In which Charis and Sharon discuss UNNATURAL DEATH, the third Lord Peter Wimsey mystery. We talk about how Lord Peter learns of this “crime of crimes,” where a murder doesn’t seem to have been committed at all. We also cover the issue of “surplus women” in the early 20th century, the prominence of spinsters in the book, the introduction of a favorite character, the novel’s portrayal of lesbians, and what happens when the detective’s actions cause an innocent person’s death. We also give a much-needed update about #justiceforBunter!
This episode covers up through chapter 10 of UNNATURAL DEATH and does not reveal the whodunnit.
Download the episode 5 transcript.
Shownotes:
- To learn more about the public discourse around “surplus women” in the wake of WWI, listen to this excellent SHEDUNNIT podcast episode.
- Biographical details about Sayers’ life and marriage are taken from DOROTHY L. SAYERS: HER LIFE AND SOUL (Barbara Reynolds)
- More about Gilbert Frankau, whom Charis suspects DLS and UNNATURAL DEATH of jabbing at in chapter 3.
- “That greatest of literary spinsters, Miss Bates.” Sharon is referring to a chatty spinster character from Jane Austen’s EMMA. This excellent article describes Miss Bates’ patterns of speech and lays out the narrative purpose her dialogue serves.
- Correction: An astute listener wrote in to inform us that Miss Climpson is not, in fact, Roman Catholic, but rather Anglo-Catholic, from the branch of Anglicanism that emphasizes the denomination’s Catholic roots rather than its Protestant ones. We apologize for misspeaking!
- Agatha Christie’s spinster detective, Miss Marple, first appears in “The Tuesday Night Club,” a short story published in 1927.
- “They’re lesbians, Harold”; we actually slightly misspoke in referring to this meme. (It’s actually “Harold, they’re lesbians.”)
- This is the Wikipedia article about REGIMENT OF WOMEN, the 1917 novel by Clemence Dane that Miss Climpson mentions in her letter and that Charis brings up in this episode.
- Charis’ brother mentions “La Carmagnole,” a song associated with the French Revolution, in his reaction to WHOSE BODY? and its depiction of Lord Peter.
- The comically clumsy sketch of the room set up for the will signing from Sharon’s book:
