The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club (Warbler Classics Annotated Edition)

Lord Peter Wimsey is asked to investigate the seemingly unsuspicious death of ninety-year-old General Fentiman, found in full rigor mortis in an armchair at the Bellona Club on Armistice Day. Wimsey, a fellow Bellona Club member, is tasked with determining the precise time of death—pivotal information that determines who will receive a substantial fortune. Teaming up with his trusted ally, Detective-Inspector Charles Parker, Wimsey unravels a tangled plot that involves those interested in the inheritance, accidental witnesses, and a delightful array of Bellona Club characters. With astute intellectual powers and keen powers of deduction, Wimsey navigates through the complexities to unearth a surprising truth. Renowned among Dorothy L. Sayers’ enthusiasts, The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club stands as a pinnacle in her early works, blending a sophisticated detective narrative with a vivid portrayal of post-war English society and a whimsical satire of the quintessential English gentlemen’s club.

DOROTHY L. SAYERS (1893–1957) is best known as the creator of Lord Peter Wimsey. Her blue-blooded sleuth romps cheerfully through 1920s and 1930s high society. According to some, Sayers was the most intellectual of the leading “Golden Age” crime writers.
“Sayers, reconfigur[ed] the gentleman detective of her imagination for fresh generations in need of escape, comfort, and a desire to vanquish ‘jiggery-pokery.’”
—The New York Times