Something is fishy at the advertising firm of Pym's. A man has died at the office and it isn't clear that it was an accident. So the boss brings in Lord Peter Wimsey to work undercover as a copywriter. As an employee of the advertising agency, it will be the first time Lord Peter has ever held a real job and earned a working man's paycheck, an experience that touches him in unexpected ways.
Doesn't take long for Lord Peter to figure out that Mr. Pym, the owner of the agency, was correct in his feeling that things are not right. Getting to know the his various coworkers and seeing their struggle of making ends meet puts Lord Peter deep into a lifestyle opposite to his own of wealth and privilege. And it is that scramble for money that has lead someone at the agency down a very sad and dangerous road.
This is one of my favorite Sayers stories, mainly for the way Lord Peter makes himself adapts to working at the advertising agency. He becomes so involved with his copywriting that walking away from it when the case is solved became a bit difficult for him. I enjoyed the look behind the scenes at the agency and I imagine the thinking that goes into their ad campaigns isn't all that different than advertising thought today, ninety years later.
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