Bücher von Dorothy L. Sayers

Clouds of Witness, published by Dorothy L. Sayers in 1926, is the second of her novels starring Lord Peter Wimsey, a wealthy aristocrat who enjoys detective work as a hobby.In this book Wimsey¿s skills have an immediate and personal interest when his brother Gerald, the Duke of Denver, is arrested on a charge of murder. He is accused of shooting his sister¿s fiancé, Denis Cathcart, in a fit of rage after discovering that Cathcart was a man who made a living by cheating at cards. The Duke has no credible alibi for the time of Cathcart¿s death and refuses to clarify where he was. Wimsey promptly sets to work to solve the case and exonerate his brother.One interesting feature of the story is that the Duke, as a peer of the realm, must be tried before his other peers in the House of Lords. Another is the flight across the Atlantic undertaken by Wimsey to obtain vital evidence¿a year before Charles Lindbergh first made this voyage in reality.Clouds of Witness was made into a television mini-series for the BBC in 1972.

Unnatural Death, published in 1927, is the third novel written by Dorothy L. Sayers featuring her aristocratic detective Lord Peter Wimsey.The story begins with a conversation in a restaurant between Wimsey, his friend Detective Inspector Charles Parker, and a doctor who tells them about a situation he was involved in: an elderly lady, suffering from a slow-acting cancer, died suddenly and unexpectedly with no obvious immediate cause of death. She died intestate, but her great-niece, with whom she was living, was set to inherit the considerable estate. Suspecting something wrong, the doctor demanded an autopsy, which showed nothing unusual, but stirred up such local animosity that the he was forced to abandon his practice. Wimsey, sensing a mystery, decides to investigate¿but his investigation triggers a series of deadly events.One of the delights of the book is the introduction of a new character in Miss Alexandra Climpson, a middle-aged spinster whom Wimsey employs as an investigative agent, and whose effusive reports of the gossip she picks up in the town are very amusing.Unnatural Death is notable for its inclusion of one clearly lesbian character¿a decision unusual in detective fiction at the time¿and the very sympathetic treatment by Wimsey of a black character (though offensively racist terms for him are used by others in the book).An adaptation of the book was made for BBC radio in 1975.

The wealthy Agatha Dawson is dead-a trifle sooner than expected-but there are no apparent signs of foul play. Lord Peter Wimsey, however, senses that something is amiss and refuses to let the case rest-even without any clues or leads. Suddenly, he is faced with another murder: Agatha's maid. Can super-sleuth Wimsey find the murderer and solve the case before he becomes the killer's next victim? The intricate trail of horror and senseless murder leads from a beautiful Hampshire village to a fashionable London flat and a deliberate test of amour.

The arrest of his brother, Gerald the Duke of Denver, for murder plunges Lord Peter Wimsey into a treacherous world where nothing is as it seems. Every new clue only compounds the mystery. When Captain Denis Cathcart, fiancé to Lord Peter Wimsey's sister, Lady Mary, is discovered dead outside the family's shooting lodge in Yorkshire, Wimsey must unravel a complex web of lies, deceit, and seemingly random events to find the killer, even as the Duke refuses to cooperate and Lady Mary seems to be hiding something. Clouds of Witness, the second novel by one of the most renowned mystery writers of all time, is a fast-paced, sophisticated must-read mystery for any fan of the genre.

Whose Body? is a 1923 mystery novel by Dorothy L. Sayers. It was her debut novel, and the book in which she introduced the character of Lord Peter Wimsey. In their review of crime novels (revised edn 1989), the US writers Barzun and Taylor call Whose Body? "a stunning first novel that disclosed the advent of a new star in the firmament, and one of the first magnitude. The episode of the bum in the bathtub, the character (and the name) of Sir Julian Freke, the detection, and the possibilities in Peter Wimsey are so many signs of genius about to erupt. Peter alone suffers from fatuousness overdone, a period fault that Sayers soon blotted out".A. N. Wilson, writing in 1993, noted that "The publisher made [Sayers] tone the story down, but the plot depends on Lord Peter being clever enough to spot that the body, uncircumcised, is not that of a Jew". In the 1923 text, Parker says that the body in the bath could not be Sir Reuben Levy because "Sir Reuben is a pious Jew of pious parents, and the chap in the bath obviously isn't ..." Later versions replaced this with "But as a matter of fact, the man in the bath is no more Sir Reuben Levy than Adolf Beck, poor devil, was John Smith".In her introduction to Hodder & Stoughton's 2016 reprint, Laura Wilson notes that Wimsey, conceived as a caricature of the gifted amateur sleuth, owes something to P. G. Wodehouse, whose Bertie Wooster had made his first appearance some years earlier. Sayers said of Wimsey that "at the time I was particularly hard up and it gave me pleasure to spend his fortune for him. When I was dissatisfied with my single unfurnished room I took a luxurious flat for him in Piccadilly. ... I can heartily recommend this inexpensive way of furnishing to all who are discontented with their incomes".In his 2017 overview of the classic crime genre, Martin Edwards notes that Lord Peter Wimsey began his life as a fantasy figure, created "as a conscious act of escapism by young writer who was short of money and experiencing one unsatisfactory love affair after another". (wikipedia.org) About the author:Dorothy Leigh Sayers (13 June 1893 - 17 December 1957) was an English crime writer and poet. She was also a student of classical and modern languages.She is best known for her mysteries, a series of novels and short stories set between the First and Second World Wars that feature English aristocrat and amateur sleuth Lord Peter Wimsey. As a crime writer during the "Golden Age of Detective Fiction", Sayers was considered one of its four "Queens of Crime", alongside Agatha Christie, Margery Allingham and Ngaio Marsh.Sayers is also known for her plays, literary criticism, and essays. She considered her translation of Dante's Divine Comedy to be her best work. Sayers's obituarist, writing in The New York Times in 1957, noted that many critics at the time regarded her mystery The Nine Tailors as her finest literary achievement. (wikipedia.org)

Clouds of Witness is a 1926 mystery novel by Dorothy L. Sayers, the second in her series featuring Lord Peter Wimsey. In the United States the novel was first published in 1927 under the title Clouds of Witnesses.The book's title derives from Hebrews, Chapter 12 verse 1: "Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us." In his 2017 overview of the classic crime genre, Martin Edwards suggests that Clouds of Witness is the work of a novelist learning her craft, but that it displays the storytelling qualities that soon made Sayers famous. While this early portrayal of Wimsey verges on a caricature, Sayers sought to characterise him in greater depth in later novels. Edwards notes that in this novel Wimsey is portrayed not only as a great detective but also as a man of action, and he quotes part of the defence counsel's speech to the House of Lords, explaining Wimsey's transatlantic dash to attend the trial: "My lords, at this moment this all-important witness is cleaving the air high above the wide Atlantic. In this wintry weather he is braving a peril which would appal any heart but his own and that of the world-famous aviator whose help he has enlisted, so that no moment may be lost in freeing his noble brother from this terrible charge. My lords, the barometer is falling."This fictional flight was written in 1926, a year before Charles Lindbergh achieved the same feat in reality (although Alcock and Brown, flying together, had crossed the Atlantic non-stop in 1919).A copy of Clouds of Witness was one of the volumes modified by Joe Orton and Kenneth Halliwell in their adulterations of library books from the Islington and Hampstead libraries in the early 1960s.In 1972 the novel was the subject of a BBC TV mini-series starring Ian Carmichael as Wimsey and Glyn Houston as Bunter. (wikipedia.org)About the author: Dorothy Leigh Sayers (13 June 1893 - 17 December 1957) was an English crime writer and poet. She was also a student of classical and modern languages.She is best known for her mysteries, a series of novels and short stories set between the First and Second World Wars that feature English aristocrat and amateur sleuth Lord Peter Wimsey. As a crime writer during the "Golden Age of Detective Fiction", Sayers was considered one of its four "Queens of Crime", alongside Agatha Christie, Margery Allingham and Ngaio Marsh.Sayers is also known for her plays, literary criticism, and essays. She considered her translation of Dante's Divine Comedy to be her best work. Sayers's obituarist, writing in The New York Times in 1957, noted that many critics at the time regarded her mystery The Nine Tailors as her finest literary achievement. (wikipedia.org)

Lord Peter Wimsey's brother, the Duke of Denver, has taken a shooting lodge at Riddlesdale in Yorkshire. At 3 o'clock one morning, Captain Denis Cathcart, the fiancé of Wimsey's sister Lady Mary, is found shot dead just outside the conservatory. Mary, trying to leave the house at 3 am for a reason she declines to explain, finds Denver kneeling over Cathcart's body. Suspicion falls on Denver, as the lethal bullet had come from his revolver and he admits having quarreled with Cathcart earlier, after receiving a letter (which he says has been lost) informing him that Cathcart had been caught cheating at cards. He maintains that he stumbled across the body after returning from a walk on the moors, but will say no more.Wimsey arrives to investigate, along with his friend Inspector Charles Parker, who will find himself becoming increasingly attracted to Lady Mary throughout the novel. They find a series of unidentified footprints and a discarded jewel in the form of a cat. It is clear that both Denver and Mary are hiding something: Denver refuses to budge from his story that he was simply out for a walk, while Mary is feigning illness to avoid talking to anyone.Wimsey investigates several false leads. The footprints turn out to be those of Mary's secret true fiancé, Goyles, a socialist agitator considered "an unsuitable match" by her family. He had crept into the grounds for a pre-arranged rendezvous at 3 am when the couple had intended to elope. Mary assumed that he was the killer and has been covering for him, but when she learns that he had fled in terror after discovering the body, she breaks off their engagement in disgust at his cowardice.

In 1936, Dorothy L. Sayers -considered one of the best mystery writers of the Golden Age-abandoned the last Lord Peter Wimsey detective story. Sixty years later, a copy of the unfinished manuscript was discovered in her agent's safe in London, and award-winning novelist Jill Paton Walsh was commissioned to complete it. The result was the international bestseller Thrones, Dominations. Now, this irresistible story is back in paperback. Picking up where Sayers left off, Jill Paton Walsh brings Lord Peter and Harriet Vane brilliantly to life in Sayers' unmistakable voice. Thrones, Dominations satisfies the vast readership hungry to know what happened after their honeymoon. Fan and critics rejoice at Jill Paton Walsh's resurrection of this beloved series.

2022 Reprint of the 1926 Edition. Clouds of Witness, Sayers' second mystery novel featuring Lord Peter Wimsey, was first published in 1926 in the U.K. and later in the U.S. under the title Clouds of Witnesses. It was adapted for television in 1972, as part of a series starring Ian Carmichael as Lord Peter.In a shocking scandal, the Duke of Denver stands accused of the foul murder or his sister's fiancé, shot through the heart on a cold, lonely night at Riddlesdale Hall in Yorkshire. The duke's brother, Lord Peter Wimsey, attempts to prove Denver's innocence, but why is the duke refusing to cooperate? And what does his sister, Lady Mary, know about the affair? Trying to reveal the truth, Wimsey uncovers a web of lies and deceit within the family and finds himself faced with the unhappy alternative of sending either his brother or his sister to the gallows -- until he himself becomes a target.

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.

2019 Reprint of 1923 Edition. A naked body is discovered in the bathroom of a London architect's apartment. Is it Sir Reuben Levy, the well-known financier who recently disappeared? Or is it a stiff dragged from the dissecting rooms of St. Luke's Hospital? Lord Peter Wimsey must unravel the tangled threads that lead from a prostitute, to a well-known surgeon, and to a mysterious reunion at a London night-club. In Whose Body? Dorothy L. Sayers introduced the character of Lord Peter Wimsey. In their review of crime novels Barzun and Taylor call Whose Body? "a stunning first novel that disclosed the advent of a new star in the firmament, and one of the first magnitude. The episode of the bum in the bathtub, the character (and the name) of Sir Julian Freke, the detection, and the possibilities in Peter Wimsey are so many signs of genius about to erupt".

A nobleman with a penchant for solving mysteries works to uncover the truth about a dead body found in the bathtub of an architect's home. This is a peculiar case that requires the unique skills and perspective of Lord Peter Wimsey. Lord Peter Wimsey is a war veteran forever changed by his time in the field. Despite his personal trauma, he spends his free time studying criminals and dissecting cases. When a dead body appears after a financier vanishes, many suspect an immediate connection. Yet, Lord Wimsey believes there is more to the story. Upon further investigation he discovers an insidious murder plot that includes notable figures in the community. Alongside Inspector Charles Parker, Lord Wimsey attempts to expose the truth. Whose Body? is a thrilling introduction to the world Lord Peter Wimsey. It is a multilayered mystery filled with humor and intrigue. Author Dorothy L. Sayers' compelling prose delivers unforgettable characters and a classic detective plot. With an eye-catching new cover, and professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of Whose Body? is both modern and readable.

Lord Peter Wimsey must ferret out a murderer in a Scottish art colony in this classic tale from Dorothy L. Sayers.In the scenic Scottish village of Kirkcudbright, no one is disliked more than the painter Sandy Campbell. When he is found dead at the foot of a cliff, his easel standing above, no one is sorry to see him gone?especially six members of the close-knit Galloway artists' colony.The inimitable Lord Peter Wimsey is on the scene to determine the truth about Campbell's death. Piecing together the evidence, the aristocratic sleuth discovers that of the six suspected painters, five are red herrings, innocent of the crime. But just which one is the ingenious artist with a talent for murder?

This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of the original. Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment for protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature in affordable, high quality, modern editions that are true to the original work.

Der vierte Band der Reihe in attraktiver NeuausstattungIm Bellona-Club vertreiben sich die Herren der feinen Londoner Gesellschaft den Tag. Lord Peter Wimsey ist Zeuge, als der alte General Arthur Fentiman in den frühen Abendstunden tot im Sessel am Kamin entdeckt wird, scheinbar friedlich entschlafen. Doch mysteriös ist, dass seine Schwester, die wohlhabende Lady Dormer, am selben Morgen in ihrem Haus tot aufgefunden wurde. Für die Erbfolge ist der genaue Todeszeitpunkt des Generals entscheidend, und niemand scheint Fentiman am besagten Tag lebend gesehen zu haben. Lord Peter Wimsey beschließt, den Bellona-Club sowie die Familie Fentiman genauer unter die Lupe zu nehmen...

Der dritte Band der Reihe in attraktiver Neuausstattung Die ältere Dame Agatha Dawson stirbt etwas früher als erwartet. Niemand stört sich daran, am wenigsten die reichlich bedachte Erbin. Der Arzt ist skeptisch, diagnostiziert dennoch Herzversagen. Der Gentlemen-Ermittler Lord Peter Wimsey ahnt Schlimmeres: Mord. Ohne eine Spur beginnt er Nachforschungen anzustellen. Seine alte Freundin, Miss Climpson, eine geschwätzige Dame mit der Gabe die richtigen Fragen zu stellen, steht im zur Seite. Plötzlich wird Agatha's ehemaliges Dienstmädchen ermordet, und Wimsey läuft bei seinem Bemühen um die Aufklärung der sonderbaren Todesumstände unvermittelt selber Gefahr "keines natürlichen Todes" zu sterben.

This book contains four short plays by Sayers on a religious theme. The Zeal of Thy House was written for Canterbury Cathedral and dramatises an episode in its construction. The Devil to Pay is a reworking of the Faust legend. He That should Come is a nativity play, originally written for radio, in natural language. The Just Vengeance is about the spirit of a fallen airman, returning to Lichfield Cathedral, for which it was written. This new version from Oxford City Press is based on a high quality scan, carefully hand-checked to remove any scribbles, creases and age spots.

Abstruse, often paradoxical, but remarkable in many ways is this volume which analyses the metaphor of God as a Creator, using as concrete examples men and women in the field of creative activity, ranging from Shakespeare to Joyce. The market for this book is mixed, partly theological, partly literary. It is not however for the average reader who will find it difficult. With forthright penetration and acumen she points up the analogy between the divine and the human creator. A book for thoughtful readers and students. (Kirkus Reviews)