Product Description
Murder is hardly the best way for Lord Peter and his bride, the famous mystery writer Harriet Vane, to start their honeymoon.It all begins when the former owner of their newly acquired estate is found quite nastily dead in the cellar.And what Lord Peter had hoped would be a very private and romantic stay in the country soon turns into a most baffling case, what with the misspelled "notise" to the milkman and the intriguing condition of the dead man -- not a spot of blood on his smashed skull and not a pence less than six hundred pounds in his pocket. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (32)

Dreadful - read only if you are addicted
Dorothy L. Sayers has her points but she is neither a great writer nor a great crime novelist. This is, in my view, the worst of her Lord Peter Wimsey books. Nearly 400 pages in my edition - yet the mystery could have been set out and solved in a 20-page short story, which is what Agatha Christie or Arthur Conan Doyle would have done. Most of this book is about the relationship between Peter and Harriet, and I find this tedious at best - it often verges on the emetic. The unchallenged snobbery that runs through all the Wimsey novels is at its worst here. If I hadn't set myself the task of re-reading the whole series I would have put this one down after the first few pages.

If you must read a Sayers novel, go for Murder Must Advertise or The Documents in the Case instead.

end of the line
I adore Dorothy Sayers and have read them all.The romance between Lord Peter and Harriet Vane shows up in several titles but this one is culmination of them all with a honeymoon.Of course this is accompanied by a dead body and a mystery all making for a most satisfying read.

Last completed novel containing Harriet Vane.
The title "Busman's Honeymoon" is sort of a play on words. Look up busman's holiday in the dictionary. In fact it was a play that was also made into a movie "Haunted Honeymoon" (1940) starring Robert Montgomery and Constance Cummings. There are still some short stories and a novel finished by someone else; however Busman's Honeymoon is the last of the novel series containing Harriet Vane. Some of the short stories are "The Haunted Policeman" and "Talboys."

The book starts off with a series of letters from well-known friends of the couple, described previous in Dorothy L. Sayers' novels. They bring you up to date while describing the wedding of Lord Peter Wimsey and Harriet Vane. Some of the charters are just referenced yes it ought on and you will have to have read the previous novels for fuller detail.

The primary thrust of this novel is the relationship between Lord Peter Wimsey and Harriet Vane. With exquisite descriptions of their life and the English environment in which they live. Oh yes, there is also an intriguing mystery for the couple to solve. However the mystery does not overshadow the rest of the story.

One of the most important overlooked items in most descriptions of this book is the expanded explanation of the history and relationship of Bunter to Lord Peter.

Strong Poison

Last completed novel containing Harriet Vane.
The title "Busman's Honeymoon" is sort of a play on words. Look up busman's holiday in the dictionary. In fact it was a play that was also made into a movie "Haunted Honeymoon" (1940) starring Robert Montgomery and Constance Cummings. There are still some short stories and a novel finished by someone else; however Busman's Honeymoon is the last of the novel series containing Harriet Vane. Some of the short stories are "The Haunted Policeman" and "Talboys."

The book starts off with a series of letters from well-known friends of the couple, described previous in Dorothy L. Sayers' novels. They bring you up to date while describing the wedding of Lord Peter Wimsey and Harriet Vane. Some of the charters are just referenced yes it ought on and you will have to have read the previous novels for fuller detail.

The primary thrust of this novel is the relationship between Lord Peter Wimsey and Harriet Vane. With exquisite descriptions of their life and the English environment in which they live. Oh yes, there is also an intriguing mystery for the couple to solve. However the mystery does not overshadow the rest of the story.

One of the most important overlooked items in most descriptions of this book is the expanded explanation of the history and relationship of Bunter to Lord Peter.

Strong Poison

A Honeymoon for Murder
Picking up where "Gaudy Night" left off (with Lord Peter Wimsey's marriage proposal), "Busman's Honeymoon" beings with the lord's marriage to mystery writer Harriet Vane.As much a mystery story as it is a story of their relationship, "Busman's Honeymoon" is a showcase of Sayer's intelligence and masterful storytelling.It is a quick paced romp of a mystery filled with detours and severely lacking in clues that all leads to an ingenious ending.

Having eluded the press (not to mention several members of Peter's family) with a quiet wedding in Oxford, the newlyweds head off to a cottage called Talboys that they have recently purchased from its previous owner.Harriet has a past connection with the house, having stayed there when she was a young child.Yet upon arrival, the house is locked up, the recent owner away and no one is expecting the couple who shows up late at night.Once they can finally take possession of the house, they find that nothing has been made ready for their arrival, and to complicate matters further, the next day, the body of the previous owner is found dead in the cellar.Could it possibly be an accidental death?With a famous sleuth and a famous mystery writer in residence, of course not.But as Peter and Harriet get more and more involved in the case and with the town's inhabitants very few clues come to light.They can speculate all they want, but without proof, they have no case.

"Busman's Honeymoon" is a delightful mystery, intricate in its knotwork.Yet this novel also offers readers a chance to see a different side of Lord Peter Wimsey, a fitting coda to his adventures as a sleuth.He and Harriet are perfectly suited for one another, and readers will enjoy their banter together as well as the characterizations of the town's unique inhabitants.Dorothy L. Sayers was at the top of her game when she wrote "Busman's Honeymoon", a thoroughly enjoyable puzzle to be solved. ... Read more

Product Description
Gathered here for the first time in one volume are all the short stories by the legendary mystery writer Dorothy L. Sayers. In this beguiling collection, Sayers conveys in her incomparable way the gruesome, the grotesque, and the bewitching.

Customer Reviews (6)

English murder mysteries
Written in the early 20th century, the stories include Lord Peter Wimsey and share the language and thinking of a person of peerage at that time. The plots are quite original, and surprises come without warning. Quite a pleasant read, the stories also inform us about the authority and privilege of position in a class-based society.

Still (mostly) relevant, definitely worthwhile!
Similar to another reviewer, my introduction to Sayers' works was through The Mind of the Maker.I tried to pick up her fiction at the time, but, as a 19yo college student, just couldn't get "into" it.Now that 15 years have added appreciation beyond standard quick-read bestseller-type mystery books, I recently thought I'd try Sayers again, starting with this book.I was very pleasantly satisfied with the book. As each section, with stories centering around its own investigator, came to an end, I found myself wanting more.Satisfied-but-wanting-more is a good place for an author to leave a reader, in my opinion.

Sayers is witty and clever, trusting her readers to think for themselves, causing them to dig and think a bit for most of the answers, instead of just laying it out.She's also decidedly English, which may be off-putting to some American readers, but in my opinion, only adds to the interest and charm.

I found almost all of the mysteries to be relevant, even in this era of CSI and Criminal Minds.Humanity and humor transcends innovation.It's rather like Jane Austen's novels are still worth a read, even though all her characters travel by horse, and we now use cars.

A Pleasing Introduction to Mysteries and Sayers
I'm not a huge fan of mysteries; however, Sayers' writing in other fields, such as _The Mind of the Maker_, her book on writing, made me interested in investigating some of her mysteries.I began here rather than try to figure out which of the novels to begin with, and found the stories interesting, entertaining, and thought provoking (not to mention disturbing, from time to time).I didn't manage to complete the book before I had to return it to the library but I'm going to pick up a copy as soon as I can to read the rest of the stories.Sayers' prose sparkles and her wit is top-notch.The stories are awfully short but I'm willing to accept that for the quality of writing that Sayers' provides.Anyone looking for an introduction to Sayers or to mysteries could do a lot worse than this: indeed, I highly recommend this collection of stories to anyone interested in either of those things, or possessed of a cerebral bent.I rarely had the patience to try to solve some of her puzzles but I imagine that there are those who could get quite a bit out of them.

Very dated
If you like short stories about a Sherlock Holmes type character, here you go. However the Sherlock Holmes stories are much better written and more in depth. Sayers stories are almost too "short and to the point". Not a rich read. After reading about half the book I quit. The stories are all so similar that I simply lost interest in reading any more of them. It might be a book more interesting to a ten year old.

Not Actually Complete - Preview the Table of Contents!
If you're reading this, you don't need to know that Sayers' Lord Peter Wimsey series is great. You may want to know that this edition contains the same LPW stories as LORD PETER. Unfortunately, it doesn't contain THE WIMSEY PAPERS (BEING THE WAR-TIME LETTERS AND PAPERS OF THE WIMSEY FAMILY) published in THE SPECTATOR in weekly installments in 1939 and 1940. They're mentioned in Sandoe's intro. Perhaps Harper couldn't get the rights to print them.

This volume also doesn't contain THE WIMSEY FAMILY, highlights from the Wimsey family history written by C. W. Scott-Giles. Granted, it wasn't written by Sayers. However, it was published by Harper & Row and this "complete" edition was also published by Harper. Including THE WIMSEY FAMILY, which is OP and VHTF, would have made this edition a "must have" for LPW fans. ... Read more

Product Description
Nine tellerstrokes from the belfry of an ancient country church toll the death of an unknown man and call the famous Lord Peter Wimsey to one of his most brilliant cases, set in the atmosphere of a quiet parish in the strange, flat, fen-country of East Anglia. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (49)

Introduction to Dorothy Sayers
This is the first Dorothy Sayers book I've read and I'm enjoying the ride.

Nine Tailors, a mystery,is set in an old English countryside with interesting less-than-glamorous characters.

I'm reading it at an extra-slow pace and can't seem to enjoy it unless I read it that way.

It's a story of church bells, church people, sick people, poor people, a stolen necklace with a lot of time given to character building, bell ringing and setting.I was told Sayers book, "The Mind of the Maker," is her best though and will be reading that one next.

A great mystery
Culture shock a tailor is a church bell not a person sewing. And the background to this mystery is a culture around the ringing of the bells.

You can really tell this is Dorothy Leigh Sayers' style. A lot of England, an interesting Wimsey and a good mystery that does not overwhelm the other elements. When I get time I want to see if the books she quoted from exist.

I am not suggesting reading the books out of order, however different DLS books emphasize the mystery first others England first. A book that has the same balance as The Nine Tailors is [Busman's Honeymoon]

All in all I found this book a-pealing.

Ding! Dong! Merrily on High...
Alongside Agatha Christie and P.D. James, Dorothy L. Sayers is one of the top female mystery writers of the twentieth century.Her singular creation of Lord Peter Wimsey assures that her novels will be full of uncanny wit and sparkling intelligence."The Nine Tailors" is a spellbinding mystery with an overabundance of suspects but very little evidence.While some readers may be able to solve the heart of matter, that does not distract from the sheer novelty of this puzzle, steeped in the history and mystery of bell ringing.

On a snowy New Year's Eve, Lord Peter Wimsey accidentally runs his car into a ditch outside of the small town of Fenchurch St. Paul.The local rector rescues Wimsey and invites him to stay, soon pressing him to fill in as a substitute for an ill bell ringer.Wimsey gladly takes over the role and has a pleasant albeit strange holiday in the countryside of East Anglia.As he is leaving town, he encounters a tramp looking for work, and thinks nothing further about it.But when a body is discovered buried atop a recently dug grave, the rector calls on Lord Peter again, this time for his detective help.

The body found on top of the coffin is greatly disfigured and has had its hands removed, but Wimsey is certain it is the man he met on the road the day out of town.But who is he and how did he get there?Most importantly, who killed him?In searching for this answer, Wimsey and the local inspector are sent following clues to France and retracing the sordid history of some of the town's previous unsavory inhabitants.The identity of the body may prove easier to figure out than the method of his murder.

"The Nine Tailors", the title a reference to the bells that are rung when a man dies, is a unique thought-provoking mystery.Dorothy L. Sayers brings her story full circle and no small piece of information or clue gleaned along the way is left out.For those unfamiliar with bell-ringing, some of the descriptions and dialogue regarding this topic may seem tedious, but are not ones that should be overlooked in order to see the whole picture."The Nine Tailors" is an enjoyable, puzzling whodunit sure to please mystery fans everywhere.

"I really don't need rest. I would far rather ring bells"

Dorothy L. Sayers (1893-1957) earned a lasting respect for her translations, poetry and Christian writing, but it was her detective novels featuring Lord Peter Wimsey that won her the lasting affection of so many readers. Sayers, Ngaio Marsh, Agatha Christie and Margery Allingham are known as the "Queens of Crime" for their domination of crime writing in the 1920s and '30s.

The Nine Tailors was published in 1934 and opens on New Year's Eve. Lord Peter Wimsey runs his car into a ditch in the village of Fenchurch St. Paul, in England's low-lying East Anglia fen country. Rescued and given shelter for the night by the rector, Wimsey is astonished to find that the church is a magnificent old edifice on Norman foundations with a "full ring" of eight bells in the tower. To the detriment of his sleeping prospects, the ringers are planning a nine-hour ring starting at midnight. Readers who know Wimsey will not be surprised that when one of the ringers falls to the influenza, our sleuth is able to step in and take the rope.

Critics of this book cite the extremely detailed descriptions of change-ringing, or campanology, the very English, very mathematical progressive ringing of large cast bells. You may love it or you may hate it, but the bell ringing is integral to this picture-perfect novel of English country life; it would be a mistake to disregard the role of the bells. The eight bells in the tower at Fenchurch St. Paul have names and voices, personalities even. The tenor bell known as Tailor Paul is typically rung nine times to announce a death in the village; the traditional Nine Tailors of the title.

Some months later there is a death in the village and when the grave is opened for the burial, it's already occupied. Lord Peter is back on the scene to investigate. The mysteries of the body in the grave and a stolen emerald necklace have their origins in the past and therefore lack some urgency, but the book progresses to a startling and appropriate ending.

The moody countryside and expertly drawn characters lift this book above its genre. The Nine Tailors is a literate period novel that captures English rural life between the wars. Of the eleven Wimsey novels it's the most readable as a stand-alone, and it showcases the characterization and style that are the best part of this series. This is a good book to start with if you want to acquaint yourself with the Wimsey stories; as long as you don't hate the change-ringing.

Linda Bulger, 2008

A Great Mystery Novel
I haven't read a mystery novel in ages and this one got me aching for more.Sayers' main character, Lord Peter Wimsey is embraceable because he exhibits a wide range of emotions.The other main characters in this tale - Pastor Venables, Superintendent Blundell - are charming, this charm brought forth by the former's humurous chatter and the latter's sense of self-importance deflated by faulty reasoning.It is a cliche, but the story, which takes place in an English farm town between the two world wars, definitely keeps you guessing until the end, when the mystery is masterfully resolved and all the loose ends tied up.

To be honest, I had a rough go at reading some of the bell pealing instructions, which are peppered throughout the novel, although it opened my mind to a musical genre of whose technical difficulties I was unaware. ... Read more

Product Description
A fleeting killer's green mustache.A corpse clutching a note with misplaced vowels.A telephone with the unmistakable ring of death.A hopeful heir's dreams of fortune done in when nature beats him to the punch.A playwright's unwatered-down honor that is thicker than blood.

In each case, the murder baffles the local authorities.For his Lordship and the spirited salesman-sleuth Montague Egg, a corpse is an intriguing invitation to unravel the postmortem puzzles of fascinating falsehoods, mysterious motives and diabolical demises. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

Stories with Bite
It is definitely misleading that this collection is labeled as "A Lord Peter Wimsey Mystery Collection" since "In the Teeth of the Evidence and Other Mysteries" contains only two stories featuring Sayers' sleuth.Five of the other stories feature the singular salesman-moonlighting detective Montague Egg, and the remaining ten stories are a delightful hodgepodge of harmless and funny intrigues to disturbing and thought provoking mysteries.

Some of the standout stories in this collection, among the more humorous and lighthearted offerings, are "The Milk Bottles" and "The Inspiration of Mr. Budd".The first is a tale about a newspaper reporter who believes that milk bottles left on a stoop may represent a story to be had.He finds himself on the right track when he encounters a milkman with a story to tell about five milk bottles that have sat for a week at the door of an unhappy couple.The second is a story about a struggling barber who wishes he could win the five-hundred pound reward offered for capturing a murderer; when that murderer walks into his barber shop, he has an inspired idea to stop the killer in his tracks.Some of the more thought provoking tales are "Suspicion" and "The Leopard Lady".In "Suspicion" a man believes his new cook is a gift from heaven, until he experiences sickness every morning and starts to suspect that she is really an arsenic poisoning killer on the loose, but how can he tell that to his fragile wife?"The Leopard Lady" tells the story of an uncle who wishes to rid himself of his pesky, orphaned nephew.He one day happens upon the means to do so, for a small fee, in a manner that will make the boy's death look entirely natural.

There is never a dull moment in "In the Teeth of the Evidence and Other Mysteries".Some tales are much better than others, with the title story being particularly easy to solve.The Montague Egg stories are a fun lark but offer little challenge to the reader since Egg's conclusions seem to come out of nowhere.This collection truly shows what remarkable range Dorothy L. Sayers had as a writer of mysteries, especially when she moved away from her trademark Lord Peter stylings.If Agatha Christie weren't already the queen of mystery writing, Sayers would definitely give her a run for her money.

Ho-hum Sayers' compendium (book details)
The big teaser here is the pair of Lord Peter Wimsey stories... and they are very brief ones to be sure. The "mysteries" here are of the Ellery Queens Mystery Magazine variety.

The Avon Books paperback edition (1952, plus subsequent reprints) cover states: "The most astounding cases of Lord Peter Wimsey [the opposite is true -- these are by far his least intriguing cases] and a bizarre collection of poisonings, knifings, shootings, and other inexplicable crimes." Well, they are in fact pretty much all 'explicable' as most are resolved with finality near their respective conclusions. A couple of these stories are meant to keep the reader hanging.

Here are the story titles along with a few details of each:

"In the Teeth of the Evidence" -- Has a dental man committed suicide, had an accident, or is he the victim of a murder? As usual, Lord Peter Wimsey sticks his aristocratic nose into a police case and stirs up trouble.

"Absolute Elsewhere" -- A rich old bachelor money-lender raises his two nephews to financial success in their adulthood -- he also maintains a mistress on the side. All in the course of one evening, he's visited by an angry client and, at some point, stabbed in the back. The nephews and the mistress seem to have alibis. Inspector Parker is called in and that's about when his pal Lord Peter shows up.

"A Shot at Goal" -- This is a Montague Egg (a traveling purveyor of fine wines liqueurs, and spirits, along with fancying himself an amateur detective) tale and not an especially great one. The story compares to Agatha Christie's The Love Detectives (Unabridged) which is not particularly a compliment.

"Dirt Cheap" -- The clock strikes twelve in the night and thus Montague Egg provides the chief murder suspect with an alibi. A so-so short mystery.

"Bitter Almonds" -- An uninspiring Montague Egg mystery about death by prussic acid -- straight out of Agatha Christie's The Mysterious Affair At Styles.

"False Weight" -- An unimaginative whodunnit featuring Montague Egg who ultimately reveals the answers to yet another hotel-type murder inquiry.

"The Professor's Manuscript" -- A 'Lost-and-Found' tale and a below-average Montague Egg story.

"The Milk Bottles" -- A tongue-in-cheek pseudo-mystery.

"Dilemma" -- Not precisely a mystery but an interesting and enigmatic First-Person account based on ethics.

"An Arrow O'er the House" -- An unsuccessful novelist fires his arrow into the air... (and only so-so reading.)

"Scrawns" -- A nervous young maid is employed at a gloomy old house. A goofy story.

"Nebuchadnezzar" -- An improbable artsy thriller where a murderer is inspired to confess.

"The Inspiration of Mr. Budd" -- How to trap a murderer.

"Blood Sacrifice" -- A brief 'white-knuckle' reading encounter.

"Suspicion" -- A Hitchcock-esque poisoning case.

"The Leopard Lady" -- A strange tale of child murder. Pretty gruesome!

"The Cyprian Cat" -- Another weird cat tale from beyond.

In summary, these are Dorothy L. Sayers' leftovers, the accumulation of which were lumped into a book; however, most of these accounts are not of book quality material and you won't miss a great deal if you pass this one by.

Varied Enjoyable Short Stories
Enjoyable and varied set of murder mystery tales from a superb author.This series of short stories had me wanting more and more.

Grows on you, if you don't insist on Lord Peter
If you're only interested in short stories featuring Lord Peter, be advised that 1) this book only contains 2 Lord Peter stories, 2) the complete set of such short stories is available in the collection _Lord Peter_, and 3) that this book doesn't overlap with _Lord Peter Views the Body_, _Hangman's Holiday_, or _Striding Folly_ (which together contain the stories making up _Lord Peter_).

The Wimsey stories in this volume are not Sayers' best, but if you give the other stories herein a chance, the book pulls its weight.

No one has to date assembled a collection featuring only Montague Egg, partly because there are so few stories featuring him (5 appear in this volume). Monty is a traveling salesman for Plummett & Rose (fine wines and spirits). Sayers had definite opinions about making sure that amateur sleuths had legitimate reasons to travel, meet the necessary people (what better person to visit the local pub?), and so on.

The remaining 10 stories feature neither major character. Sayers liked to have fun with the conventional formula of a detective story; sometimes a death isn't murder, or a mystery doesn't involve a death. Sometimes nobody's guilty of anything, or (treason!) they actually get away with it.

"In the Teeth of the Evidence" - Wimsey's dentist has been called upon to identify one of his predecessor's patients from dental work - a fellow dentist found dead in the charred remains of his car. Wimsey comes along, never having had a corpse-in-blazing-garage case before.

"Absolutely Elsewhere" - Wimsey and Parker are up against what appears to be a cast-iron alibi.

"A Shot at Goal" - The head of the local soccer committee (a big man at the local factory) is found with his head beaten in after being called away from the pub where Monty had been trying out his sales pitch. One is spoilt for choice for motive here.

"Dirt Cheap" - Monty and his fellow traveling salesman are stuck at the Griffin, since their usual hotel has had a fire; it's no surprise that Pringle (after his heavy meal of bad food) should be making noises in the night, enough to wake Monty next door. But the next morning he finds Pringle dead and robbed of his jewelry sample-case - the man he spoke to through the door in the night must have been the killer.

"Bitter Almonds" - Upon hearing that an eccentric old customer has died suddenly in a nearby town, Monty attends the inquest - partly beccause the deceased was drinking one of Monty's products when he died.

"False Weight" - Monty is called on to identify the corpse of Wagstaffe, a traveling salesman for a jeweller's firm who had a wife in every other town on his route. The trick here isn't to find someone with a motive, but to find a solution that fits all the physical evidence in the bar where he died.

"The Professor's Manuscript" - A colleague, upon failing to sell soft drinks to the professor who just moved in, passes him along to Monty as a prospect. Monty makes the sale, but notices several incongruities about the elderly professor and his home. See if you can spot them before they're pointed out to you.

"The Milk-Bottles" - Hector Puncheon (a young reporter from the Lord Peter stories) thinks he's onto a hot story when a young couple disappears from their apartment and the milk-bottles begin piling up outside.

"Dilemma" - Everyone's heard the question: if you could have a million dollars by pushing a button and killing a stranger a thousand miles away, would you do it? In this case, a doctor had to choose between saving 1) a dead man's research on sleeping sickness or 2) a drunken butler on the night of a fire.

"An Arrow O'er the House" - Failed author Mr. Podd begins wracking his brain for flamboyant schemes to draw publishers' attention to his work (other than dismal rejection notices).

"Scrawns" - Susan took the job of house-parlourmaid at Scrawns without an interview, not expecting such a gloomy, run-down, deserted country house...

"Nebuchadnezzar" - This game is charades raised to about the 3rd power- act a word, whose initial letter, in turn, forms part of the final word. Markham, whose wife Jane died of gastroenteritis about 6 months ago, begins to brood while watching her old friends act out Jezebel (J), Adam (A), ...

"The Inspiration of Mr. Budd" - Mr. Budd, a skilled barber who is losing his struggle against the flashy establishment across the street, yearned for a chance at the evening paper's reward posted for help in catching a murderer. But how could he earn it against such a strong and brutal man, anyway?

"Blood Sacrifice" - The playwright hated what actor-manager Garrick Drury had done to his first professional sale, although it played to packed houses. His generous compensation merely meant that he had no leverage to protest the mutation of the script into an almost unrecognizable form, which was ruining his reputation among the Bloomsbury types he moved among. (If the playwright's character interests you, try Sayers' _Strong Poison_, whose artistic crowd produced similar unsaleable work, or _Gaudy Night_, where professional ethics have a major role in the story.)

"Suspicion" - Mr. Mummery has been very careful to stick to a health-food diet lately, since his stomach began playing him up. He and his wife had accepted their new and experienced cook as a gift from heaven, without checking up her references, but now he's feeling uneasy.

"The Leopard Lady" - As a Smith & Smith (Removals) story, the reader should come into this story aware that, unless a client turns nasty, nobody will be charged, let alone convicted, for the removal. In this instance, Tressidier stands as guardian and residuary legatee for his small nephew, but Mr. Smith knows just how much of Tressidier's own money was lost in the Megatherium crash and at the track. (They never approach anyone unless they're sure of him.)

"The Cyprian Cat" - The narrator is speaking to his defense counsel: "It's funny that one should be hanged for shooting at a cat." (A Cyprian cat is actually a tabby.) This story breaks the rules about not throwing in magical overtones. If you like it, you might consider Lovecraft's "The Rats in the Walls" or Howard's "The Hyena".

In The Teeth of the Evidence
This is one of my personal favorite Dorothy Sayers books although it always gives me the creeps whenever I read it ... Read more

Product Description
Deemed "one of the greatest mystery writers of this century" by the Los Angeles Times, Dorothy L. Sayers first captivated readers nearly seventy years ago with her beloved sleuths Lord Peter Wimsey and Harriet Vane in the novel Stong Poison.In Busmans's Honeymoon, her last completed Wimsey/Vane novel, Lord Peter and Harriet culminated their partnership with marriage.Now Thrones, Dominations, Sayers' uncompleted last novel, satisfies the vast readership hungry to know what happened after the honeymoon.Here award-winning author Jill Paton Walsh picks up where Sayers left off, bringing Wimsey and Vane brilliantly to life in Sayers' unmistakable voice.Readers and reviewers are rejoicing at the return of this delightful sleuthing couple--as adept at solving a baffling murder mystery as they are a balancing the delicate demands of their loving union.
Amazon.com Review
Asked by her new husband, the gentleman detective Lord PeterWimsey, why she is having trouble writing her latest mystery novel, HarrietVane explains, "When I needed the money, it justified itself. It was a jobof work, and I did it as well as I could, and that was that. But now, yousee, it has no necessity except itself. And, of course, it's hard; it'salways been hard, and it's getting harder. So when I'm stuck I think, thisisn't my livelihood, and it isn't great art, it's only detective stories.You read them and write them for fun." Is this a clue to the mystery of whyDorothy L. Sayers put aside her 13th full-length Lord Peter novel in 1938and never finished it? She had made lots of money, and was much moreinterested in translating Dante and writing about religion. Or is itanother excellent novelist, Jill Paton Walsh, speculating--in a perfectimitation of Sayers's voice--on what might have happened? Walsh wasinvited by the estate of Sayers's illegitimate son, Anthony Fleming, tofinish Thrones, Dominations. She has done a splendid job, certain to please Sayers loyalists on the "dorothyl"listserv as well as those new to the Wimsey canon. Lord Peter has been made muchmore human and interesting by marriage; Harriet is a wise and acerbiccompanion; and the story, about the murders of two beautiful young womeninvolved with a theatrical producer, is full of twists and connivance.There's also a fascinating subplot involving the soon-to-abdicate KingEdward VII and a country on the brink of World War II. Earlier Wimseys inpaperback include The Five Red Herrings, Gaudy Night, Murder Must Advertise, and Unnatural Death.Books in print by Walsh include a mysterycalled A Piece of Justice and a novel, The Serpentine Cave. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (80)

Different but Good
A friend in England recommended the book.I was not familiar with the previous detective stories, but certainly enjoyed this one.If you are looking for a fast-paced who-dun-it, this is not the book for you.But if you enjoy books in which there is character development and witty commentary on human nature as well as a mystery story, you'll enjoy this book.The first chapter seems slow (my husband dropped it there) but it lays the foundation for the rest of the book, so pay attention. It reminded me somehwat of Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Ernest although it is more ironic than satirical.I found it very enjoyable.It's not a book that you'll skim over the details just to unravel the mystery.The commentary is as enjoyable as the plot.

If you like the series at all, you'll appreciate this book.
I hate hanging endings, and that's the way I felt about the Wimsey series (especially as it was written many many years before I was born), until I found out about this book. The co-author is very sensitive and in tune with the original works. I like her story telling and the further development of the main characters. There is another book after this one based on some notes, but I haven't read that yet. I couldn't have asked for better closure. While I hope the co-author continues. Fans of the original series should find this volume up to their "specs" and standards.

She Doesn't Skip a beat
As a long long time devotee of Dorothy Sayers I entered the realm of her successor cautiously.How could anyone match the tone and razor sharp intellect of Sayers and the two beloved characters she created in Lord Peter and Harriet?Moreover, who could sustain the whimsey of the Wimseys? I should have had no fear.They are in superb hands that haven't skipped a beat.Other devoted fans of Lord Peter should step up and ring the bell.Bunter will answer the door and you'll feel like you're back home again.Not giving yourself the treat of this book would be just piffle!

Close, but no Sayers
Jill Paton Walsh does a fairly good job of staying true to the tone of the Sayers novels - most of the time. (Of course, this is occasionally done by re-using jokes and phrases from the other books, but writers borrow from their own earlier work sometimes, too.) Harriet's maid, for instance, writes letters that combine Ms. Climpson's from one novel with Bunter's from another.

In the area of human sexuality Ms. Walsh is a bit too modern. Ms. Sayers had elegant circumlocutions for the "interesting revelations of the marriage-bed"; Ms. Walsh is reserved by modern standards, but goes too near, and dwells too much upon, sexual aspects. The historical politics, too, are too self-consciously evident; they upstage the story, rather than providing firm background for it.

While Ms. Walsh does a good job with Peter and Harriet Wimsey, some other characters don't ring quite true. The Dowager Duchess' diary is far too on-point for that free-associating lady. Helen is a bit too low-class in her treatment of Harriet. And the idea of Bunter (a) with many siblings and (b) in love is a bit hard to visualize. (It departs from the older English trope of the perfect gentleman's gentleman, devoted only to his master.)

The book was a very good read, and I'm glad I bought it. It just cannot quite match Ms. Sayers' finished works.

no, it's just not the same
we need to all accept that Dorothy Sayers has died and we won't ever have any new Peter Wimsey books from her.This book just isn't as good as Dorothy Sayers.The pity is that the new author tried to write in Dorothy Sayers's voice, and it just doesn't work.I think it would have been better if the woman had just written the newer stories about the Wimseys in her own voice.The book would have been better that way.Same Wimseys, different story teller, different point of view. ... Read more

Product Description
When Harriet Vane attends her Oxford reunion, known as the "Gaudy," the prim academic setting is haunted by a rash of bizarre pranks: scrawled obsentities, burnt effigies and poison-pen letters -- including one that says, "Ask your boyfriend with the title if he likes arsenic in his soup."Some of the notes threaten murder; all are perfectly ghastly; yet in spite of their scurrilous nature, all are perfectly worded.And Harriet finds herself ensnared in a nightmare of romance and terror, with only the tiniest shreds of clues to challenge her powers of detection, and those of her paramour, Lord Peter Wimsey. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (56)

A good 138 page mystery in 500 pages.
In this Novel Ms. Sayers seems to be going through some midlife crisis.She seems to want to show that she is more than just a mystery writer, and to do this she fills the pages with many obscure references to that show that she is a scholar.She also gives us travel log of Oxford in case anyone doubted that she attend a college there.

The pages of the novel a strewn with banal dialog that does not seem to have any purpose other than to show that the author is familiar with the banter (or is it blather) that occurred in a womans college in the 1930's.

In the other Wimsey ofter makes literary quotes, uses some Latin and French, but you normally don't have to translate it to decide what is happening in the novel.

==Spoiler==

Even in the last paragraph Ms. Sayers rather than having Harriet say a simple "I will" has her and Peter quoting from some 12th century play.

If I had to describe this novel is a single word it would be: pretentious!

Cosy Night!
You can't find a better between-the-wars tea-sipper. Just don't expect any dead bodies. It's a different kind of mystery.

Maybe the best mystery of all time?
This book is a marvel.It is indeed fatally flawed in many ways.Harriet is supposed to be exercising independence but the mystery plot makes her totally dependent on Peter.Peter deduces pretty early who the culprit is, but tells no one for the flimsiest of reasons and puts several people into predictable and predicted danger [well, this isn't the only mystery with that flaw.] The style is overblown and the cultural assumptions do grate or nauseate.Sayers proclaims the mutual supportiveness of a faculty that evidently is harpying itself to shreds.

And yet.Sayers takes Peter Wimsey, who in her first few books was more laughable and less realistic than Sherlock Holmes, and sculpts him over time [in earlier novels, too] into an almost [well, with a big stretch] human multidimensional character.The sculpting gets remarkably fully completed in Busman's Honeymoon.Harriet was somewhat more rounded from the start, but she reflects more and more in later novels, building a relationship with Peter despite her harrowing [if not completely credible] doubts.Yes, there's no murder, but the dread that comes to afflict Harriet's college is just as threatening as a homicidal maniac, and is undermining the community of scholars in ways that a maniac probably would not.

I am a professor, and am maybe too inclined to believe Sayers' epigram that 'the University is a Paradise.'Sayers comes unusually close to depicting intellectual/university life from the inside, showing its beauty and strength despite the flawed humans who pursue it, showing how a threat to intellectual culture can be as appalling as a threat to life and limb.And how intellectual values can be life-sustaining and overwhelmingly attractive.

The mystery has definite twists and is baffling as it goes on--at least to me.It provoked me to reflection in ways that almost no other mysteries, no matter how well wrought, do.At least for its time and from its author, it's a marvel.

Sayer's Masterpiece
In Gaudy Night, Dorothy Sayers clearly decided to "up her game" as a writer.Since this is a woman and writer whose "game" is considerable, you are in for a real treat.This novel is both a mystery and a masterpiece. That said, I can't recommend the book if you haven't read a good number of the other Whimsey mysteries already.Many of us, myself included, want to read "the best of the best" as our first book for an author but that won't work here.Sayers wrote each of her mysteries for a loyal following and each book assumed that you had read the previous ones.I discovered this accidently by beginning with a later mystery and being puzzled by characters that appeared with little introduction.They were, in fact, reoccurring characters who had been introduced in previous stories.
In Gaudy Night we get to know the character of Harriet Vane in a much deeper way than we did in Sayer's previous two mysteries that included her.But you need to know Lord Peter Whimsey very well for this book to really work.In Gaudy Night and in Nine Tailors, Lord Peter has aged and is more subdued. However, there is little subdued about the Lord Peter in the earlier novels and his buoyancy, brilliance, energy, and self-confidence both attract and irritate Harriet.That's why you need to know Lord Peter's character, both as Harriet perceives it at the beginning of Gaudy Night, and as Sayers develops it over her excellent series of books.
Unfortunately, the Sayers' mystery titles listed by Harper Collins in their paperbacks are only in alphabetical order.But Wikipedia has a good biography of Sayers where you can get all the novels' titles as they were written.Otherwise, I'd recommend that you at least read Clouds of Witness before you read the first of the Harriet Vane/Whimsey mysteries, Strong Poison, and then read The Unpleasantness at the Belonna Club before going on to Have His Carcase (optional) and Gaudy Night.Each one of Sayers' mysteries has much that delights with interesting characters, puzzling plots, and laugh out loud humor - so if you need to go back and start with the very first before progressing through to Gaudy Night, I have to say that I envy you!

Such a pleasure!
I actually listened to the audiobook. I agree with the reviewer that said the book was anti-climactic and that it's not one of those mysteries the reader can solve from gathering information along the way. That said, it was so thoroughly enjoyable! Maybe this was due to the delightful actors in the audiobook but it was such a pleasure for me to spend time with these dear characters. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Mystery with style!
Dorothy Sayers, a.k.a. Dorothy Leigh Sayers Fleming, one of the first women to ever be granted a degree from Oxford University, created one of the leading figures in, and indeed in so doing helped to create the genre of, the British mystery novels. Lord Peter Wimsey, an elegant, refined London-based aristocrat with a taste for books and a penchant for the piano, is again here the leading figure, in Unnatural Death, also published as The Dawson Pedigree.

Wimsey is an old Etonian, Balliol Oxford (of course), served with distinction in His Majesty's forces during the War (this book having been written in 1927, I shall leave it to your good services to deduce which War), who resides both town and country somewhat fashionably, and takes great pride in the ancient family history (by the time one gets to be the fifteenth Duke of anything, the family can be easily considered ancient). Wimsey has a vocation as criminologist, not out of necessity, surely, and not by training either (for such training did not formally exist, but, as an Oxford Arts man, he was trained for most anything intellectual, or at least, that is what an Oxford Arts man would tell you). An interesting addition to the beginning of the book is a short biographical sketch of the fictional Wimsey by his equally-fictional uncle.

All of this, of course, is but preamble to the latest mystery to come calling upon Lord Wimsey. There are the requisite features: a dead woman, Agatha Dawson, wealthy and having left a will that might not be a will, but rather a sham (a delirious woman whose nurse insists that there was no possible way of having made a will during the last month, yet oddly there is a document, complete with a witness who claims that dear old Agatha Dawson wanted nothing to do with the signing -- ah, the plot thickens here).

Of course, to most of the world, Wimsey is, well, following a whimsey of his own. The woman was after all elderly and in poor health; surely his investigations are misplaced. The doctor (not the one who tended Miss Dawson's death, to be sure, but an earlier doctor, suspicious of Dawson's sole heir, her niece) was accused of having blackened the name of Miss Whittaker, the niece, unnecessarily, particularly as no evidence of mischief had been uncovered. Wimsey with the assistance of Inspector Parker are able to rectify the situation vis-a-vis the doctor, but there is still the mystery.

Then, more death. This time the maid. To lose one woman may be regarded as a misfortune; to lose two women... (well, you can fill in the rest yourself).

Of course I won't spoil it for you; perhaps my tag-team reviewers will do that for you, but I sincerely hope not. Suffice it to say, Wimsey proves himself a consummate actor in which the truth comes out (in London, and in style!).

One of the glories of Sayers work is the intricacies of her plots. She tends to get a huge number of people involved (the number of people who seemed to have trouped through the ill woman's bedchamber is in itself surprising, given the era) each with subplots and agenda that nonetheless get neatly resolved in the end. Sayers' development of character (even of the already dead ones!) is done with style and subtlety; while Wimsey is developed over several novels, one doesn't feel him a stranger by reading this one alone. The other characters fit their parts admirably (had Sayers not been a writer, she may well have made a good career as a casting director in Hollywood), in physical and personality attributes.

Her descriptions of the milieu, both in town (London) and in the country (the village and surroundings, in this case, of Hampshire, are interesting reading. Sayers is very much the cosmopolitan, and somewhat condescending toward the countryfolk. However, that is not a heavy element, and perhaps can be written off to her attempt to make Wimsey even more the worldly character he turns out to be over the course of her novels.

In all, an excellent read, a great diversion, and well worth musing over while sipping tea on a Regency-style sofa in one's dressing gown. ... Read more

Product Description
The stark naked body was lying in the tub.Not unusual for a proper bath, but highly irregular for murder -- especially witha pair of gold pince-nez deliberately perched before the sightless eyes.What's more, the face appeared to have been shaved after death.The police assumed that the victim was a prominent financier, but Lord Peter Wimsey, who dabbled in mystery detection as a hobby, knew better.In this, his first murder case, Lord Peter untangles the ghastly mystery of the corpse in the bath. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (35)

Introducing a most delightful detective...
If you've never read a Wimsey mystery, you're in for a treat. With Whose Body?, Dorothy L. Sayers introduces the delightfully witty and urbane Lord Peter Wimsey, gentleman detective. First published in 1923, Lord Peter's first documented case opens on a particularly curious note - thanks to a tip from his mother, the Dowager Duchess, he's called to investigate the sudden appearance of a dead man wearing nothing but a pair of gold pince-nez in the bathtub of an acquaintance. Wimsey is of course intrigued by the novelty of the case, and things become even more interesting when the pince-nez case intersects with the case of a missing financier being investigated by his friend Parker of Scotland Yard. As the two work together to solve the seemingly disparate crimes, aided by the invaluable assistance of the indefatigable Bunter, Wimsey's valet, it becomes clear that they're on the tail of a fiendishly clever killer whose methods are more gruesome and whose motive is more diabolical than they'd ever imagined.

I really love mystery series that feature strong, quirky, memorable protagonists (i.e., Poirot, Marple, Sherlock Holmes). For me, it's more about how the detective in question solves the case than the case itself - I want a detective that I enjoy spending time with, you know? Lord Peter Wimsey fits these requirements perfectly. He's cultured, witty, devilishly smart, and possesses a sarcastic sense of humor that's absolutely to die for. He rather reminds me of Sir Percy Blakeney (a.k.a. the Scarlet Pimpernel), whose foppish manners masked his intelligence, with a little of P.G. Wodehouse's Jeeves and Wooster (Bunter is a close cousin to the long-suffering Jeeves, but Wimsey is light-years ahead of Wooster in the brains department). Wimsey's the reason I love reading Sayers, and as the series progresses so does the strength of the mysteries he encounters.

This isn't an example of Sayers's most polished Wimsey novel. There is more than one occasion where the narrative meanders or loses focus. Tone-wise the novel also veers between witty comedy and the fairly gruesome manner it is discovered that the crimes in question were carried out. That said it's still a highly enjoyable introduction to Lord Peter's quirks and deductive brilliance. I absolutely love Sayers's ability to turn a memorable phrase - she was absolutely brilliant at penning funny and sarcastic dialogue. Everything comes fast and furious with Wimsey, and Sayers, being a master wordsmith, uses her ability to full advantage to establish Wimsey's character through sparkling, funny, incisive dialogue. Lord Peter Wimsey is a fascinating mass of contradictions and brilliance, and I look forward to my next stop through the novels chronicling his investigations!

Early, and amusing, Sayers
The great Sayers' first mystery is well worth reading. Though without the depth of character exploration and place evocation Sayers developed in later books such as The Nine Tailors, Gaudy Night (Lord Peter Wimsey Mysteries), and Busman's Honeymoon: A Lord Peter Wimsey Mystery with Harriet Vane, Whose Body? does have many delights. The first of these is its impeccable plotting, which is intricate enough to be interesting yet not so complex it bogs down the pace. The glimpse of a long-ago London is fun, full of odd characters and chance meetings.
And finally, though others may disagree when I class this last element as delightful, there's the character of Lord Peter Wimsey. Other reviewers on Amazon and beyond have pointed out that the Lord Peter Wimsey seen in full depth later on is still quite shallow here, and I don't disagree; there's no doubt that the Wimsey/Bunter pairing as well as Wimsey's own traits owe much more to Wodehouse's Jeeves and Wooster than to Sayers' heart. Yet it's easy to overlook the fact that much as she developed and deepend it later on, the basic outline of Wimsey here was sturdy enough to serve her through many excellent books and sturdy enough to withstand a good deal of later revision...and how many first-time novelists can say the same?

One caveat, noted by other reviewers as well: both anti-Semitism and snobbery dot the story. I'm willing to see them as a function of Sayers' time, place, and education and embrace the book despite them, but others may with equal justification refuse to do so.

Mystery
Book arrived in great condition. The style of writing is a bit difficult for me.

Early Effort
Whose Body is a fun, solid murder mystery that should, at the very least, keep you entertained for a couple of hours. That said, it's not Sayers' strongest novel; it's obvious she was barely beginning to find her style.

Whose Body's plot revolves around two mysteries that, on inspection, appear to have no tie to each other: the disappearance of Mr. Reuben Levy, a businessman, in the middle of the night, and the appearance of a body, wearing only a pair of pince-nez, in the bathtub of a harmless little man named Thipps. Though Lord Peter's investigation is intriguing and the solution(s) to these mysteries is ingenious, it doesn't stand out among Sayers' best; the best thing about Whose Body, in my opinion, is seeing how Sayers established Lord Peter and the characters around him - Parker, Bunter, Peter's family. This is not to say that the mystery itself is second-rate, but that, while Whose Body is a fun read as the first of the series, I think it improves on rereading once you see how the characters changed and developed through the series.

Of course, no matter how fun the plot or characters are, there is one big problem that runs through all of Sayers' novels: her racism and antisemitism. Though it's not as pronounced here as it is in others (Unnatural Death, I am looking at you), there is a certain amount of antisemitism surrounding Levy, which is more noticeable because, though Peter (in all the novels) tends to speak up in defense of women and whatnot, he tends to let racist remarks go past without a peep. Sayers was a product of her time; that doesn't excuse her at all, but it stands that she managed to put some quite racist things in her novels, and if you read them, you should be prepared for it.

Aside from that, I did not have many major complaints with this novel: it might not be as well written as Gaudy Night, but it's a solid little mystery, and there is one scene in particular between Peter and Bunter that gives this book a special place among Sayers' novels. If you're at all interested in Golden Age detective fiction, Whose Body would not be a bad place to start.

Excellent mystery
"Whose Body?" is the first in the series of Lord Peter Wimsey mysteries. It's a great read and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it to a mystery lover.

As a longtime fan of Sayers's novels, though, I enjoyed "Whose Body?" on a completely different, almost anthropological level. Lord Peter hasn't quite coalesced here into the character he'd become in the later novels: he's more a collection of all the habits and mannerisms Sayers hoped would give him the personality she intended. Likewise, Bunter and Parker aren't quite there yet either. Sayers also experiments by creating a foil for Wimsey, an antagonistic police inspector named Sugg. It's an intriguing look into what might have been, and I'd recommend that any Sayers fan give "Whose Body?" another look. ... Read more

Product Description

One of the founding mothers of mystery, Dorothy Sayers first introduced the popular character Lord Peter Wimsey in 1923 with the publication of Whose Body? Over the next twenty years, more novels and short stories about the aristocratic amateur sleuth appeared, each one as cunningly written as the next.Now in single volume, here are all the Lord Peter Wimsey stories, a treasure for any mystery lover.From "The Fantastic Horror of the Cat in the Bag" to "The Image in the Mirror" and "Talboys," this collection is Lord Peter at his best -- and a true testament to the art of detective fiction.

Customer Reviews (18)

Good evening reading
So it's not the absolutely complete Lord Peter stories, just the shorts, but any fan of good, crisp after dinner reading will appreciate this offering of vintage Sayers. No more - no spoiling! Get it. QL

When your reading a PD or Agatha book...
This is a great book to read while your reading other books. It provides a refreshing break with a short entry into Dorothy's world.

Lord Peter in miniature
This omnibus of all the Wimsey short tales -- from the beginning to the end of the period Sayers wrote them -- is not as entertaining as the full novels, if only because they end up focusing on the structure of the mystery rather than Wimsey himself (whose presence is often limited and shallow). They're still good fun, though, and a nice companion to the foppish detective's full-length books -- and all worth it for the final story, "Talboys," a lovely glimpse into Peter and Harriet's family life.

A portrait of the past
I enjoyed it.More than mistery tales, to me it brings flashes of a world long gone. Besides , Dorothy Sayers treats her aristocratic, long nosed hero with love and humour.

Lord Peter's Incomplete Stories
This product is misrepresented as the complete Lord Peter Wimsey Stories. This it is not! I originally bought it thinking it was a series of volumes including the full length novels of Lord Peter. It is in fact The Complete Short Stories .......
Having said all this it is worth having as it collects all the short stories in one volume. If you like Dorothy Sayers you will like these not so short stories which include some fascinating plots. ... Read more

Product Description
Rustic old Riddlesdale Lodge was a Wimsey family retreat filled with country pleasures and the thrill of the hunt -- until the game turned up human and quite dead. He lay among the chrysanthemums, wore slippers and a dinner jacket and was Lord Peter's brother-in-law-to-be.His accused murderer was Wimsey's own brother, and if murder set all in the family wasn't enough to boggle the unflappable Lord Wimsey, perhaps a few twists of fate would be -- a mysterious vanishing midnight letter from Egypt...a grieving fiancee with suitcase in hand...and a bullet destined for one very special Wimsey. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (33)

Clouds of witness
The Duke of Denver, Lord Peter Whimsey's brother has himself in a spot of trouble. A guest to their hunting lodge has turned up dead wearing slippers and a dinner jacket and bother Gerald was seen leaving the lodge.
Lord Peter knows his brother wouldn't commit murder, but how does he prove it and save his family from the clutches of a court of law.
At times Ms. Sayers may have used techniques from her contemporaries to feel her way to a style of her own.
My favorite line from this classic novel is "..., but an advanced old woman is uncontrollable by any earthly force."
If you love mysteries and haven't read it do so, then read it again. The puzzle will always please.
Nash Black, author of SINS OF THE FATHERS.

A pretty good little mystery
Clouds of Witness is one of Dorothy Sayers's earlier Lord Peter Wimsey mysteries. It's definitely not as good as Murder Must Advertise (Lord Peter Wimsey Mysteries), or The Nine Tailors, but it certainly shows some promise.

Having just spent time abroad in Corsica, Lord Peter Wimsey returns to find that his brother Gerald, the Duke of Denver, has been accused of the murder of one of his houseguests at Riddlesdale Lodge, a house rented for the hunting season. The murdered man was Lord Peter and the Duke's brother-in-law-to-be--so Lord Peter intervenes in what promises to be a sticky mess. It turns out that a lot of people are guilty of a lot of things, and it's up to Wimsey to sort things out. What I love about this book is that you know who didn't do it--the fun is in figuring out who did.

This book (the second Sayers wrote about Lord Peter, actually) isn't as strong as some of her later books, but it's pretty good nonetheless. The identification of the murderer isn't as important here, though, as is a major twist that's revealed near the end. Lord Peter himself, with his unusual manner of speaking and varied pursuits, is an endearing character, and it's easy to see why Peter might have inspired many other gentleman-detectives in fiction (Inspector Linley from Elizabeth George's books). I thought that Lady Mary was one of the weaker characters (way too many dramatics for me). Clouds of Witness may be the second book in this series (after Whose Body?), but if you're new to the series, you may want to start with this one--there's a lot more character development, as well as the introduction of some characters who make recurring appearances throughout the series.

Garbled text destroys the enjoyment of an excellent book
Love the book, hate the version. Far too many (garbled text removed) (garbled) (missing).The publisher claims it was fixed in May 2009, but I just bought it in February 2010.

Badly garbled and many omissions in Kindle text
I like Sayers.I've read all the Lord Peter novels, some more than once. They're among my favorite books to reread.

I was looking forward to reading it on Kindle, because I thought the ease of use of a dictionary, plus ability to look up some of the foreign phrases or obscure references, would enhance my experience.

Unfortunately, this Kindle edition is rife with [garbled] and [missing] text.I would understand it in a free download, and shrug it off as a "get what you pay for" experience.But even at a .99 pricepoint, there is no excuse for putting it out there in such bad condition.

Comments from the Publisher:
We apologize for the inconvenience. The book was corrected on May 18th, 2009. The new version has no omissions.

MobileReference ... Read more

Product Description

Mystery novelist Harriet Vane knew all about poisons, and when her fiancÉ died in the manner prescribed in one of her books, a jury of her peers had a hangman's noose in mind. But Lord Peter Wimsey was determined to find her innocent--as determined as he was to make her his wife.

Customer Reviews (32)

Addictive poison
This is the first novel in which Harriet Vane appears with Lord Peter Wimsey.I enjoyed it.It was well written and well plotted.To learn the culmination of their relationship, read Gaudy Night next, even though Have His Carcase is actually next in the sequence.

The Sayers to Start With...
This was my first Dorothy Sayers mystery and still among my favs.I love the play betweeen Lord Peter and Harriet Vane and this is the book that begins that relationship.Highly recommend!

Move over, Agatha Christie
A lot of the reviews for this novel refer to Sayers as one of the best mystery writers of the 20th century.I will go a step farther and say that she's the best.If there were any justice in the world, Agatha Christie, a contemporary with whom she is often compared, would fade into her shadow, rather than the other way around. Her witty prose is full of hilarious one-liners and turns of phrase, and readers will fall instantly in love with the quirky, brilliant protagonist, Peter Whimsey.

Strong Poison, together with its sequels Has His Carcase, Gaudy Night, and Busman's Honeymoon are the most touching and realistic takes on love, with all of its miscommunications, heartbreaks, complications, and moments of the sublime, that I have ever seen.Other reviewers have said that Harriet Vane comes off as unlikable, but if she's not a completely personable person, it's a reflection of the pain that she's been through, and the strength that she's had to build in order to maintain the tatters of her wounded pride -- this is no pathetic victim, fawningly greatful to the big man for saving her.

Indeed, Sayers' writing is full of a pathos that feels more real to me than most whodunnit fiction.The characters treat murder as what it is -- the tragic confluence of a taking of a life and the ending of a life, and even if the victim wasn't a perfect person, he was a -person-, a person who is now dead by the hand of one of his fellow men.Characters in traditional parlor-style whodunnits have always struck me as a little bit sociopathic in the way that they treat death as anywhere from an inconvenience to a fun riddle game to be teased apart in the name of justice, but not so for Sayers' Whimsey and Vane.

Strong Poison shows other breaks with Whodunnit fiction, lacking the ordinary formula of crime, parade of suspects, investigation, red herring, big reveal.Fans of the genre will have solved the book well before its end, but the story itself stands on its own, even without the puzzle.

Sayers was an author ahead of her time.Her work touches on many things that were not discussed in the time that she was writing, including post-traumatic stress disorder, which she treats not as cowardice, but with real compassion and understanding, and a feminism that many so-called feminist authors of the present day can't match.

There's nothing wrong about it at all, except that the girl's innocent
A lot of women want to poison their ex-boyfriends. Only a few actually do it.

But the suspicion is enough to land a woman in the dock in "Strong Poison," the first of a string of mysteries about eccentric detective Lord Peter Wimsey and his romantic interest, crime writer/murder suspect Harriet Vane. While Peter's feelings for Harriet spring up rather suddenly, this seemingly airtight mystery is a solid race against time to discover the poisoner, with few clues about who may have done the deed -- and a lot of clues about who didn't.

Lord Peter Wimsey becomes interested in the trial of Harriet Vane, a mystery writer who lived with her boyfriend until he proposed marriage (it had all been a test). Six months later, after a brief visit, her ex dropped dead of arsenic -- and all the evidence points straight at Harriet. But Peter is sure that Harriet didn't do the crime -- and he's fallen in love -- and so becomes determined to break this watertight case against her.

And so he turns his attention to suicide, since there was plenty of motive for that. But the most promising lead turns out to be the dead man's cousin, a successful lawyer whose motives and opportunity remain unknown -- as the court tells us, the only food that the deceased ate was also eaten by the suspect. But the brilliant Wimsey knows he can find the answer, before Harriet's retrial.

"Strong Poison" probably had a special signficance for Dorothy Sayers. First, it introduced her alter-ego, Harriet. Secondly, some of the events that happened to Harriet -- living with a boyfriend, the "test" -- really happened in real life, although presumably Sayers didn't come under suspicion of having murdered her ex.

The murder itself is very intriguing, if very slow-moving and roundabout. The case against Harriet is practically foolproof, so it's intriguing to see Wimsey carefully pulling the chinks out of it, and exposing another motive for the dead man's death. But they include some funny (if too brief) moments, like Peter having tea with a hilarious lesbian couple ("Philip Boyes was always determined to be a victim, and it was very irritating of him to succeed in the end"), or the fake seance.

Not to mention some great dialogue ("Why not slap the manly thorax and say, `Peter, my dear old mangel-wurzel, I have decided to dig myself into the old family trench and be a brother to you'?"), including Sayers' needling at double standards for women ("You're bearing in mind, aren't you, that I've had a lover?" "Oh, yes. So have I, if it comes to that. In fact, several. It's the sort of thing that might happen to anybody. I can produce quite good testimonials").

Sayers does stumble by having Wimsey instantly fall for her avatar, to the point where he asks her seriously to marry him at their first meeting. But the two characters mesh well -- he's witty, brainy and very unorthodox, while she's a "fallen woman" with brains and a prickly, clever personality. And there's a slew of lovable side characters -- steadfast and clever Miss Climpson, the ever-faithful Bunter, the increasingly lovesick Parker, and the lovably bickering couple Eiluned and Sylvia.

"Strong Poison" proceeds rather slowly, but Sayers does a solid job of dissecting a seemingly foolproof case -- and introduces her less than Mary-Suish avatar at the same time.

Worth the read
I think I would have liked this book better if I didn't already know Lord Peter Wimsey from "Clouds of Witness"--meaning, I love Peter so much, that I was disappointed he wasn't in "Strong Poison" more.I adored all the chapters with him in "Strong Poison" but they seemed few and far between, so as interesting and all as the other characters were, I was never as wholly invested because I wanted to get back to Peter and the other beloved characters from past novels.For me, the book felt a little disjointed.Peter must call on various people to help him solve the case, and many chapters are devoted to those mini-plots, instead of centering around Peter, the result being a quarter of the book devoted to Peter, a quarter to a Miss so-and-so, another quarter spent on this other character, and so on.Which, for a pure mystery is fine, but the character-side of the story wasn't able to be as developed.

As for the mystery, I did enjoy it, and thought the final chapters were really well written and conclusive.The mystery itself isn't the best I've read, but it was able to hold it's own.I was able to figure out most of it by the end, but there were still a few surprises.

Overall I'm glad I read it, and I'll probably pick up another Wimsey story before too long. ... Read more

Product Description
When ad man Victor Dean falls down the stairs in the offices of Pym's Publicity, a respectable London advertising agency, it looks like an accident.Then Lord Peter Wimsey is called in, and he soon discovers there's more to copywriting than meets the eye.A bit of cocaine, a hint of blackmail, and some wanton women can be read between the lines.And then there is the brutal succession of murders -- 5 of them -- each one a fixed fee for advertising a deadly secret.Amazon.com Review
When advertising executive Victor Dean dies from a fall downthe stairs at Pym's Publicity, Lord Peter Wimsey is asked toinvestigate. It seems that, before he died, Dean had begun a letter toMr. Pym suggesting some very unethical dealings at the posh London adagency. Wimsey goes undercover and discovers that Dean was part of thefast crowd at Pym's, a group taken to partying and doing drugs. Wimseyand his brother-in-law, Chief-Inspector Parker, rush to discover whois running London's cocaine trade and how Pym's fits into thepicture--all before Wimsey's cover is blown. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (32)

English humor that works!
Dorothy Sayers' mysteries, regardless of how well written they may or may not be, can be hard to digest for those readers not particularly inclined towards English humor.While her best work has at its core well-constructed, concisely executed mysteries, the chaos that typically surrounds these mysteries consists of way too many English people having way too many conversations about way too many things that are way too English.Take this book for example: one of its central scenes take place at a cricket match in which every at bat(is that the right term?) and every wicket (huh?) is described in sporting news worthy detail, along with the overly specific comments and overly obscure strategy that is discussed before, during, and after the match.Ridiculously English, and in this case, ridiculously funny.Like Hemingway spending 50 pages describing the efforts to catch a single fish, Sayers' finds such a solid groove in tackling this scene that no matter how lost you may be in the details, the fluorishes are exhilarating.
So goes the whole book, set in a London advertising agency in which one of its workers has fallen down an iron staircase and died.Accident, or something more sinister?A detective is called in to investigate, undercover, of course, and as he inflitrates the employees around him, all of whom have motive, alibis, and suspicion surrounding them, the dialogue heavy action plays like the best scenes from "The Office" or the more philosophically bent Monty Python pieces.The laughs are smart, cheap, telegraphed a page ahead, unexpected, relentless.The aforementioned cricket match, one of the key scenes in the latter half of the book, ties dozens of threads together to elevate the humor to even greater heights.Integral to the plot is the setting- a London ad agency- and like latter day works by Palahniuk and Easton Ellis, Sayers' has a grand time lampooning the society that allows and then gets duped by such obvious manipulation of the emotions.
All of this, and a darn good mystery to boot.

Very nice
An effervescent book from a writer of high caliber. Agreed that some Lord Wimsey books were crabbed and unnecessarily detailed, but in this book; where our hero enters an ad firm to solve a murder that was passed off as an accident iswhimsical, funny and light. I loved to have learnt how people functioned so many years back and the budding first wave of feminism that is so skillfully touched upon by this great writer is noteworthy. A beautiful masterpiece from the British Golden Age of Detective novels. Enjoy!!!

A Killing in Advertising
"Murder Must Advertise" may be the best Lord Peter Wimsey mystery that does not feature his partner in detection, Harriet Vane.Dorothy L. Sayers truly outdid herself with this ingenius whodunit, for it is an unparalleled mix of humor and mystery that intermingles the dreadful activities of the Bright Young Things during the 1930s."Murder Must Advertise" is a fast paced mystery that will leave readers guessing until the very end and very often laughing out loud along the way.

Lord Peter Wimsey, in the disguise of Death Bredon (two of Wimsey's family names) takes a job with Pym's Publicity after an ad man falls to his death down a set of dangerous stairs.To everyone else, his death was an accident, but Wimsey is convinced that there is more to this death than meets the eye and is soon proven right.Yet unravelling the truth behind this murder leads Wimsey on a far flung search through various sordid characters and the drug induced antics of the cocaine addicted gang of Bright Young Things.Before Wimsey can make a connection or prove his case, several other bizarre murders made to look like accidents occur, and Wimsey knows that if he isn't careful he might be next.

The fact that Lord Peter Wimsey, so singular a creation and so well-known to his imaginary colleagues could masquerade as another character is enchanting and humorous."Murder Must Advertise" offers a unique look into the moral underbelly of the advertising world and how easily someone of proper moral standards could be seduced to do wrong.The only letdown of the entire novel is a chapter devoted almost entirely to a cricket match between Pym's and a rival publishing agency; anyone not acquainted with the game of cricket will have trouble following Sayers' jargon during the match.And as this chapter comes near the end of the mystery when puzzles are being solved and revealed, it slows down the action, but not the suspense.For anyone who has not read a Lord Peter Wimsey mystery, "Murder Must Advertise" would be a perfect place to start.

Antidote to Spring Showers
With the arrival of spring we can expect soggy weather. In many regions around the country the showers linger well into May. Perhaps the promise of a warm summer has failed to cheer your dampened spirits stuck inside on a Saturday, and if the constant dripping doesn't kill you, the pure boredom just might. More likely though one might suppose that you are tired of giving an online, minute by minute update of your personal day timer and you finally come to your senses; "Why should I care that Johnny is enjoying a latte'?"
Through a rain soaked weekend consider a Dororthy Sayers mystery novel as an antidote. All Ms. Sayers' mysteries starr her chief sleuth Lord Peter Wimsey. Lord Wimsey is an amateur detective but working independently always seems to be one step ahead of Scotland Yard. Mr. Wimsey is much more 'earthy' and relatable than Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes.
Dorothy Sayers wit knows no bounds in her novel "Murder Must Advertise". In the story his Lordship Wimsey takes on an alias and lands a job with a London advertising agency on the heels of a mysterious death. Peter Wimsey becomes taken with his new 'job' and is even at times reluctant to put it aside to crack the case; "He sought out the gentleman (Wimsey), who was, for once, in his own room , singing soup slogans to himself.
'A meal begun with Blagg's Tomato
Softens every body's heart-oh!
Hubbies Hold those wives most dear
Who offer them Blagg's Turtle Clear.
Fit for an Alderman-serve it up quick-
Rum-ti-dy, tum-ti-dy, Blagg's Turtle Thick.'
"Rum-ti-dy, Tum-ti-dy,' said Mr. Bredon (Wimsey). 'Hullo, Tallboy, what's the matter? Don't say Nutrax has developed any more innuendos.'
The story twists and turns through drug dens, company cricket matches, and a series of murders, but never loses it charming humor. "Murder Must Advertise" is not only recommended for those who are mystery buffs but to anyone who loves good literature.
Ms. Dorothy Sayers was born in 1893 and passed on in 1957. She was one of the first women to be awarded a degree from Oxford. She was a noted Christian author and theologian, but is most remembered for her mystery novels. She wrote her first mystery novel in 1923.
Another of Dorothy Sayers' great works is "Gaudy Night". In the novel we are introduced to Ms. Harriet Vane who is a mystery writer attending her college reunion. While attending, Ms. Vane receives a threatening note. She is hesitant to reveal the note to anyone until many more are discovered. She begins an investigation but soon finds herself too overwhelmed and appeals to Lord Peter for assistance. At this point the nature of Wimsey's association with Ms. Vane is alluded to, but not until later is it revealed in full. A fun packed thriller, "Gaudy Night" shows a great battle of wits between Wimsey and Vane while revealing the darker parts of the human condition. Unlike many dime store mystery novels written today one really does grow to admire the characters.

Good detective story
I don't know how many times I've read this over the years and thoroughly enjoyed each read. I'm re-reading it again just now!

I have read most of Ms Sayers's Lord Peter Wimsey output and consider this book to be one of her best. It's great fun when you know the book spotting the clues she drops in front of you and seeing how the author reaches the conclusion. It does have its dark side - this is one of the first detective novels surrounding the drug scene - and while certainly there are improbabilities the quality of the writing and the integrity of the book within itself outweigh these.

I'd recommend this book to anyone who likes a really good detective story and enjoys working out the solution as they go. Unlike one or two other authors of the same period who always seem to select the least likely character and then make the story fit however unlikely, Dorothy L Sayers gives you all the clues so it's possible to work out whodunnit just by reading the story carefully. ... Read more

Product Description
This Halcyon Classics ebook is the second Lord Peter Whimsey novel, CLOUDS OF WITNESS, by 20th century British detective writer Dorothy L. Sayers.Sayers (1893-1957) is best known for her mysteries, a series of novels and short stories set between World War I and World War II that feature English aristocrat and amateur sleuth Lord Peter Wimsey.She also composed poetry, essays, plays, and translated Dante's DIVINIA COMMEDIA (The Divine Comedy) into English.

In CLOUDS OF WITNESS (Sayers' second detective novel), the fiancé of Lord Peter's sister, Lady Mary Wimsey, is found dead outside the conservatory of the family's shooting lodge in Yorkshire. Peter and Mary's elder brother, the Duke of Denver, is charged with willful murder and put on trial in the House of Lords.

This ebook is DRM free and includes an active table of contents for easy navigation.
... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Holds the Reader Tightly
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003ZUYPZS/ref=cm_cr_rev_prod_img

It's difficult to review this novel without inserting a spoiler, so I will refer to a much later novel in the series, when Lord Peter is having dinner with the faculty of a woman's college at Oxford. The conversation veers around to the morals of doing a nasty job for pleasure, when somebody has to do it and nobody really wants to. Referring to this case as an example, Lord Peter says something to this effect: "I once thought I had to choose between hanging my brother or hanging my sister for murder." The conversation continues, and Lord Peter explains what actually happened. Clouds of Witness holds the reader's attention to the very last paragraph, which is a difficult task even for a good writer. I was glad to find it available as an ebook, because my 67-year-old eyes have had one cornea transplant and are waiting for another, and print on paper is increasingly difficult to read. I hope the rest of the series shows up fairly soon. I warn new readers: Please read Whose Body first. This is the second of the series, and you need the first to create context and subtext. But it works well enough as a stand-alone to be worth reading. I loved it--sort of a cross between Sherlock Holmes and Thomas Hardy.
... Read more

Product Description
Dorothy L Sayers' great lay contemporaries in the Church of England were T. S. Eliot, C. S. Lewis and Charles Williams, but none of them wrote a book quite like The Mind of the Maker. In this crisp, elegant exercise in theology, Sayers illuminates the doctrine of the Trinity by relating it to the process of writing fiction, a process about which she could speak with complete authority. She illustrates her thesis with many examples drawn from her own books, and even illuminates the Christian heresies by analysing certain failures of creation which regularly occur in literature. This marvellous classic describes the creative process in terms of the arts and shows that literature can cast light on theology and vice versa.Amazon.com Review
Best known for her Lord Peter Wimsey mysteries, Dorothy Sayers was also a playwright, essayist, and a translator of Dante. C.S. Lewis said that heliked her "for the extraordinary zest and edge of her conversation--as Ilike a high wind." The reader gets a fair taste of that wind in this book,her study of the human (and divine) creative process. Beginning with somestingingly humorous words for the education process (which has produced,she says, "a generation of mental slatterns") she then explores theTrinitarian nature of creativity. Here she identifies the Christian conceptof the Holy Trinity--God, Son, Holy Spirit--with three elements ofcreation. First, the Idea: "passionless, timeless, beholding the whole workcomplete at once, the end in the beginning"; then the Creative Energy:"begotten of that idea, working in time from the beginning to end,"manifesting the Idea in matter; and finally the Creative Power: "themeaning of the work and its response in the lively soul"--in essence, whatshe calls "the indwelling Spirit."

In a plain, matter-of-fact style that readers will recognize from hermysteries, she reflects on the question of free will and miracle, evil,and, ultimately, "the worth of the work." It is especially here, I think,in this final chapter that the book remains both timeless and profoundlytimely. The artist stands for the true worker, she writes, who, whilerequiring payment for his work, as an artist "retains so much of the imageof God that he is in love with his creation for its own sake." So too,ultimately, should it be for all human work: "That the eyes of all workersshould behold the integrity of the work is the sole means to make that workgood in itself and so good for mankind. This is only another way of sayingthat the work must be measured by the standard of eternity." --DougThorpe ... Read more

Customer Reviews (12)

Intelligent, amusing and thought provoking,
From time to time I pick up one of Fr Schall's book recommendations (as set out in his book: "Another sort of learning") and I am never disappointed. This short book by an artist, which seeks to explain Christian doctrines (including the doctrine of the Trinity) through the analogy of the creative work of the artist, is really excellent. It is crystal clear and amusing. Indeed, I would recommend not just for those looking for an intelligent exposition of Christian doctrines but does who wish to know how to approach the act of writing.

Like Augustine, Sayers sees the "structure" of the Trinity manifest in us but she sees it particularly in the work of the artist.
The following quote should illustrate the analogy Sayers was trying to make:

Book-as -Thought, Book-as-Writen, Book-as-Read corresponding to Idea (Father), Energy (Son) and Power (Holy Ghost)

"The implication is that we find the threefold structure in ourselves (the Book-as Read) because that is the actual structure of the universe (the- Book-as Written), and that is the universe because it is God's idea about the universe (the-Book-as Thought); further, that this structure is in God's Idea because it is the structure of God's mind".

Weaknesses in the Literary Trinty

" What is really damaging to a writer's creation is a serious and settled weakness in any side of the Trinity. Thus, a confirmed feebleness in the "father" or Idea, betrays itself in diffusion, in incoherence, in the breach of the Aristotelian unity of action or, still more disastrously, of the over-riding unity of theme. Not all works of rambling and episodic form are "fatherless" creations; form is the domain of the son, and a rambling form, like that of the picaresque novel, may be exquisitely and rightly adapted to the exact expression of the Idea. But if there is no unity of Idea, within which the whole meandering structure can be included; or if the work having started our as one kind of thing, end us up as another kind of thing; or if it contradicts its own nature and purpose in the process of developments; or if (and this happens curiously often) it enchants us in the reading by the elegant succession of its parts, and yet leaves in our memories no distinct impression of itself as a whole - in such cases, there is something radically wrong with the paternal Idea."

"Everything in the visible structure of the work belongs to the son; so that a really disastrous failure in this person of the trinity produces not a good writer with a weakness, but simply a bad writer."
"A failure of the ghost - the playwright has not been able to "sit in the stalls" as he writes and watch the effect of his work as a completed "response in power". "Whereas failure in the father may be roughly summed up as a failure in Thought and failure in the son as a failure in Action, failure in ghost is a failure in Wisdom (wisdom of the heart and bowels)".

Liteary criticisms: defects in the Literary Trinity

In light of the above analogy Sayers engages in some very amusing literary criticism by "distinguishing those writers who are respectively "father-ridden", "son-ridden" and "ghost-ridden". It is the mark of the father-ridden that they endeavour to impose the Idea directly upon the mind and senses, believing that that this is the whole of the work". She sees Joyce as a particularly good example of the "son-ridden"! "the ghost-ridden writer, on the other hand, conceives that the emotion which he feels is in itself sufficient to awaken response". "It is true that an implicit reliance on technique (which is the besetting heresy of the son-ridden) will reduce the art of acting to an assemblage of mechanical tricks".


Pushing here analogy further Sayers teams up various heresies with literary defects:

"A bodiless Gnosticism is the besetting heresy of the "literary" dramatist and assumes many forms: such as, for example, the "literary" dialogue, which reads elegantly, but which no living actor can get his tongue round. "

Problems and solutions

Finally, Sayers ends off the book with a discussion of the modern obsession with presenting things as "problems" with their attendant "solutions". She sees this embodied particularly in the detective but she notes that life is not like that. Pausing here, note how Government thinks it can solve the problems of human nature by continuing to enact more and more legislation. But Sayers rightly notes that some things (such as death) do not have a solution. They are strictly speaking insoluble but this should not prevent us, like the artist, from approaching it with our creative minds - lets not solve the problem but create something new out of the "problem".

I found this short book to be a real treat. Thanks Fr Schall for the recommendation.

The Masterful "Mind of the Maker"
If you are interested in an airtight, supremely reasoned, brilliantly explained, and determinedly impersonal description of what Christians state in their creeds, this is the book for all time.Beware, Unbelievers...**

**Of all the silly things written in the name of "atheism," probably the silliest is that God is the product of our minds.Well, duh.... How are we to know God except through our human minds?How are we to describe God except through our language and actions?It's only a question of which came first - God or the human capacity for an idea of something greater than ourselves who must have created us.I am infinitely more interested in the thoughts and writings of those who have studied and labored over a subject for all of their lives and built on the ideas of those who have done the same since the beginning of self-conscious thought.I am bored to tears with the ravings of those who just can't accept as the result of, say, several weeks - or a lifetime - of intermittent, random thoughts that there is something greater than themselves and with rules that go along with this being.So, on the grounds of depth, completeness, longevity, and logic, I prefer "The Mind of the Maker" not only to anything ever written denying God but to all other books about God.

INSIGHT
She had an amazing insight to what the Christian life is all about.A worth while read.

Thinker's Classic
The Mind of the Maker by Dorothy Sayers is a classic for a reason. She is an excellent writer and a wonderfully deep thinker. At times I honestly got lost in the depths but, as I look back, the truths and nuggets of "ah ha"s are worth a few head scratches.

She opens the book explaining that it is not an explanation or a defense of the Christian faith. The book is her attempt to "demonstrate that the statements made in the Creeds about the Mind of the Divine Maker represent, so far as (she is) able to check them by (her) experience, true statements about the mind of a human maker." (preface) There is a universal truth found in the act of someone who creates and the Creator of all things.

She explains how Father, Son, and Spirit can be well understood by the creative mind's "Idea", "Energy", and "Power". She mainly focuses on the illustration of the writer (her occupation and obviously greatest experience). The essential nature of an idea working its way with the energy of a person writing with its connected power that is released is an incredible thought. I've been meditating on it often.

Many times, as a follower of Christ, I focus on "just" one aspect of our God: the Father or Son or Spirit. I too often miss and do a vast injustice to Him as I do not focus on the eternal relationship that they all together forever work. Sayer has given me a new way of remembering and reflecting on my Love and Hope which has affected me.

I believe that being creative can be a spiritual discipline. This book will be my "proof text". We are most like our God when we exhibit his love and work in a finite yet glorious way while we create something. Be it a new song, photograph, painting, story, etc. Hmm, maybe even creating another blog entry... a bit.

I highly recommend The Mind of the Maker even if you can't run through it, it is worth a slow soak. Don't be afraid to put it down and ponder. This book isn't for the "fast food" reader but it is accessible to all.

A glimpse of God, but a full-dress study of Man
Contrary to popular belief, this is not primarily a book about God. Sayers wisely does not try to tell us about God directly, but about what is godlike in ourselves. 'The characteristic common to God and man,' she says, is 'the desire and ability to make things.' She draws a vivid and detailed analogy between the Christian Trinity and our own creative imagination. In working out the details of this analogy, she tells us a great deal about them both; but, inevitably, more about our own minds than God's.

The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit correspond to what Sayers calls the Idea, Energy, and Power. For a writer, the Idea is the book as he first imagines it; the Energy is the book as actually written; the Power is the impression it makes in the mind of each reader. The analogy applies equally well to all art forms. Sayers makes the Trinity seem as plain and familiar as a conversation. If you ever knew what you wanted to say but couldn't find the words, you felt the difference between the Father and the Son. If someone took your words to mean something you never intended, you felt the distance between the Son and the Spirit. Critics may say the Trinity is not real, but they can never again call it incomprehensible.

The rest of the book concentrates on the purely human maker. The longest chapter, 'Scalene Trinities', discusses the ways that the creative imagination can go wrong, and classifies them as failures of the Idea, the Energy, or the Power. I find this the most useful part of the book. Whatever kind of work we do, we find it all too easy to become obsessed with technical details (the Energy). We almost forget that we are trying to express an Idea, and so our work loses the Power to benefit other people. We need to be fully aware of all three parts of the process.

The Mind of the Maker is a brilliant book. But if you read it just for its theology, you will miss two-thirds of the brilliance. It has still more value as a guide to human creativity. If you are a Christian, or if you do any kind of creative work, this book will do your mind good. ... Read more

Product Description
Can Lord Peter Wimsey prove that Harriet Vane is not guilty of murder - or find the real poisoner in time to save her from the gallows? Impossible, it seems. The Crown's case is watertight. The police are adamant that the right person is on trial. The judge's summing-up is also clear. Harriet Vane is guilty of the killing her lover. And Harriet Vane shall hang. But the jury disagrees. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

There's nothing wrong with it, except the girl's innocent
A lot of women want to poison their ex-boyfriends. Only a few actually do it.

But the suspicion is enough to land a woman in the dock in "Strong Poison," the first of a string of mysteries about eccentric detective Lord Peter Wimsey and his romantic interest, crime writer/murder suspect Harriet Vane. While Peter's feelings for Harriet spring up rather suddenly, this seemingly airtight mystery is a solid race against time to discover the poisoner, with few clues about who may have done the deed -- and a lot of clues about who didn't.

Lord Peter Wimsey becomes interested in the trial of Harriet Vane, a mystery writer who lived with her boyfriend until he proposed marriage (it had all been a test). Six months later, after a brief visit, her ex dropped dead of arsenic -- and all the evidence points straight at Harriet. But Peter is sure that Harriet didn't do the crime -- and he's fallen in love -- and so becomes determined to break this watertight case against her.

And so he turns his attention to suicide, since there was plenty of motive for that. But the most promising lead turns out to be the dead man's cousin, a successful lawyer whose motives and opportunity remain unknown -- as the court tells us, the only food that the deceased ate was also eaten by the suspect. But the brilliant Wimsey knows he can find the answer, before Harriet's retrial.

"Strong Poison" probably had a special signficance for Dorothy Sayers. First, it introduced her alter-ego, Harriet. Secondly, some of the events that happened to Harriet -- living with a boyfriend, the "test" -- really happened in real life, although presumably Sayers didn't come under suspicion of having murdered her ex.

The murder itself is very intriguing, if very slow-moving and roundabout. The case against Harriet is practically foolproof, so it's intriguing to see Wimsey carefully pulling the chinks out of it, and exposing another motive for the dead man's death. But they include some funny (if too brief) moments, like Peter having tea with a hilarious lesbian couple ("Philip Boyes was always determined to be a victim, and it was very irritating of him to succeed in the end"), or the fake seance.

Not to mention some great dialogue ("Why not slap the manly thorax and say, `Peter, my dear old mangel-wurzel, I have decided to dig myself into the old family trench and be a brother to you'?"), including Sayers' needling at double standards for women ("You're bearing in mind, aren't you, that I've had a lover?" "Oh, yes. So have I, if it comes to that. In fact, several. It's the sort of thing that might happen to anybody. I can produce quite good testimonials").

Sayers does stumble by having Wimsey instantly fall for her avatar, to the point where he asks her seriously to marry him at their first meeting. But the two characters mesh well -- he's witty, brainy and very unorthodox, while she's a "fallen woman" with brains and a prickly, clever personality. And there's a slew of lovable side characters -- steadfast and clever Miss Climpson, the ever-faithful Bunter, the increasingly lovesick Parker, and the lovably bickering couple Eiluned and Sylvia.

"Strong Poison" proceeds rather slowly, but Sayers does a solid job of dissecting a seemingly foolproof case -- and introduces her less than Mary-Suish avatar at the same time.

First in the Harriet Vane series
Personally I have always been an Agatha the Christie fan. My first encounter with Dorothy L. Sayers was the Mobile Mystery Theater series showing on PBS.

Naturally the TV media cannot fill in all the details that you would pick up from reading the book. So I read the book. This added more depth to the story, but now I appreciate Dorothy L. Sayers more than Agatha Christie. But Dorothy not only fleshes her characters out better but her side trips into philosophy and psychology make the story that much more interesting. And just when you say what is the relevance to this conversation it is wrapped up in the final solution.

We are in luck as they still make the audio recording of "Strong Poison" The reader Is Ian Carmichael the first TV Lord Peter Wimsey. It makes a good compliment to the book.

This is the first of a fourth book series. The story is complete and can be used as a stand-alone story.

The notorious Harriet Vane is on trial for poisoning her previous live in lover. Naturally Lord Peter Wimsey falling in love with her, is determined that she is innocent and will prove this. To save her repartition he must fined the real culprit (if there is one), because if Harriet gets off on a technicality, she will always be under suspicion.

have his Carcase ... Read more

Product Description
One of the first women to graduate from Oxford, Dorothy Sayers pursued her goals whether or not what she wanted to do was ordinarily understood to be "feminine." Sayers kept in mind that she was first of all a human being and aimed to be true not so much to her gender as to her humanity. The role of both men and women, in her view, was to find the work for which they were suited and to do it.

While Sayers did not devote a great deal of time to talking or writing about feminism, she did explicitly address the issue of women's role in society in the two penetrating essays collected here. Though she wrote several decades ago, she still offers in her piquant style a sensible and conciliatory approach to ongoing gender issues. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (13)

A Sample?
Please forgive this non-substantive review but this is the first time I've downloaded a free sample that stopped just after the table of contents.Not one word written by Sayers was included - except the titles of the essays.Remove or expand!cmw

Food for thought on gender roles
Anyone who has read Dorothy Sayers' mysteries featuring Lord Peter Wimsey should not be surprised that she seriously studied the roles assumed by people in her world and how those roles were viewed.She was one of the first women to graduate from Oxford and pursued goals that were not usually thought of as feminine.In the two essays in this 69-page pamphlet, Sayers responds to the idea that there are women's roles and men's roles.

In Sayers' mind, being human was more important than being female or male.Based on that concept, she felt that individuals should pursue employment that best suits them without regard to societally based roles.In spite of progress that has been made since her day (these essays were originally published in a work titled Unpopular Opinions, copyright 1947) the subject is still of interest today.As far as women have come in the more than 60 years, there is still much discussion about whether or not women should enter traditionally male employment.

What makes the idea of gender-specific roles almost laughable is that most of the male-dominated roles were originally those of women, from cooking to planting to serving at table.Her view of the history of these ideas has to make anyone pause and consider how much things have changed and whether assigning gender roles has truly been overcome.

Feminism? No, Humanism.
I first came to this book after reading a stirring review of it in philosopher Susan Haack's book Putting Philosophy to Work: Inquiry and Its Place in Culture. Haack, like Sayers, is a believer that equality of the sexes means that the sexes are to be treated the same when justified and differently when justified (the former being more justified than the latter). In other words, Sayers is a breath of fresh air, particularly in this ironic age where feminism leads as often to "women's ways of knowing" as to any equalitarian sentiment.

In the lead-off title essay, Sayers starts by telling us that she does not wish to be defined as a modern feminist (writing in the '60's) and that she believes modern feminism often does more damage than good. Why? Becuase feminists both play identity politics and the imitation game. Feminists play identity politics when they talk about women's rights, women's points of view, etc., instead of human rights, human points of view, etc. How do women play the immitation game? By dressing like and acting like men FOR NO OTHER REASON than a misguided sense that equality can only mean "to be the same as," when it can also mean "to have the same value as." (Sayers sees nothing wrong with dressing like, or acting like, men so long as it is done out of desire to dress or act that way rather than a desire to immitate in order to achieve equality.)

Sayers's greatest point in this essay deserves a good paraphrase: Sayers is confused when people ask her why a woman would want to study Aristotle. What could they hope to gain. Sayer's reply is simple: not many women want to study Aristotle just as not many men do. The point is not that women should study Aristotle but that women should have the same opportunity as men to study Aristotle or not study him. This is similar to Sayer's reply when she is asked what women's point of view is on issue x. She sarcastically tells us to ask A WOMAN for HER point of view if we want to know it (and reminds us that no one asks what mens' point ofview is on issue x).

In other words, women do not need x rights because they are women, but because they are human. Since men and women are human first and sexes after, any question about why we should treat women equally is probably better phrased, "why should we treat humans equally."

The second of these essays says much of the same thing as the first, but one never gets tired of hearing it in all the new and creative ways Sayers has of saying it. Her paragraphs of satire depicting what it would be like for men to be in women's shoes (reading articles questioning their ability to do work outside the factory and reading advice about how their most important role is to maintain their wives' affections) is hilarioius and biting at the same time.

On a personal note, I read Sayers book becuase I am growing rather sick of hearing phrases like "women's ways of knowing," and "feminist political theory," (I heard the word "womanist" the other day used to describe someone's views). In my view, Sayers and those like her need to be heard now more than ever to remind us that phrases like these do more harm than good in their very shallow differentiation from women to men (don't women think like men do? don't they and men experience politics as people first and women later?). Sayers's more common-sensical approach which seems women as people and political/social equiry as a human, rather than a sex-driven, issue, will hopefully serve as the antidote to current feminist (or womanist?) excesses.

. . .there is no longer male and female. . .
Although Dorothy Sayers broke with tradition by being one of the first woman to graduate from Oxford, she did not self identify as a feminist.She claimed, "...the time for "feminism," in the old fashioned sense of the word had gone past," adding, "an aggressive feminism might do more harm than good."(21)Instead of waving placards and shouting slogans, she simply expressed a worldview that held women as human beings, and lived a life that was true, not to her gender, but to humanity. Miss Sayer believed that God created both men and women with gifts and talents suitable to specific work and it is the role of the individual to find the work that matches their makeup.
Sayers outlines her views on `women as human' in a manner that makes her reader smile and even laugh out loud. By cleverly reversing the stereotypical view of males and females, Miss Sayers uses her wit to point out the silliness of such stereotypes by making us laugh at the picture of man forced to view himself in terms of his maleness:
"...if everything he wore, said or did had to be justified by reference to female approval; if he were compelled to regard himself...not as a member of society, but merely as a virile member of society. If the center of his dress consciousness were the cod-piece, his education directed to making him a spirited lover and meek paterfamilias; his interests to be held natural only in so far as they were sexual. If from school and lecture room, Press and pulpit, he heard the persistent outpouring of a shrill and scolding voice, bidding him remember his biological function. If he were vexed by continual advice how to add a rough male touch to his typing, how to be learned without losing his masculine appeal, how to combine chemical research with seduction...If, instead of allowing with a smile that `women prefer cavemen,' he felt the
unrelenting pressure of a whole social structure forcing him to order all his goings in conformity with that pronouncement." (56-57)

Miss Sayers is not only witty, but erudite, pointing out that men have taken away all the interesting jobs women once had as the manager of a household:
"It is a formidable list of jobs: the whole of the spinning industry,...the dying industry...the weaving industry...the whole catering industry and-- which would not please Lady Astor, perhaps - the whole of the nations brewing and distilling...And (since in those days a man was often absent from home for months together on war or business) a very large share in the management of landed estates. Here are the woman's jobs - and what has become of them? They are all being handled by men. It is very well that a women's pl

Thoughts on the "Pant-Wearing" Female
Short read- love the last page.

What Sayers has to say was completely relevant and interesting for her time.I think she might be pleased with where we are now in America.However, I also think perhaps we have gone too far with the idea of the "pant-wearing" female.Females aren't men.They're female.To a certain extent, I think we've lost some of what makes men and women both special and unique in their sexes.We see some superficial attempts to reclaim this via television stations like "Spike" and "Oxygen."Also, the book "The Red Tent" has inspired women to go deeper and re-make connections with other women who have had unique womanly experiences...

While I really appreciate the idea of vocation, I don't think it dissolves the (perhaps lesser) importance of gender.

Nice pairing to read with this book: Poor Banished Children of Eve: Woman as Evil in the Hebrew Bible by Gale Yee. ... Read more

Product Description
Book 1 in the "Lord Peter Wimsey" series!

Lord Peter Wimsey investigates the sudden appearance of a naked body in the bath of an architect at the same time a noted financier goes missing under strange circumstances.As the case progresses, it becomes clear that the two events are linked in some way! ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

wonderful book- a true kindle bargain of quality
Please publish more Sayers books on Kindle!This one is notable for being the first entry to my knowledge in the Lord Peter Wimsey series, but as soon as you finish it, you are ready for the next one.Hurry, Kindle!

Dorothy L. Sayers mystifies us from the beginning
From the very beginning of this story we are capture by Sayers' writing style and character sketches. She only gets better from here. It is the interaction and relationship of her characters that make the story come alive.

We start off with two mysteries at once. A naked man, wearing sunglasses, is found in someone else's bathtub. Across town an important person goes missing. The local policeman had figured out the relationship already (or has he). He has even nabbed the suspects. Lord Peter (armature sleuth) and friend of Inspector Parker must figure out if one plus one is one or two.

Whose body?

Kindle edition
My comments are specific to the Kindle edition of this novel (which I have read and enjoyed several times, as I am a Sayers fan).

Overall, the formatting of the book was good, but there were several ( 5 or more) typographical issues, particularly when trying to deal with diacritics.That is unfortunately distracting from an overall well presented edition.

... Read more

Product Description
The mystery writer Harriet Vane, recovering from an unhappy love affair and its aftermath, seeks solace on a barren beach -- deserted but for the body of a bearded young man with his throat cut.From the moment she photographs the corpse, which soon disappears with the tide, she is puzzled by a mystery that might have been suicide, murder or a political plot.With the appearance of her dear friend Lord Peter Wimsey, she finds a reason for detective pursuit -- as only the two of them can pursue it. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (21)

Good until the ending ruined it
I was quite enjoying this lengthy book - both the mystery itself and the Vane/Wimsey interactions - right up to the last page or so when the abrupt, vague, disappointing, and out of character ending left me completely flat.It's almost as if the author got tired after 448 pages and just wanted to finish the story ASAP.I don't want to spoil it for anyone, so I'll leave it at that except to reassure that the mystery itself is solved; it's the *resolution* that's lacking.

I've been reading the Lord Peter Wimsey stories in chronological order (and would rate nearly all of them so far as 4+ Stars).That's a good thing, because if this book had been my first Wimsey book, I'm not sure I would have read any further.

Tedium in time
A puzzling murder where the time of death is crucial.Unfortunately most of the novel is wasted effort.If you don't mind being led down a garden path and then having a cream pie thrown in your face, you'll love this.I hated it.

Second story in the Harriet Vane series
My first encounter with Dorothy L. Sayers was the Mobile Mystery Theater series showing on PBS. I now have all three DVD's of the series ("Strong Poison", "Gaudy Night" and "Have His Carcase".) They never produced "Busman's Honeymoon" Dorothy sold the rights to Hollywood and BBC could not get them back. The Resulting movie is "Haunted Honeymoon"(1940)
Naturally the TV media cannot fill in all the details that you would pick up from reading the book.

So I read the book. This added more depth to the story, now I appreciate Dorothy L. Sayers more than Agatha Christie.Dorothy not only fleshes her characters out better but her side trips into philosophy and psychology make the story that much more interesting. And just when you say what is the relevance to this conversation it is wrapped up in the final solution.

This is the second of the book series. The story is complete and can be used as a stand-alone story. The notorious Harriet Vane is out for a walk and takes a nap. She wakes up and finds (you guest it) a body. If not for her trusty camera, no one would believe her. As it is the authorities think it was suicide. Wimsey thinks it is murder. Naturally everyone, especially the main suspect has an airtight alibi. The real interest is the interaction between Lord Peter and Harriet.


Strong Poison

Brilliant, funny, and intelligent mystery
I am in the process of reading this book for the third time, and find it absolutely delightful. Like all of Dorothy L Sayers' books, it is highly intelligent and very well written. Sayers has an uncanny insight into human psychology and also has a wonderful way of characterizing her characters -- even minor characters come across as intriguing and realistic. Sayers clearly did a lot of research for all her novels, and the amount of detail she packs into the descriptions makes the places and persons all the more engaging and the reader's experience all the more rewarding.

What sets this book apart from the rest, however, is that it is here that we see the relationship between Sayers' indomitable sleuth, Lord Peter Wimsey, and the young woman he saved from the gallows in Strong Poison, the amusing contrary Harriet Vane, develop and blossom into the first stages of a real love story. Although the focus is on the mystery, the Wimsey-Vane storyline is much more than a subplot. It runs through the novel and ultimately becomes just as important as the case they are working on. In Gaudy Night, one of Sayers' masterpieces in my opinion, the love story takes center stage and it is the mystery that becomes the backdrop for its unfolding.

For those who prefer mysteries to romances, however, there is nothing overly sentimental or "romancy" in the unfolding of Wimsey's and Vane's relationship. What the relationship gives Sayers is an opportunity to really gaze deeper into aspects of human psychology, and her writing is spot on. Lord Peter especially becomes a much more human character as he struggles to build a fragile relationship with Harriet, whose bruised past makes her especially prickly and sensitive to his advances.

I heartily recommend this book to all. If you get a chance to see the PBS/WGBH televised series, it is also a treat!

Second story in the Harriet Vane series
My first encounter with Dorothy L. Sayers was the Mobile Mystery Theater series showing on PBS. I now have all three DVD's of the series ("Strong Poison", "Gaudy Night" and "Have His Carcase".) They never produced "Busman's Honeymoon" Dorothy sold the rights to Hollywood and BBC could not get them back. The Resulting movie is "Haunted Honeymoon"(1940)
Naturally the TV media cannot fill in all the details that you would pick up from reading the book.

So I read the book. This added more depth to the story, now I appreciate Dorothy L. Sayers more than Agatha Christie.Dorothy not only fleshes her characters out better but her side trips into philosophy and psychology make the story that much more interesting. And just when you say what is the relevance to this conversation it is wrapped up in the final solution.

This is the second of the book series. The story is complete and can be used as a stand-alone story. The notorious Harriet Vane is out for a walk and takes a nap. She wakes up and finds (you guest it) a body. If not for her trusty camera, no one would believe her. As it is the authorities think it was suicide. Wimsey thinks it is murder. Naturally everyone, especially the main suspect has an airtight alibi. The real interest is the interaction between Lord Peter and Harriet.


Strong Poison
... Read more

Product Description
Sixty years after Dorothy L. Sayers began her unfinished Lord Peter Wimsey novel, Thrones Dominations, Booker Prize finalist Jill Paton Walsh took on the challenge of completing the manuscript---with extraordinary success.“The transition is seamless,” said the San Francisco Chronicle; “you cannot tell where Sayers leaves off and Walsh begins.”

“Will Paton Walsh do it again?” wondered Ruth Rendell in London’s Sunday Times.“We must hope so.”

Jill Paton Walsh fulfills those hopes in A Presumption of Death.Although Sayers never began another Wimsey novel, she did leave clues.Drawing on “The Wimsey Papers,” in which Sayers showed various members of the family coping with wartime conditions, Walsh has devised an irresistible story set in 1940, at the start of the Blitz in London.

Lord Peter is abroad on secret business for the Foreign Office, while Harriet Vane, now Lady Peter Wimsey, has taken their children to safety in the country.But war has followed them there---glamorous RAF pilots and even more glamorous land-girls scandalize the villagers, and the blackout makes the nighttime lanes as sinister as the back alleys of London.Daily life reminds them of the war so constantly that, when the village’s first air-raid practice ends with a real body on the ground, it’s almost a shock to hear the doctor declare that it was not enemy action, but plain, old-fashioned murder.Or was it?

At the request of the overstretched local police, Harriet reluctantly agrees to investigate.The mystery that unfolds is every bit as literate, ingenious, and compelling as the best of original Lord Peter Wimsey novels.
... Read more

Customer Reviews (47)

An interesting read, but not Sayers.
Jill Paton-Walsh is a good writer. She shows us what life was like during the Blitz in WWII, and uses the Sayers characters effectively to do it. I was absorbed in the story, and learned a few things about that period in history. I do not, however, hear Dorothy Sayers' voice in this writing very much at all. Yes, Paton-Walsh uses the same sentence structure here and there, outright quoting from Sayers' books frequently, but those are just echoes; Sayers never repeated herself like that. Neither would Sayers have written such a trite reunion scene when Lord Peter returns safely from the war, nor would she have kept up with the "nudge, nudge, wink, wink" lines about their bedroom activities - Sayers was at once more circumspect and more eloquent. I suspect Thrones, Dominations (A Lord Peter Wimsey Mystery) (which Paton-Walsh also wrote) must have started from more complete notes, because Sayer's voice comes through in that novel in more detail.

In short, not bad, and worth a read, but only a footnote to the Wimsey canon.

A Welcome Return
"A Presumption of Death" is like coming home to a houseful of good friends you haven't seen in years.There is something comforting in being surrounded by those you love.Ms. Paton Walsh handles the homecoming with the skill of a truly gifted author.Never in this novel do the characters appear alien to those first introduced by Ms. Sayers.But it is not just the familiarity with those characters that makes this such a wonderful read.The storyline itself is what drives the book so pleasantly forward.Against the backdrop of the early days of Germany's aggression against England in World War II, we are given an insightful look into how that war affected the lives of everyday people.Through her descriptions of a time when rationing, blackouts, and air raid drills were the daily norm, we have a vivid look at how the human spirit rallies itself to serve in any capacity for the common good.Of course, it's not a Wimsey/Vane story without the inclusion of a dead body.We are taken on a merry chase as we try to unravel this mystery filled with a number of possible suspects, intriguing scenarios and just the right amount of humor.Welcome back, Lord and Lady Peter.You've been greatly missed.And thank you, Ms. Paton Walsh, for arranging such a splendid reunion!

Sophisticated and satisfying
It's rare for a pastiche to be comparable to the original. "A Presumption of Death" is the exception - it's as good as anything Sayers wrote, and in fact is likely better than any similar book Sayers could have written at the time.

It's late 1939. Harriet (Lady Peter Wimsey) has taken the family's children to their country home at Talboys while her husband is off on top secret official business. Change is everywhere: land girls are working the farms, a convalescing airman is holed up in a local cottage, child evacuees are bunked in everyone's cellar, there's even a Polish refugee living at one of the farms. But one night a land girl is found strangled in the town square during an air raid drill. The local inspector, shorthanded due to the war, asks Harriet to help, and matters progress from there.

What I especially liked about "A Presumption of Death" is how well Paton Walsh meshes the reality of the Phony War period with Sayers's characters - and they are all Sayers's characters, which is a refreshing change from the modern trend of the Pastiche In Name Only. We recognize all of them - Bunter, Harriet, the Dowager Duchess, Lord St. George, but above all Harriet and Peter.

The Phony War, too, is presented realistically and accurately. In fact, I don't think it would have been possible at the time for a writer to portray the times as accurately as Paton Walsh does, especially given the censorship of the time. Few people outside high-ranking members of the government would have known about (for example) the particular method of disinformation referred to in this novel, and if a writer did invent such a system independently her book would likely have been censored.

I highly recommend this book.

Full of typos
I think this is probably a good book, but there are so many typos, several per page, plus funny spacing, in the Kindle version that it is distracting.It seems to have been scanned and not proofed, and in a few places it's incoherent.I recommend buying the print version.

unreadable for technical reasons
I bought this book without getting a sample because I was leaving the country and needed to load up on books for my trip.What a mistake as the book turned out to be unreadable due to all kinds of random punctuation marks and other formatting errors.I never got past the first few pages.

I often see errors on Kindle that I wonder about -- were they in the print version, too?But this time I feel pretty sure the problems came with the transition to digital.

Hey, amazon, how about cleaning up messes like this? ... Read more

Product Description
This Halcyon Classics ebook contains two novels by 20th century British detective writer Dorothy L. Sayers.Sayers (1893-1957) is best known for her mysteries, a series of novels and short stories set between World War I and World War II that feature English aristocrat and amateur sleuth Lord Peter Wimsey.She also composed poetry, essays, plays, and translated Dante's DIVINIA COMMEDIA (The Divine Comedy) into English.

In WHOSE BODY?, Sayers introduces the character of Lord Peter Wimsey.Lord Peter is intrigued by the sudden appearance of a naked body in the bath of an architect, and investigates. A noted financier has also gone missing under strange circumstances, and as the case progresses it becomes clear that the two events are linked in some way.The book establishes many of Wimsey's character traits - for example, his interest in rare books, the nervous problems associated with his wartime shell-shock, and his ambiguous feelings about catching criminals for a hobby - and also introduces many characters who recur in later novels, such as Parker, Bunter, Sugg, and the Dowager Duchess.

In CLOUDS OF WITNESS (Sayers' second detective novel), the fiancé of Lord Peter's sister, Lady Mary Wimsey, is found dead outside the conservatory of the family's shooting lodge in Yorkshire. Peter and Mary's elder brother, the Duke of Denver, is charged with willful murder and put on trial in the House of Lords.

This ebook is DRM free and includes an active table of contents for easy navigation. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Information, Please!
I can't order this book, much less review it, if I don't have any idea what two stories are in it.PLEASE TELL ME WHAT'S IN THE BOOK AND I WILL PROBABLY ORDER IT. ... Read more