Cut to the Quick

Julian Kestrel is the walking definition of a Regency-era dandy. He cares about little beyond the perfection of his tailoring, he lives for the bon mot, and his life has the specific gravity—and the fleeting charm—of a soap-bubble. At least that’s what he’d like you to think. In fact, it rather suits Kestrel to be perpetually underestimated, particularly when—as in this instance—his weekend at a glamorous country estate is spoiled by a dead girl’s body being found in his bed and then further spoiled by the fact that his valet is immediately under suspicion. If certain elements about Julian Kestrel's life ring a bell—the ultra-lightweight persona, for example, or the valet who's been plucked from the criminal classes—that's no accident: We're convinced that he's the true godfather of Peter Wimsey, Albert Campion, and the other "Gentlemen Sleuths" who began cropping up 100 years or so after Kestrel first tied his cravat.