Dorothy L. Sayers
Gaudy Night (1936)
Author: Dorothy Sayers
Genre: Mystery (Amateur Detective)
Plot Summary:
Mystery novelist and scholar Harriett Vane returns to Oxford, where she went to school, for what is essentially a reunion, which culminates in a fancy-dress event called "Gaudy Night." On Gaudy Night, Vane finds an obscene drawing on a piece of paper on the campus (Sayers never elaborates on these things). Out of propriety, she destroys the drawing and goes on her business. Later she learns that this was only the first of many obscene notes, drawings, and vandalizings. She is invited back by the Dean of her old college to help solve the crimes, under the cover of doing scholarly research. Eventually, with the help of Wimsey, she does.
Setting: England
Time Period: c.1936 (Inter-war Years)
Series: Lord Peter Wimsey, Book 11
Appeal elements:
First off, a clarification: although the legend on the front of my copy of the book reads, "A Lord Peter Wimsey Mystery, with Harriet Vane," the reverse is true. The witty and charming Wimsey is present only in cameos and flashbacks until the end, while the reader gets more than his or her fill of the woman to whom he has proposed multiple times, the (one suspects) Sayers-like Vane. This isn't a situation like the Hound of the Baskervilles where Holmes is absent for a large part of the story, but no-one could make the case that it's "a John Watson, M.D." novel. The difference is that, although both Watson and Vane actively try to solve the mystery in the absence of the series' detective, Watson is present only as an agent of Holmes, whereas Vane is (adamently) independent of Wimsey. She was invited to solve the mystery on her own; in addition, we are privy to (lots and lots) of her thoughts on various non-mystery matters. On final consideration, the description "A Lord Peter Wimsey Mystery" is apt, as the mystery aspect only comes together with Wimsey's arrival, as Holmes pulls it all together in Hound of the Baskervilles. However, to be accurate, the cover should also declare it a "Harriett Vane Novel," as the non-mystery parts of the book, of which there are plenty, are hers entirely. This novel features slow-pacing, scholarly references, and an upper-class English setting
Read-alikes: Try The Murder Room by P.D. James, The Thin Man by Dashiell Hammett, Crocodile on the Sandbank by Elizabeth Peters, A Piece of Justice by Jill Paton Walsh, or A Monstrous Regiment of Women by Laurie R. King.
Red Flags: slow-pacing, annoyingly snobbish characters
The Nine Tailors (1934)
Author:Dorothy L. Sayers
Genre: Mystery (Amateur Detective/Cozy)
Plot Summary:
When Lord Peter Wimsey’s car drives off the road in the middle of a snowstorm out in the remote Fen Country of England, the detective and his manservant Bunter are forced to hoof it to the nearest parish for shelter. Despite the cold, isolated setting of the car wreck, they are pleased to find a warm and welcoming home to spend their New Year’s Eve: the rectory of the parish of St. Paul. Wimsey is immediately caught up in small-town culture when Rector Venables invites him to help ring in the new year with a nine-hour church bell service, set to begin in a matter of hours. Wimsey fulfills the obligation, and with style; a regular jack of all trades, he happens to know quite a bit about the Anglican tradition of bell ringing. After Wimsey’s car has been repaired and he goes back to his daily life in London, he receives a desperate letter from the Rector, a plea for assistance in solving a murder mystery that has put the tight-knit community of St. Paul in a tailspin. Wimsey returns to St. Paul and (with great assistance from the Rector and his wife, the local police force, and several townspeople) sets off to identify the dead man, whose face was mutilated beyond recognition, as well put a name to his murderer. Wimsey’s investigation involves the reopening of a sore wound in the community—the unsolved mystery of Mrs. Wilbraham’s missing emeralds—which provides many of the missing links in the case of the dead body. SPOILER: Wimsey and his team conclude that the corpse is that of Geoffrey Deacon, a man who had been presumed dead for several years. Deacon had come out of hiding in France and hooked up with his former accomplice in the emeralds crime, Nobby Cranton, to finally pick up the jewels, which Deacon hid in the church on the day of the burglary. Through a process of interrogation of witnesses and suspects, careful clue-gathering, and cipher-solving, Wimsey determines Deacon’s killer, too: The man died in the church belfry, tied up and unable to escape the murderous sound of the nine-hour bell service in which Wimsey himself took part on New Year’s Eve.
Geographical Setting: East Anglia, Great Britain
Time Period: early 1930s
Series: Lord Peter Wimsey mysteries, book 9
Appeal Characteristics:
Dorothy L. Sayers is a highly acclaimed mystery writer, and without question, her fiction (particularly the Lord Peter Wimsey novels), has many appealing elements. The Nine Tailors is no exception. A measured, deliberate pace is one of the more notable features of The Nine Tailors. Readers are immediately enveloped by the setting and eccentric characters, but Sayers withholds the dead body until page 88 of 397. The subsequent investigation takes place over the course of several months, and the puzzle is eventually solved by the deliberate unpeeling of layers. The Nine Tailors is a typical cozy mystery in that it does not take its readers on a breakneck journey. It appeals to fans of a more moderately paced mystery.
Quirky characterization is another appealing element of The Nine Tailors. Wimsey’s investigation reveals complex histories and twisted relationships, and in the meantime teases out characters’ eccentric personalities. Wimsey’s reappearance in this ninth book of the series is another way in which Sayers uses characterization in her novels. Readers become accustomed to Wimsey and find him to be a likeable, humorous, and classy protagonist who, of course, always solves the mystery. Throughout The Nine Tailors Sayers employs a lively style of dialogue, often subtly humorous, and always very British. The dialogue drives the plot in that most of the “action” takes place in the characters’ recounting of events that led up to the murder, and also in the collaborative piecing together of clues. Highly descriptive (non-dialogue) passages do occur in the novel, as well, and Sayers uses them to showcase the unique frame: the Fen Country of East Anglia, England. These passages slow the pacing of the story and ground it in a particular scene. Readers who enjoy a country setting, an isolated region with a definitive history and culture, will enjoy Sayers’ portrayal of East Anglia. Part of the appeal of The Nine Tailors is that the setting is so integral to the story that it may be perceived as yet another quirky character in Sayers’ cast. These descriptive passages highlight Sayers’ talent for literary writing. Her style is elegant and smart without being too flamboyant or difficult to penetrate. She writes for a reader who knows good literature but also enjoys a compelling, suspenseful read. In The Nine Tailors Dorothy Sayers walks this fine line very successfully.
Read-alikes:
Looking for another book in the same vein as The Nine Tailors? If you enjoyed this title, you were no doubt charmed by the protagonist Lord Peter Wimsey--a character most of Sayers’ fans find highly appealing. First off, begin with book one of the Lord Peter Wimsey series, Whose Body? The book introduces Wimsey and a number of others who appear in subsequent series titles. In Whose Body? Wimsey is called to help a family friend who has discovered a strange corpse in his bathtub. Fans of the deftly constructed and memorable characters Sayers is famous for in The Nine Tailors as well as the measured pacing of her “cozy” style should not be disappointed with Whose Body?. In A Taste to Die For, by J. G. Goodhind, a “Hotels Association police liaison officer” named Honey Driver investigates the murder of a prize-winning chef found dead in his own kitchen after an international cooking competition. The work features a humorous tone and detailed descriptions of the beautiful city of Bath, England. Those who appreciate the witty British dialogue and scenic backdrop featured in The Nine Tailors ought to give this cozy mystery a try. (Bonus: This title is the second installment in Goodhind's new Honey Driver mystery series--so, there's more where this came from!). Waterland, by Graham Swift, is not a cozy British mystery, though much of the book’s appeal can be compared to that of The Nine Tailors. The story, narrated by fictional history teacher Tom Crick, takes its reader through hundreds of years European wars, the drainage of the Fens, and family secrets to prove the importance of history on our present lives. Swift's novel is framed within the same bleak-yet-breathtaking landscape that fans of The Nine Tailors found so appealing. In addition, those who enjoyed Sayers’ focus on small-town drama and family secrets, interlaced with exquisite historical description, will respond positively to Swift’s award-winning literary novel. In Cover Her Face, the first installment of P. D. James’ popular series featuring London detective Adam Dalgliesh, a beautiful housemaid is murdered and Dalgliesh’s investigation reveals a number of folks with a reason to kill her. Fans of Lord Peter Wimsey’s cool, intelligent, aristocratic spin on detective work will find a new favorite character to follow in James’ Dalgliesh. Those who relish the classic, literary feel of The Nine Tailors will appreciate the elegant prose of this popular British mystery writer. Ngaio Marsh is a legendary female mystery writer whose work is often compared to Dorothy L. Sayers’. In Hand in Glove, written the same year as The Nine Tailors, a country gentleman is found dead in an open drain. Superintendent Roderick Alleyn seeks to reveal the murderer by tracking down the wearer of the gloves worn in the crime. Readers won over by Dorothy Sayers’ masterful command of complex relationships in The Nine Tailors will delight in Marsh’s tangled web of characters. Set in England and with a British flair for language, Marsh’s work is reminiscent of Sayers’ classic writing style. In Cassandra Chan’s contemporary novel Village Affairs, series character Phillip Bethancourt and his police detective friend Jack Gibbons investigate the murders of a wealthy inventor and his actress friend. This book appears in Chan’s Bethancourt/Gibbons series. Some of the characteristics that would be appealing to fans of The Nine Tailors are Chan’s small-town, British frame; the story line of the quirky murder; and the likeable, well-developed characters who return in every subsequent title in the series.
Red Flags: Mild descriptions of the physical effects of off-stage violence.
Strong Poison (1930)
Author: Dorothy L. Sayers
Genre: Mystery (Amateur Detective)
Plot Summary:
All of London is buzzing about a sensational murder trial; Harriet Vane, a mystery authoress, stands accused of murdering her ex-lover by poisoning him with arsenic, and the evidence against her seems convincing. Lord Peter Wimsey, however, is convinced that she is innocent (although his immediate attraction to Harriet makes his judgment a little less sound than usual) and resolves to prove her innocent before her new trial begins in a months time. Using all the resources at his disposal (which include: his loyal manservant Bunter, his friend Chief Inspector Parker, his friend/employee Miss Climpson, a typist, a reformed thief, a manicurist, and, of course, his fine library of classics and first editions) he sets out to prove Harriet's innocence. His investigation soon focuses on a relative of the victim, who is acting strangely. But acting strangely is not proof of guilt, so Lord Peter has to discover why and how the murder was committed in order to save Harriet Vane. SPOILER Lord Peter brilliantly deduces that the murderer poisoned a dish he and the victim shared. The murderer, the victim's cousin, had spent the previous two years slowly building up a resistance to solid arsenic, so he was unharmed by the poison.
Geographical Setting: London
Time Period: Late 1920's
Series: Lord Peter Wimsey series (#6)
Appeal Characteristics:
The appeal of this novel is very much linked to its characters. Lord Peter is the charming and witty center of the novel. However, the novel also has many strong secondary characters. This book marks the introduction of Harriet Vane, Lord Peter's fiercely independent love-interest. The scenes between these two characters are incredibly engrossing; their voices are so distinct and vibrant I could hear their dialog in my head. There are numerous other strong secondary characters in the novel, especially Bunter, Miss Climpson, and Miss Murchison the typist. While not particularly fast-paced, there is an urgency to the story, due to Lord Peter's deadline, which kept me turning the pages. Another appeal of this book, and of the Lord Peter series as a whole, is its setting and tone; when reading, I felt completely drawn into this world of aristocratic between-the-wars London, with its wit and urbanity.
Read-alikes: If you enjoyed Strong Poison, I would recommend the rest of the Lord Peter series, especially the other three novels which feature Harriet Vane: Have His Carcase, Gaudy Night, and Busman's Honeymoon (while the series as a whole can be easily read in any order, the Harriet Vane books are best read in this order). If you're looking for more modern character-based mysteries also featuring an urbane detective set in England, Martha Grimes' Richard Jury novels (The Man with a Load of Mischief), P.D. James' Adam Dalgliesh books (Cover Her Face), or Elizabeth George's Thomas Lynley series ( A Great Deliverance) would be good read-alikes, although they are slightly darker in tone than the Lord Peter series as befits their modern setting. Outside the mystery genre, if you enjoyed the setting (aristocratic between-the-wars London) and the humor of Strong Poison, I would recommend P.G. Wodehouse's brilliantly funny Jeeves and Wooster stories (Right Ho, Jeeves) which feature silly, aimless aristocrat Bertie Wooster and his gentleman's gentleman Jeeves.
Red Flags: none
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