Though Murder Must Advertise was Dorothy Sayers’ next novel after Have His Carcase, Harriet Vane is completely absent; her single mention isn’t even by name. Despite that, I’m very fond of this book, in which Peter goes undercover at an advertising agency. It is an affectionate but precise look at life in an English advertising firm between the World Wars, written from personal knowledge—Sayers was a copywriter for nine years, until just two years before the publication of this novel, in fact. The creation of advertising campaigns, the dealing with clients, the office gossip and rivalries, the annual cricket game, plus Peter working for a living: I find it all highly enjoyable to read about. (There’s also a tedious and improbable drug-running subplot, but nevermind that.)
The book’s theme is hierarchy, as Sarah Monette points out in a post full of SPOILERS, though I think the book does a bit more undercutting of the hierarchy than just the cricket game (which I love, even though I understand hardly a word of it). On several occasions, the characters who went to the big-name schools tell the characters who didn’t that they shouldn’t dwell on it, it doesn’t matter that much, and I think they’re presented as saying this sincerely. Of course, it’s easy to say that the structure of the hierarchy doesn’t matter when you’re higher up on it—but there are other places where concerns over hierarchy are shown to lead to bad results, I’d argue, and the conversations about education are just the most explicit example.
Anyway, this is my second-favorite of the novels without Harriet Vane. I don’t know if the full effect would be appreciated by someone new to the series, but it might be worth trying out as a starting point. (My favorite is The Nine Tailors, and again I wonder about appreciating how thoroughly Peter is out of his usual habitat.)