{"id":1272,"date":"2014-02-04T03:35:26","date_gmt":"2014-02-04T08:35:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/crywoof\/?p=1272"},"modified":"2014-02-03T20:21:18","modified_gmt":"2014-02-04T01:21:18","slug":"murder-must-advertise-by-dorothy-sayers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/crywoof\/2014\/02\/murder-must-advertise-by-dorothy-sayers\/","title":{"rendered":"Murder Must Advertise, by Dorothy Sayers"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

Unlike the last couple of Sayers\u2019 Lord Peter Wimsey novels, about which I had mixed feelings, I returned to Murder Must Advertise<\/a>\"\"<\/i> with no qualms and great anticipation of pleasure\u2014and I was not disappointed. As the tale begins, a man named Death Bredon takes a job as a copywriter at an advertising agency called Pym\u2019s Publicity. We, of course, recognize him immediately: Lord Peter\u2019s full name is Peter Death Bredon Wimsey. An employee of the firm has died, falling down a steep spiral staircase, there have been hints and insinuations of foul play. Mr. Pym has brought in Lord Peter to investigate.<\/p>\n

What sets this apart from Sayers\u2019 other Wimsey novels is precisely its setting. Sayers spent almost ten years as a copywriter for a London advertising agency, and was quite successful at it. She began writing mystery novels while employed there, and wrote Murder Must Advertise<\/i> a couple of years after leaving the position. The resulting book is a delightful portrait of the sort of people and behavior one finds at a firm like this. Sayers is always good with individual people; but here she has a sort of ensemble cast, and she makes the most of it.<\/p>\n

Further, the book is as much about advertising as it is about whodunnit. Sayers is clearly ambivalent about the whole business; on the one hand, she sees that advertising makes the commercial world go \u2019round, and is necessary for economic prosperity, but on the other hand:<\/p>\n

\u201cHow about truth in advertising?\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cOf course, there is some truth in advertising. There\u2019s yeast in bread, but you can\u2019t make bread with yeast alone. Truth in advertising,\u201d announced Lord Peter sententiously, \u201cis like leaven, which a woman hid in three measures of meal. It provides a suitable quantity of gas, with which to blow out a mass of crude misrepresentation into a form that the public can swallow.\u201d\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

And, somewhat later,<\/p>\n

All over London the lights flickered in and out, calling on the public to save its body and purse: SOPO SAVES SCRUBBING\u2014 NUTRAX FOR NERVES\u2014 CRUNCHLETS ARE CRISPER\u2014 EAT PIPER PARRITCH\u2014 DRINK POMPAYNE\u2014 ONE WHOOSH AND ITS CLEAN\u2014 OH, BOY! ITS TOMBOY TOFFEE\u2014 NOURISH NERVES WITH NUTRAX\u2014 FARLEY\u2019S FOOTWEAR TAKES YOU FURTHER\u2014 IT ISN\u2019T DEAR, IT\u2019S DARLING\u2014 DARLING\u2019S FOR HOUSEHOLD APPLIANCES\u2014 MAKE ALL SAFE WITH SANFECT\u2014 WHIFFLETS FASCINATE. The presses, thundering and growling, ground out the same appeals by the millions: ASK YOUR GROCER\u2014 ASK YOUR DOCTOR\u2014 ASK THE MAN WHO\u2019S TRIED IT\u2014 MOTHERS! GIVE IT TO YOUR CHILDREN\u2014 HOUSEWIVES! SAVE MONEY\u2014 HUSBANDS! INSURE YOUR LIVES\u2014 WOMEN! DO YOU REALIZE?\u2014 DONT SAY SOAP, SAY SOPO! Whatever you\u2019re doing, stop it and do something else! Whatever you\u2019re buying, pause and buy something different! Be hectored into health and prosperity! Never let up! Never go to sleep! Never be satisfied. If once you are satisfied, all our wheels will run down. Keep going\u2014 and if you can\u2019t, try Nutrax for Nerves!<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Naturally, the kind of advertising that was done in the 1920\u2019s is different than it is now; among other things, the characters in Sayers\u2019 book go to great lengths to avoid anything that seems in the least bit off-color. In other ways it seems quite contemporary.<\/p>\n

Amid this, Lord Peter investigates a murder and a drug ring, and there are several scenes in which a penny whistle figures largely. What\u2019s not to like?<\/p>\n

<\/a>\"\"<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Unlike the last couple of Sayers\u2019 Lord Peter Wimsey novels, about which I had mixed feelings, I returned to Murder Must Advertise with no qualms and great anticipation of pleasure\u2014and I was not disappointed. 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