I felt that the Lord Peter Wimsey books probably would fit in exactly with my rather niche interest in 1920s-30s British satire, detective stories, and stories about leisured aristocrats, and I was not disappointed. This novel was so much fun; it's a formulaic detective story that is highly conscious of being just that, it continually makes fun of both itself and the entire genre. Lord Peter is a sort of fantastically funny cross between Sherlock Holmes and Bertie Wooster, and his interactions with his faithful butler are quite hilarious. I really loved Sayers' dry and biting prose, her style is clever and effortless, the plot fairly bounces along. I thought the villain was a bit easy to figure out, but I suppose he was meant to be, as the story doesn't really take itself seriously. There were also a few darker moments (such as when Lord Peter reflects on whether or not his interest in amateur detection is ghoulish, or when his solving of a crime brings on shell shock), but somehow they didn't seem jarring or out of place, and worked very well. I was also surprised to find how stylishly funny it was about sex, and fairly daring for its time, which is something I think I would have expected of a male author (just because the sort of humour that was expected of female writers would be less overtly sexual), I think it was more direct about sex than most books I've read from the period, but also delightfully and hilariously indirect at the same time.
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