Whose Body?
Dec. 29th, 2009 11:20 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
alexxkayForgot to mention that I finished _Whose Body?_ over Christmas. While I thought it had some structural problems, the characters were all thoroughly delightful, and I will definitely continue reading the series.
I was struck by the oh-so-British politeness of it all. One of the tensest scenes is the Dowager Duchess attempting to remain the perfect hostess while covering for Lord Peter, with woefully imperfect information. And she pulls it off! The murderer twice attempts to kill one of the detectives pursuing him. Each time, the detective is aware of the attempt, and prevents it. Yet a third person in the room with them would never have even *noticed* the attempt! Unless he was a very keen observer of social nuances, this hypothetical observer would not have even detected any animosity between the two.
I was struck by the oh-so-British politeness of it all. One of the tensest scenes is the Dowager Duchess attempting to remain the perfect hostess while covering for Lord Peter, with woefully imperfect information. And she pulls it off! The murderer twice attempts to kill one of the detectives pursuing him. Each time, the detective is aware of the attempt, and prevents it. Yet a third person in the room with them would never have even *noticed* the attempt! Unless he was a very keen observer of social nuances, this hypothetical observer would not have even detected any animosity between the two.