The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club

No one has mastered the snappy comeback like Lord Peter Wimsey. It's worth reading a Dorothy Sayers mystery just to hear what the silver-tongued sleuth will come out with next. In this adventure, 90-year-old General Fentiman is found dead in a wing chair at his London club. But how long has he been stiff under that newspaper? The timing means half a million pounds to someone. Ian Carmichael is Peter Wimsey. With perfect timing and vocal inflection, he ekes every bit of humor out of Wimsey that is possible to get while still maintaining the detective's effete, ever so aristocratic intelligence. While doing a dandy job with all the rest of the characters, it's really Peter and the faithful Bunter who shine here. D.G. (c) AudioFile 2002, Portland, Maine

In this post-WWI period piece, Lord Peter Wimsey investigates the death of an aged general at his club. His goal is merely to settle an inheritance--until he discovers the death appears suspicious. Ian Carmichael is subtly charming as Wimsey, very much the 1920s toff, with his "ain't" and "righty-ho" and dropped "g's." But Carmichael also manages to convey Wimsey's intelligence and essential seriousness and decency. The rest of the cast supports him ably. Some public locations are indicated by a hollow, echoing sort of sound, which merely seems poorly recorded--a bad choice. But, for the most part, this program is well acted and well made, and very much of its time. Despite a melodramatic ending, it keeps the listener both involved and entertained. W.M. (c) AudioFile 2008, Portland, Maine