Customer Reviews
Entertaining, but slight - By: Graham R. Hill, 05 Jul 2008 
All detective fiction - indeed alll fiction - relies on coincidence. But perhaps the plot of this book overdoes it. Sayers can write & the reader is carried along & entertained by the story; but in retrospect there is nothing of any substance there. I've also always found the denoument somewhat unpleasant. I don't share Sayers' evident belief that members of the aristocracy are somehow innately qualified to dispense justice, in whatever way they may see fit to do it.
The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club - By: Rich, 01 May 2008 A passable time-waster, I found Lord Wimsey rather irritating this time. The mystery itself is quite amusing but tends to contribute towards the rather pretentious air of the book.
Less frothy than some of the other Wimsey novels - By: Roman Clodia, 19 Nov 2006 
As other reviewers have mentioned, what makes this novel stand out from the usual period crime fiction is the portrayal of between-the-wars London when Armistice Day is still a real reminder of what men endured, when survivors of the first world war still suffer from shell-shock & the after-effects of gassing & wounds, & when having a wife go out to work is a significant slur on a man's masculinity.
The actual murder itself is less satisfying than some of the other novels in this series, & the unveiling of the culprit is a bit of a deux ex machina ending, so in some ways this works best as a novel with an incidental crime rather than the other way round. A good read anyway, though with a significantly darker centre than some of the other Wimsey books.
The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club - By: Sue Reeves, 07 Sep 2002 Not one of Peter Wimsey's best efforts but an interesting enough puzzle, well though out & satisfying to alll fans of Dorothy L Sayers. However what makes this book fascinating for me is the deeply convincing contemporary portrait of upper & middle class post World War 1 Britain.
The Edwardian afternoon still lingers on for those too old to have fought & the Gentlemans club which forms the backdrop for much of this book remains a refuge from a rapidly changing world.
But for the "lucky" ones who return from the trenches their experiences haunt them. There are also the new economic realities of unemployment to be faced.
Dorothy L Sayer has brilliantly & effortlessly evoked the flavour of the period. As reader of detective fiction & a passionate history buff I enjoyed it enormously.
A classic tale of crime - By: mark.r.heath@btinternet.com, 19 Sep 2000 
Ian Carmichael quite simply is Lord Peter Wimsey. Capturing the feel of an era gone by, of the period between the two world wars, the effect of shell-shock & a gentleman detective, Dorothy L Sayers' timeless stories as reproduced by the BBC are alll excellent. This is however the best.
The plot is, as always believable yet challlenging, & the overalll production is excellent, as you would expect from the BBC. Special mention must go to the late lamented Peter Jones for his outstanding performance as the indispensable Bunter.
