Also any of Dorothy Sayers detective stories - Murder Must Advertise could be a good one as it introduces a more muscular Wimsey than one usually pictures, but my favourite is The Nine Tailors. up toward the top of this thread
Just dug out Murder Must Advertise to re-read (the first time was thirty-plus years ago) and once again found it to be a delight, sparkling and witty. As Advertised, of course. And right off found lovely words like
gibus – opera hat, and
captious – likely to find fault, and
dislimned – melted away, from the edges in – the crowd of gossiping goofing-off workers dislimned immediately when the Boss entered the room (used twice, no less)
As well as a couple of words meant to look laboriously and pompously esoteric: "Chrononthologos,” and “Aldoborontophoscophornio” (that’s on p 37 of my old Avon paperback edition, ca. 1968)
And there’s a step-by-step description of a highly mundane event presented with such tongue-in-cheek solemnity as to be hilarious. Haven’t laughed so much at a not-comedy-on-the-face-of-it book since The Mysterious Mickey Finn by Elliott Paul. PS. If you like mysteries and you haven’t discovered Elliott Paul you’re in for a rare treat! At least the first three – Mickey Finn, Mayhem in B-flat, and Hugger-Mugger in the Louvre :-)
