency. It became impossible, however, at the end to regard the book as light entertainment. The tone changes. Miss Sayers is forced to meet the problem of dispensing justice to the killer, once identified. Her solution is heavy-handed.
Ah! well, many whodunits have disappointing endings. Approach this one as I have suggested, and you'll enjoy most of it. Don't expect Harriet Vane to feature, however. Dorothy L Sayers never mentions her by name, only referring to the woman in Lord Peter's life who is being "deliberately excluded from these pages".

When Lord Peter Death Breden Wimsey, privately investigating the "accidental" death of an employee of an advertising firm, takes a copywriting job there, he raises curiosity among the female employees. Known on the job only as "Breden," he is regarded as "a cross between Ray Flynn and Bertie Wooster, " complete with silk socks and expensive shoes, and obviously not from the same background as the rest of the staff. Assigned to advertise Dairyfield's Margarine and "domestic" tea, he occupies the dead man's office, churning out slogans while poking into relationships and possible motivations for murder. He soon discovers that the dead man, with limited resources, actively participated in the drug culture of upperclass parties, though how he became involved is an open question.

Lord Peter, as aristocratic as his title would imply, is adventurous and imaginative, a man of action and intelligence who does not hesitate to get down and dirty if necessary (though he'd prefer not "too" dirty). With a "tongue that runs on ballbearings," he can talk his way into and out of almost any situation, and as an ad agency employee, he provides the reader with some terrific one-liners and quips as he tries to sell products. Author Dorothy Sayers, who worked in an advertising agency herself for seven years, brings the agency to life with all its petty infighting and cynicism, creating a vibrant environment in which Wimsey's familiar wordplay and cleverness can be highlighted during his investigation of the murder--and the gruesome murders which follow in its wake.

The author's total control is obvious as she carefully introduces quirky and memorable characters, provides Wimsey/Breden with a sounding board for his discoveries (his brother-in-law, a police superindendent), integrates him successfully into all levels of society, and creates a realistic picture of life in the 1930s--while keeping the reader completely engaged with the mystery and with Wimsey's shrewdness. The wordplay and dry humor throughout the novel are sheer delight, and the conclusion, in which Wimsey/Breden finds a unique way of bringing the investigation to a satisfying resolution comes as a surprise. Sometimes described as the best of the Lord Peter Wimsey series, this novel is a classic--as entertaining now as it was when it was written in 1933. n Mary Whipple

Victor Dean worked at an advertising agency in London. Then Victor Dean died at an advertising agency in London. Accident? Murder? That's what Lord Peter Wimsey is asked to find out.
Shortly after Dean's death, he is replaced by copywriter Death Bredon. That's pronounced "Deeth", by the way. Bredon soon gets down to the business of writing copy ads. We find out that Victor Dean fell down a steep flight of stairs, that he had fought with various members of the ad agency, that when you are advertising for margerine you shouldn't mention butter, and that if you write 'from' instead of 'with' you will cause your client a great deal of anguish. We also discover that something fishy is going on at Pym's Advertising Agency, which somehow ties in with London's thriving cocaine smuggling industry. Soon we're wrapped up in advertising slogans, tea and cake costs, catapult snatching, Whiffling Round Britain, Harlequins in trees, cricket games, and that unfortunate incident where Mr. Death Bredon runs into Lord Peter Wimsey. This is one of Dorothy Sayer's most entertaining, amusing mysteries featuring Peter Wimsey.