Murder Must Advertise
by Dorothy L. Sayers · first published 1933
3mentions
2recommended by
3HN commenters
2020–2025first – last mentioned
67% recommend33% neutral
When a man Victor Dean falls down the stairs in the offices of Pym's Publicity, a respectable London advertising agency, it looks like an accident. Then Lord Peter Wimsey is called in, and he soon discovers there's more to copy writing than meets the eye-- cocaine, blackmail, and some wanton women can be read between the lines.
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Came here to say that. A distant runner-up would be the murder by rubber gun and scarab beetle figurine in Murder Must Advertise, same author, same Lord Peter Wimsey.
on “Unusual murder weapons in crime fiction” ↗a second recommendation for Murder Must Advertise (consumerism? check. covert channels? check.) here. I'd never thought to look for social shifts in the murder genre before, even though it's been obvious to me that music videos are relatively easily…
on “Taken at the flood: How Agatha Christie moved with her times” ↗I read Murder Must Advertise, by Dorothy L Sayers. Quote: All over London the lights flickered in and out, calling on the public to save its body and purse: SOPO SAVES SCRUBBING—NUTRAX FOR NERVES—CRUNCHLETS ARE CRISPER—EAT PIPER…
on “Ask HN: What did you read in 2025?” ↗