book talk: Lord Peter Wimsey and The Abominable History of the Man with Copper Fingers

I read the first short story in this book and loved it! I decided that since I got several anthologies, I will just write a post whenever I feel like it about a specific story, rather than an overview of the entire book. Why? Well, why not? I am actually surprised I liked the first story so much. Maybe I need to look more into short stories. I liked that I could sit down for a while and read a story in its entirety, and walk away feeling as though I accomplished something. Plus I've always been partial to writing short stories myself (though I haven't given reading others much of my time). I think I always viewed short stories as a lesser writing style when compared to novels. So I always focused on novels and aspiring to write one myself. I am actually starting to rethink these theories of mine. Anyways, onto Lord Peter Wimsey. First off, how can you not be intrigued by his name? His last name is Wimsey! It makes me chuckle to myself. He was not really a main character in this short story, as in being in the story's forefront, however, when he did make an appearance, it was very clear he was the man of the hour. He is portrayed with a very comical air, in my point of view. This specific story was basically a story that was relayed by a man in a man's cave parlor of sorts, to a room full of other men. They were all sharing strange occurrences, and this man named Varden told of his friendship with a strange man named Loder. I wont share too much, as it is a short story, but of course, Lord Peter Wimsey makes an appearance, displaying his clever detective work (which I am assuming is a main part of his character across all the novels and stories), saving the day...in a way. Even though it was a murder mystery type of book, I think it was handled tastefully. I am a huge fan of mysteries, but I have a hard time finding ones I enjoy reading, as so many are murder mysteries. I don't much care for murder mysteries personally, but I didn't mind this one, as the way it was written didn't make the story all about the murder. It was almost as if the murder was really a secondary detail.
I will say, I am surprised I liked it so much, as I normally don't connect with many books where the main characters are male. Great Expectations by Charles Dickens and The Music Box by Richard Paul Evans is probably the only two exceptions I can think of. Even though I love all TV and film that is Sherlock Holmes, I have read one of his stories, enjoyed it, but it did not pull me in to read more. Lord Peter Wimsey kind of reminds me of Sherlock in a way. I am actually finding myself anxious to read on in this book, and wishing I had kept my eye open for the novels at the library today! I did look up in their online category and see that they did have many of the Lord Peter novels, so if I go back later this week to see what is left of the books, I will look for them.