Deal Me In Story #7: The Learned Adventure of the Dragon’s Head by Dorothy Sayers
I don’t think he’s a very nice man. I hate people who ask you to decline nouns for them.
Card Drawn: 9♣
Anthology: Lord Peter Views the Body
Story: “The Learned Adventure of the Dragon’s Head,” 1928
Illustration from Munster’s Cosmographia Universalis: “Uncle, there’s a funny man here, with a great long nose and ears and a tail and dogs’ heads all over is body.”
It’s taken seven weeks, but I finally drew a club, the suit I’ve assigned to Lord Peter Views the Body by Dorothy Sayers. I don’t know if I’ve ever read anything by Dorothy Sayers that I haven’t liked, and I’ve been looking forward to this anthology since the year began. Her stories featuring Lord Peter Wimsey are among my favorite mysteries, and I’m excited to have an entire collection as part of the 2018 Deal Me In Short Story Challenge. I’ve read six novels in the fifteen-book series, but this is the first time I’ve tried a set of her short stories.
Lord Peter Views the Body is the fourth book Sayers released featuring the debonair Lord Peter, the archetype of the gentleman detective. The first three books in the series are Whose Body? (1923), Clouds of Witness (1926), and Unnatural Death (1927).
“The Learned Adventure of the Dragon’s Head” was just as enjoyable as I hoped it would be. It wasn’t a murder mystery but was more of a puzzle to solve for Lord Peter and his ten-year-old nephew Viscount St. George. The story revolves around Munster’s Cosmographia Universalis, “a very old book,” as Lord Peter describes it when they see it in Mr. Ffolliott’s used book shop. The young St. George is fascinated with it because of its illustrations and asks his Uncle Peter if he could use his pocket-money to buy it. His purchase sets him and Lord Peter on an unexpected adventure involving maps, dragons, and hidden treasure.
This story reminded me of one of my favorite books from last year, Ghost Stories of an Antiquary by M.R. James. Not that there were any ghosts or supernatural creatures in it, but the setting and the ancient book was reminiscent of James’ style of storytelling. All in all, “The Learned Adventure of the Dragon’s Head” is a promising start to this Lord Peter collection.
My Rating: ⭑⭑⭑⭑✩
An author I really need to start reading. It will probably end up in a binge, lol. By the way, Blessed Lent. We started ours too, this Monday, on what we call Clean Monday. so Pascha will be one week later than yours, but it’s the same journey anyway
Thank you, and a blessed Lent to you, too! Yes, I really like Dorothy Sayers’ works. Some of her mysteries are the most clever I’ve read.
I still haven’t drawn a club this year for Deal Me In…
Sayers has made one appearance in my Deal Me In history – the great short story “Suspicion.” Based on how good it was I’m surprised I haven’t read more by her yet. I’ve heard of the Lord Peter stories via several recommendations but just haven’t gotten to them yet.
Seems it never fails that the suit or stories I’m most interested in reading are those that the DMI luck of the draw makes me “wait” for the longest…
I actually like her books better than Agatha Christie’s. Sayers’ novels are very literate in addition to being excellent whodunnits.