Customer Reviews (1)

I Love Lord Pete Wimsey
Anyone who like stories by Dorothy Sayers, this is a great story and extremely entertaining.As I have limited vison, the audio unabridged books a great!!!!!!!!!!!! ... Read more

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Product Description
In this popular play-cycle, Sayers makes the Gospels come alive. "Her Jesus can bring tears to your eyes. You will be deeply moved--a powerful experience."--Sheldon Vanauken, A Severe Mercy. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

Fantastic Book
Never before have I been so moved by the truth of the Life, Death, and Ressurection of Christ. Dorothy Sayers hits home every character and message of the gospels.

Truth in fiction
This is by far the best dramatization of the life of Christ I have ever read. By far. It moved me to tears and reminded me of the true power of a story too often obscured by platitutes and time.

Imagination and Accuracy
I came to this play-cycle not knowing what to expect, as did almost all of Sayers' contemporaries. There was a political firestorm when the project was proposed. Clergymen of every stripe rose up to denounce it as un-Christian, distorted, dishonorable. Needless to say, they had not read the script or heard the audio plays, which aired on the BBC during World War Two.

These plays inspired ordinary dock-workers and High Church bishops alike to examine the Christian faith. People who never gave a second thought to some guy named Jesus were confronted with a living, throbbing reality in these plays.

Sayers did her work conscientiously, as in her translation of Dante, by not making any use of any terms which were theologically inaccurate but dramatically potent. That is, she was faithful to the letter and spirit of her original- the Gospel story of Jesus. These plays contained, at times, shocking insight- and at times, human warmth.

Just as Jesus is supposed to be the meeting of Godhood and manhood, these plays are where entertainment and theology, the natural and the supernatural meet. Miss that, and you'll miss the same thing which soon caused thousands of English to arrive late for church service because they were waiting to catch the last moments of these plays on the wireless.

I found that the dramas forced me to imagine the movements of characters and plot as on a stage, something more difficult to do with the Biblical text itself. That made these stories come alive for me, and refreshed and enriched my grasp of these stories, "old bones in new flesh".

Not the Jesus of history
In writing this book, I believe Sayers intended to make the Gospel stories of Jesus more accessible. She says she wanted to "tell that story to the best of my ability, within the medium at my disposal - in short to make as good ofwork of art as I could. "Although she sought to maintain a "determined historical realism", I was disappointed with the historical inaccuracies.

She sacrifices historical accuracy for the sake of art and the ease of story telling. For example, at one point her character says - "he was allowed to cry, 'My stirrup, Elazar" regardless of the much later date which stirrups were introduced into Palestine(p.19). Another example is found on page 90, where there is a conversation among supposedly Jewish people at the Wedding at Cana. One member says "But my mule cast a shoe, so I had to get a lift from Ezras". Only a very wealthy Jews could afford a mule, and they probably wouldn't own one because where not allowed to breed them, due to the mule's mixed parentage (Lev. 19:19). The first century Roman army was only just beginning to experiment with shoes their horses, and a mule would not have had shoes. It is a small point, but what artistic significance was contributed by this historical inaccuracy?

I was also bothered by her Anglo-centric idioms and assignment of various English accents to certain characters. I find her description of the Jewish Matthew, with stereotyping, offensive; "He is a vulgar little commercial ... as ever walked Whitechapel, and I should play him with a frank Cockney accent." She goes on to describe his "oily black hair and rapacious little hands . . . " What is the artistic contribution here?

Reality is better than artistic fluff, and much more inspiring, I find little in this book to interest me.

This book changed my life
After reading this play cycle, you'll never look at the Gospels in the same way again.Sayers writes in her introduction that she believed the story "should be handled, not liturgically or symbolically, butrealistically and historically: 'this is a thing that actuallyhappened.'"It is this matter-of-fact treatment of the story thatmakes her plays different from almost all the "Jesus movies" thatwe know today.We're confronted with the shattering truth that Godactually came to earth, in a time very much like ours in many ways, andlived among us.We also have to face the fact that humanity -- for reasonsof politics and personal pride -- rejected and killed God.So much for thetheory that man is basically good!Yet as Sayers writes, "Short ofdamnation ... there can be no Christian tragedy," and she clearlyshows how the love and hope offered by the risen Christ can save us fromourselves.I've been a Christian for many years, and I can still say thatthis book changed my life.If you have questions or doubts about Jesus ofNazareth, please give it a try. ... Read more

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Guided by the poet Virgil, Dante plunges to the very depths of Hell and embarks on his arduous journey towards God. Together they descend through the nine circles of the underworld and encounter the tormented souls of the damned - from heretics and pagans to gluttons, criminals and seducers - who tell of their sad fates and predict events still to come in Dante's life. In this first part of his "Divine Comedy", Dante fused satire and humour with intellect and soaring passion to create an immortal Christian allegory of mankind's search for self-knowledge and spiritual enlightenment. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (12)

A must for every bookshelf
You can't read serious literature if you have not read this book. The translation is a particularly accessible one.

Dante's Hell
The book was purchased for a school assignment of my oldest daughter.The book was in perfect shape delivered on time.My daughter was not a real fan of the book but it met the need and she got perfect score on the report she wrote on it.

Medieval vision of the afterlife
This was required reading for a graduate course in medieval history.Norton edition has great articles to help explain the work and is a great translation."The Divine Comedy" describes Dante's journey through Hell (Inferno), Purgatory (Purgatorio), and Paradise (Paradiso), guided first by the Roman epic poet Virgil and then by Beatrice, the subject of his love and another of his works, "La Vita Nuova." While the vision of Hell, the Inferno, is vivid for modern readers, the theological niceties presented in the other books require a certain amount of patience and scholarship to understand.Purgatorio, the most lyrical and human of the three, also has the most poets in it; Paradiso, the most heavily theological, has the most beautiful and ecstatic mystic passages in which Dante tries to describe what he confesses he is unable to convey (e.g., when Dante looks into the face of God: "all'alta fantasia qui mancò possa" - "at this high moment, ability failed my capacity to describe," Paradiso, XXXIII, 142).

Dante wrote the Comedy in his regional dialect.By creating a poem of epic structure and philosophic purpose, he established that the Italian language was suitable for the highest sort of expression, and simultaneously established the Tuscan dialect as the standard for Italian. In French, Italian is nicknamed la langue de Dante.Publishing in the vernacular language marked Dante as one of the first (among others such as Geoffrey Chaucer and Giovanni Boccaccio) to break from standards of publishing in only Latin or Greek (the languages of Church and antiquity).This break allowed more literature to be published for a wider audience - setting the stage for greater levels of literacy in the future.

Readers often cannot understand how such a serious work may be called a "comedy".In Dante's time, all serious scholarly works were written in Latin (a tradition that would persist for several hundred years more, until the waning years of the Enlightenment) and works written in any other language were assumed to be comedic in nature.Furthermore, the word "comedy," in the classical sense, refers to works which reflect belief in an ordered universe, in which events not only tended towards a happy or "amusing" ending, but an ending influenced by a Providential will that orders all things to an ultimate good.By this meaning of the word, the progression of Dante's pilgrim from Hell to Paradise is the paradigmatic expression of comedy, since the work begins with the pilgrim's moral confusion and ends with the vision of God.

The Divine Comedy can be described simply as an allegory: Each canto, and the episodes therein, can contain many alternate meanings.Dante's allegory, however, is more complex, and, in explaining how to read the poem (see the "Letter to Can Grande della Scala"), he outlines other levels of meaning besides the allegory (the historical, the moral, the literal, and the anagogical).The structure of the poem, likewise, is quite complex, with mathematical and numerological patterns arching throughout the work, particularly threes and nines.The poem is often lauded for its particularly human qualities: Dante's skillful delineation of the characters he encounters in Hell, Purgatory, and Paradise; his bitter denunciations of Florentine and Italian politics; and his powerful poetic imagination.Dante's use of real characters, according to Dorothy Sayers in her introduction to her translation of "L'Inferno", allows Dante the freedom of not having to involve the reader in description, and allows him to "[make] room in his poem for the discussion of a great many subjects of the utmost importance, thus widening its range and increasing its variety."

Dante called the poem "Comedy" (the adjective "Divine" added later in the 16th century) because poems in the ancient world were classified as High ("Tragedy") or Low ("Comedy"). Low poems had happy endings and were of everyday or vulgar subjects, while High poems were for more serious matters. Dante was one of the first in the Middle Ages to write of a serious subject, the Redemption of man, in the low and vulgar Italian language and not the Latin language as one might expect for such a serious topic.

Paradiso
After an initial ascension (Canto I), Beatrice guides Dante through the nine spheres of Heaven. These are concentric and spherical, similar to Aristotelian and Ptolemaic cosmology.Dante admits that the vision of heaven he receives is the one that his human eyes permit him to see. Thus, the vision of heaven found in the Cantos is Dante's own personal vision, ambiguous in its true construction.The addition of a moral dimension means that a soul that has reached Paradise stops at the level applicable to it.Souls are allotted to the point of heaven that fits with their human ability to love God.Thus, there is a heavenly hierarchy. All parts of heaven are accessible to the heavenly soul.That is to say all experience God but there is a hierarchy in the sense that some souls are more spiritually developed than others.This is not determined by time or learning as such but by their proximity to God (how much they allow themselves to experience him above other things).It must be remembered in Dante's schema that all souls in Heaven are on some level always in contact with God.

Recommended reading for anyone interested in literature and medieval history.

Good, but not the best
The greatest strength of Dorothy Sayers's translation of The Divine Comedy is its notes. Sayers considered this translation her finest work and spent years of her life on it, though she died before she could complete Paradise. Having read The Comedy dozens of times myself, along with many books on Dante and his work, I liked Sayers for her dedication, but her translation--and even her notes--has some problems.

The biggest flaw of the translation is that it's just not literal enough, due mainly to Sayers's attempt at rhyming. Dante invented terza rima ("threefold rhyme") for his Comedy, and trying to use the same rhyme in English is a noble effort but ultimately hopeless. She frequently strays from the original or, worse, obscures something very clear in the original so that she can fit the lines into her rhyme scheme. Her English is also littered all over with strange syntax and archaic words, some of which worked while others left me scratching my head and, in at least one case, laughing out loud.

But for all that, her translation is entertaining and still allows Dante to speak, if through an imperfect medium. There were some sections in which the wording and rhyme worked so well I was thrilled as I read it--most of the work, however, is not up to that standard.

As I said at the beginning, though, this translation's greatest strength is its notes. Sayers shows years of dedicated study in the introduction, notes, and appendices she prepared for this work. One of the most helpful parts of her work are the breakdowns of difficult sections, which she analyzes in the four levels of interpretation at which Dante wrote. These sections are very good and offered even a seasoned reader of Dante like me something to sink my teeth into.

Some of her notes are misguided or flawed, but the book is still worthwhile to the new student of Dante for the wealth of good information they contain. I give one star for the translation and three for the notes.

If the notes are not what you're after and you want to read something more literal the first time around, check out the Mark Musa translation, also available from Penguin Classics, or that of Anthony Esolen from the Modern Library.

Recommended.

Golden Oldies
First of all, a warning: the "Comedy" is a complex work, and we are constantly updating our understanding of it. However, once one has finished whatever annotated and/or translated version is currently at the apex of knowledge, it is well worth going back to Sayers. I would dare to say that this is one of the classic translations, one of the best from that phase of Dante studies (for example, though she is obviously tempted towards a Freudian reading, she actually tries to resist its more absurd results). Its funny how many Danteans still do not get beyond the Inferno... ... Read more

Product Description
The impact of Dorothy L. Sayer's work is a powerful one. She was a gifted artist who worked in many genres and addressed many issued, but her achievement goes beyond creative skill and variety of range. What she consistently communicates about Sin-the basic problem of human existence-provides a core of content which evokes, as she believed artistic work shoud, a spiritual "response in the lively soul" (The Zeal of Thy House). Janice Brown examines Sayers's major works, beginning with her early poetry and moving through her works of fiction to the dramas, essays, and lectures written in the last years of her life. She illustrates how Sayers used popular genres to teach about sin and redemption, how she redefined the Seven Deadly Sins for the twentieth century, why she stopped writing mysteries, and her applications of the concepts of sin and redemption to society as a whole. She also considers the relationship between Sayers's spiritual life and her work and traces Lord Peter Wimsey's change from worldliness to something approaching Christianity.In Sayers's earlier work, particularly her fiction, the concept of the Seven Deadly Sins provied part of the background for her characterization, which is baded on a Christian view of humanity as "fallen". In these works, Sayers considered the wors Sins to be the spiritual, or cold-hearted ones, particularly Pride (the root of all others) and Envy. In the dramatic and discursive works of her later years she is more direct and didactic; the Sin of Sloth becomes a major theme in this period. ... Read more

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Customer Reviews (3)

If only it were not abridged
This is a favorite of mine and I looked forward to listening to Peter and Harriet wrangle out their new marriage and solve a murder while I am suffering in commuter traffic.Sayers orginally wrote Busman's Honeymoon as a play and later fleshed it out to a novel, so it can stand alone without the exposition, relying on sparkling dialogue to keep listeners entertained.If I didn't know the novel so well, I might not miss the omitted bits.The gossipy letters among society ladies that set up the marriage are gone, and the listener jumps immediately into the newlyweds' late night arrival at Talboys with no preamble. Small scenes of country life are jettisoned in favor of speeding the murder investigation.All the actors are excellent, and I enjoy listening to Ian Carmichael without having to look at him - he was not the best physical embodiment of Peter Wimsey, in my opinion.Not sorry I bought it, only wish the script writers had made different choices on what to keep.

Whimsical and enjoyable
What can I say? Busman's Honeymoon is definitely one of Dorothy L. Sayers's finest! I like her all of her Lord Peter Whimsey mysteries, and I like the ones where he and Harriet collaborate most.

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 "Hunted 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 a mystery. 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.

... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Dorothy Sayers, Christian Apologist
A strange title for a very thoughtful group of essays that every thinking person who considers issues of Christian faith should read.Ms Sayers is an intelligent,articulate and thought provoking apologist who writes on everything from ignorance of doctrine, the creative impulse,Dante, to the work of G.K.Chesterton, C.S.Lewis and Charles Williams.This work is a worthwhile read today, seventy years after the author of the Lord Peter Wimsey novels wrote them. It would make very good reading in preparation for several discusssions on the relevance of Christian faith in the world today.

An amazing book by an amazing author
Dorothy Sayers is one of my favorite authors of all time, and a truly amazing woman. Her fiction is fantastic, but her non-fiction is even better. This is a collection of essays which showcase her amazing intellect in a brilliant way.

Read it.

Proof that God has a sense of humor.
With the exception of C.S. Lewis, Dorothy Sayers is the wittiest and most logically satisfying Christian apologist of the 20th Century. I would be hard pressed to say which is the better writer, but both stand at theabsolute apex of modern English exposition. It is a shame that those whoenjoy Dorothy Sayers' charming Peter Wimsey mysteries often do not delvefurther into her writings on theology, dogma, and ethics, which are equallycharming and more consequential. Like Lewis, Sayers has that uncannyability to make complex theological arguments both accessible andreasonable. "The Whimsical Christian" is a collection of some ofSayers' best essays on religious themes, including the creative mind ofGod, the necessity of the incarnation, and why personal morality matters. Iurge those of you who love Dorothy Sayers the mystery writer to try DorothySayers the essayist. I promise that you will enjoy it and that you will seea new side to a special author. ... Read more

Amazon.com Review
Fans of Dorothy L. Sayers's fictional hero, Lord Peter Wimsey,who are hoping for his creator's insights into his character, thewriting of mysteries, or the creation of literature in general willfind little to satisfy their curiosity in this second volume ofSayers's letters from 1937 to 1943. In fact, there'svirtually no mention of novels, or the writing of them, since Sayershad pretty much traded in Lord Peter for religious commentary and thetheater by 1937. The Letters of Dorothy L. Sayers contains agreat deal of correspondence concerning theology, Sayers's efforts inthe theater, and even some letters to her illegitimate son, JohnAnthony. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

From Wimsey to religion
Dorothy L Sayers was much more than a writer of detective novels. From the late 1930's until her death, she was also in great demand as a writer and speaker on religious issues. She wrote a series of radio plays on thelife of Christ called "The man born to be king",and thesensation caused by these made her into an instant "expert" onreligion in the eyes of the public and the media of the day. The lettersdealing with the writing and production of the plays are fascinating. Theuproar caused by an actor portraying Jesus was unbelievable (Christ hadn'tbeen portrayed on stage since Oliver Cromwell's time), and Sayers wasaccused of blasphemy because she used everyday language instead of only thewords of the Bible. There's very little about her detective novels inthis volume of letters,but I still found them full of interestinginsights into the life of a writer. Sayers' very distinctive voice comesthrough,and her letters to friends are lots of fun. Her joy atreceiving a lemon as a present during the war (unobtainable due torationing) is wonderful,as are her discussions with her husband on thebest way to use this treasure. A fascinating collection of letters fromone of my favourite writers. ... Read more

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Review

"A model detective story . . . fascinating." -- -- New York Times

"The Wimsey books are literate and delightful mysteries." -- -- Chicago Tribune

"The end of this story is as ingenious as any solution could be." -- Times Literary Supplement

Product Description

Strong Poison

Mystery novelist Harriet Vane knew all about poisons, and when her fiance 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.

Have-His-Caracase

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.

Unnatural Death

The wealthy old woman was dead -- a trifle sooner than expected. The intricate trail of horror and senseless murder led from a beautiful hampshire village to a fashionable London flat and a deliberate test of amour -- staged by the debonair sleuth Lord Peter Wimsey. "Here the modern detective story begins to come to its own; and all the historical importance aside, it remains an absorbing and charming story today."

Customer Reviews (1)

A cross-section of Wimsey's career, but could've been better organized
For anyone new to Lord Peter, this book would not be an ideal introduction; the introductory material contains spoilers for the main text, and in any case the selection and order of the individual stories herein isn't ideal for a stem-to-stern readthrough. That said, I myself first made his lordship's acquaintance through STRONG POISON, the first story in this omnibus, and have yet to suffer by it. :) So while the book *could* be closer to perfect, the fact that it contains a triple dose of Lord Peter is sufficient to justify its existence, particularly since it will resist being worn to shreds longer than the individual paperbacks do.

Rather than discussing the individual novels in detail - each is still in print in its own right, and I recommend consulting their individual reviews - I'll discuss this omnibus edition in particular. Discussing them individually is a problem in any case, as the personal complications of STRONG POISON (the first entry) bear directly on HAVE HIS CARCASE (the second).

Often called ON THE CASE WITH LORD PETER WIMSEY, this omnibus edition of STRONG POISON (1930), HAVE HIS CARCASE (1932), and UNNATURAL DEATH (1927) contains not only the full text of each book - including individual tables of contents, author's notes, chapter headings, and the Dawson family tree for UNNATURAL DEATH - but is prefaced by the text of Lord Peter's entry in Who's Who / Burke's Peerage, complete with a partial drawing of the Wimsey coat of arms (the Saracen supporters are missing, but the motto and crest are there). The text of the entry contains a major spoiler for the later Wimsey novels, unfortunately, since it was taken from a post-1936 edition.

The book also contains a separate "Biographical Note, communicated by Paul Austin Delagardie", which dates from 1935, the same year as GAUDY NIGHT. Mr. Delagardie, brother of the Dowager Duchess of Denver, explains how he took charge of his nephew's social education as a youngster only to watch him suffer a disastrous engagement and cruel breakup at the time of the Great War. The fallout was far worse than the "I took up sleuthing as a cure for wounded feelings" patter that Lord Peter himself usually serves up on this topic. However, I warn new readers that as Uncle Paul was writing five years after the events of STRONG POISON, his information can better be appreciated after reading the first two novels in this omnibus.

ON THE CASE WITH LORD PETER WIMSEY has no overlap with its sibling omnibus THREE COMPLETE LORD PETER WIMSEY NOVELS (WHOSE BODY?, MURDER MUST ADVERTISE, and GAUDY NIGHT). Taken together, the grouping of the stories in these two volumes annoyed me very much when they first came out, since GAUDY NIGHT logically should be in the volume before you as the third story, completing the trilogy of Wimsey/Vane courtship novels. As an alternative, swapping the positions of UNNATURAL DEATH and MURDER MUST ADVERTISE would've made sense, as it is the novel following HAVE HIS CARCASE. Even putting UNNATURAL DEATH first rather than last in this book would help, since an associate of Lord Peter's who is introduced in UNNATURAL DEATH has a significant role in STRONG POISON.

Not to put too fine a point on it, the two omnibi naturally go together, and can be a godsend to those seeking to replace disintegrating paperback copies of the individual books. However, anyone wishing to follow Lord Peter's career from the beginning will need to skip back and forth between the two omnibi, with forays into other Wimsey books not included in either collection.

A very good collection, thanks to the excellence of the ingredients, qualified by minor perfectionist grumbling as stated above. Well worth getting and keeping. ... Read more

Product Description

What must a person believe to be a Christian? Dorothy Sayers lays out age-old doctrines without prettying-up or watering-down. She brings them vividly to life by showing how the Bible, history, literature, and modern science fit together to make religion not only possible but necessary in our time.

So whether you are reading the great works of Western literature, thinking about your place in God's universe, or simply dealing with the thousand-and-one problems of daily living, this powerful book has words of both challenge and comfort for you.

Excerpt:

Somehow or other, and with the best intentions, we have shown the world the typical Christian in the likeness of a crashing and rather ill-natured bore--and this in the Name of One who assuredly never bored a soul in those thirty-three years during which He passed through this world like a flame. 

 Let us, in Heaven's name, drag out the Divine Drama from under the dreadful accumulation of slipshod thinking and trashy sentiment heaped upon it, and set it on an open stage to startle the world into some sort of vigorous reaction.

Customer Reviews (6)

Brilliant Writing
This collection of Dorothy Sayers' writings and speeches on the role and vitality of Christianity in 20th Century Britain and Western Europe is a must read for anyone who likes good writing. Ms Sayers defends and explains the case for a traditional view of Christianity with wit and intelligence and flair, even if some of her arguments are too academic and other worldly, see especially her discussion of the importance of everyone elevating work almost to a spiritual exercise, where pay is a distant concern. For most people that will never be true. This ia a quibble. The essays are wonderful, even if the editing of the book is below standard.

A Must Read!
Dorothy Sayers had a magnificent mind and she brilliantly analyses some of the problems that infect the Christian church today as well as when she first penned them. A very readable and timely book

A disappointing edition of an excellent set of essays
This edition contains some of Dorothy Sayers' best pieces, including several that every Christian should read. Unfortunately, the editing is very poor in this volume, and the book contains numerous typographical errors. The first half of the address "Creative Mind" is inexplicably missing.

Everyone should read Sayers
There's got to be a way to bring her to the attention of the masses

A Christian social commentator for all times
As I read this collection of essays, there were many occasions when I had to remind myself that they were written before and during World War II. Sayers' prescience rivals that of Chesterton and C.S. Lewis. She observed societal trends in England and accurately projected where those trends would lead. Those same trends are operating within the United States and the rest of the West. She is not shy about pinpointing the causes of these trends, the clear remedy for these social ills, and the Church's failure to lead the way to human freedom and wholeness.

It is clear that the Church is still largely diminished, especially in the northern hemisphere. The only hopeful signs in the Church today are coming from the global south, where people are coming to a vigorous faith in Jesus and are carrying out the life implications of that faith. Readers will find this book disturbing, convicting, inspiring, and empowering. ... Read more

Product Description
Poisoned port ...pet cats in peril ...purloined pearls ...Lord Peter Wimsey solves the mysteries of the man who was blown into the fourth dimension and the murder in fancy dress.He pursues miscreants across several countries and into unexpected hiding places. Montague Egg encounters a fugitive murderer and uncovers a killer in an Oxford cloister.The travelling salesman extraordinaire solves puzzles with a unique combination of matter-of-fact practicality and brilliant deduction. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Intrigue
"Hangman's Holiday" is a collection of short stories. There are twelve mysteries around the twenties and thirties England in this book, each stands alone but has a common feel; they are:
"The Image in the Mirror"
"The Incredible Elopement of Lord Peter Wimsey"
"The Queen's Square"
"The Necklace of Pearls"
"The Poisoned Dow '08"
"Sleuths on the Scent"
"Murder in the Morning"
"One too Many"
"Murder at Pentecost"
"Maher-Shalal-Hashbaz"
"The Man Who Knew How"
"The Fountain Plays"

It may be my perception but the mysteries get better and more intriguing as the next one appears. Then it is over.


I will not pull them apart as the fun is listening to them unfold.

You may also want to look for the unabridged tape, as the narrator is Ian Carmichael who played Lord Peter Wimsey. He changes his voice for the different people and you can tell the difference. There is a statement that tells you when the tape side ends.
... Read more

Product Description
All that remains of the garage is a heap of charred and smoldering beams. In the driver's seat of the car are the remains of a body. The police and the widow call it an accident. She had been warning her husband for months about the dangers of the car. Lord Peter Wimsey calls it murder. This audiobook is vintage Sayers--a collection of her finest detective stories. September publication date. 8 cassettes. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Great!
This has lots of fun stories, and Ian Carmichael's characterization is just outstanding.Not only does Lord Peter Wimsey appear, but I was pleasantly surprised by some stories that have another enjoyable amateurdetective, Mr. Montague Egg. ... Read more

Product Description
In this previously unpublished short story you will encounter one of Sayers's most intrepid detectives in the person of Miss Jane Eurydice Judkin. As the newly hired house-parlourmaid at remote Mannering House, Judkin strives to keep her new mistress content, a cheeky chauffeur at bay, all the while unraveling the machinations of a mysterious poltergeist that seems to hold the entire household in a grip of anxious fear. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

The Travelling Rug
Ideal for those with an academic interest in Dorothy L. Sayers. This previously unpublished story is accompanied by an introduction to Sayers' work, explanatory notes, and a facsimile of the original manuscript.

Buyer Beware -- Padded with Junk to Make a Book
As a long-time Sayers fan, I was intrigued at the thought of a story I'd not yet read. I was even willing to pay a fairly high price for what is essentially a short story. The story itself is mildly interesting, although it's evident why Sayers didn't publish it. Unfortunately, it's hard to read in this edition because the eye is continually distracted by the many unnecessary footnotes. Footnotes defining "fender" and "mahogany"? Give me a break!

It's clear that the publisher simply added mostly-meaningless filler to create a book.

Of the 114 pages in the book, 13 are introduction, 34 are the story itself(largish type, widely spaced lines) including 82 footnotes (about 6 pages worth), 23 are various notes including a description of each of Sayer's short mystery works, and the rest is a facsimile of "The Travelling Rug" manuscript, so reduced to fit the page that it's difficult to decipher.

Worth the price? I've told you what's in it. You decide. ... Read more

Product Description
Aristocratic Lord Peter Wimsey, bon vivant and gentleman-at-large, is one of the best loved creations of the mystery genre. Dorothy L. Sayers gave Lord Peter his debut in her first published novel, Whose Body?, which was released to great critical and popular acclaim in 1923.

Joust Books is delighted to present the full original text of Whose Body? in this volume, in its original, unaltered form. We hope that you enjoy this classic Dorothy L. Sayers novel. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

The First Lord Peter Wimsey
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003WQBIHS/ref=cm_cr_rev_prod_title

Dorothy Leigh Sayers Fleming was a scholar, a theologian, and a mystery writer. That is not an extremely common constellation. This is her first mystery, and it is a winner from the first word. The only possible complaint is that Lord Peter is somewhat more skittishly playful in this one than in the rest of the series, but the fault is forgivable. I hope that the entire series is soon available from Kindle; that will clear another two feet of my rapidly dwindling collection of tree books, to which I am allergic.

Other Review Is Incorrect
This is a Kindle version of Dorothy L. Sayer's first Lord Peter Wimsey novel, "Whose Body?"Other review from user "utah native" is incorrect.

Where's the Body
This is "Where's the Body", hidden under another name. Just get the original for $.99. ... Read more