When his sexton finds a corpse in the wrong grave, the rector of Fenchurch St Paul asks Lord Peter Wimsey to find out who the dead man was and how he came to be there. The lore of bell-ringing and a brilliantly-evoked village in the remote fens of East Anglia are the unforgettable background to a story of an old unsolved crime and its violent unravelling twenty years later.
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
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'A truly great storyteller' -- Minette Walters 'Dorothy L Sayers is one of the best detective story writers' -- E.C. Bentley, DAILY TELEGRAPH 'She brought to the detective novel orginality, intelligence, energy and wit' -- P.D. James 'I admire her novels ... she has great fertility of invention, ingenuity and a wonderful eye for detail' -- Ruth Rendell
About the Author
Dorothy L Sayers was born in Oxford in 1893, and was both a classical scholar and a graduate in modern languages. As well as her popular Lord Peter Wimsey series, she wrote several religious plays, but considered her translations of Dante's Divina Commedia to be her best work. She died in 1957.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
31 of 32 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Set in the remote village of Fenchurch St. Paul, this 1934 mystery involves an unknown body, which has been disfigured and mysteriously buried in the same grave as a local woman, shortly after the New Year. Many years before, a magnificent necklace of emeralds was stolen here, though it was never found. Two men and a local woman were implicated in the theft, and both men served time in prison. Now the unknown body, the fate of the two men involved in the theft of the emeralds, the whereabouts of the necklace, and the involvement of seemingly upright citizens of Fenchurch St. Paul are all under investigation.
Lord Peter Wimsey, accompanied by his "man" Bunter, becomes involved in the investigation when their car runs off the road on a snowy New Year's Eve. Lord Peter ultimately agrees to substitute for an indisposed bell-ringer when the rector attempts to set a record of more than 18,000 rings in nine hours as a New Year's Eve celebration. The bells are an integral part of the mystery, with the "nine tailors," a pattern of bell ringing, figuring prominently in the action. A coded letter suggests that the bells themselves may be connected to the emerald necklace.
Author Dorothy Sayers creates vivid characters--the somewhat arrogant Lord Peter Wimsey, his faithful manservant Bunter, the "forgetful" rector of the local church and his wife, the French wife and children of one of the thieves, assorted odd characters from the town, and local law enforcement. The opportunity to locate the emeralds and ascertain the fate of the thieves, one of whom escaped shortly after being sentenced to jail, intrigues Lord Peter, and some townspeople have much to gain (or lose), depending on the identity of the man in the grave and his possible killer. Sayers's complex mystery and the equally complex interactions of the various characters keep the reader guessing to the very end.
Ingenious and clever, this mystery is full of dry humor, as Lord Peter and Bunter engage in word play, hilarious who's-on-first dialogue, and multiple absurdities as they try to solve the case. The characters go beyond stereotype, eliciting sympathy and often respect, as they contrast with the sometimes stuffy and aristocratic Lord Peter. A mystery which is as satisfying in its conclusion (resembling the divine intervention of classical Greek tragedy) as it is in its immediate action, The Nine Tailors is one of Sayers's best and most intricate mysteries. n Mary Whipple
Lord Peter Wimsey, accompanied by his "man" Bunter, becomes involved in the investigation when their car runs off the road on a snowy New Year's Eve. Lord Peter ultimately agrees to substitute for an indisposed bell-ringer when the rector attempts to set a record of more than 18,000 rings in nine hours as a New Year's Eve celebration. The bells are an integral part of the mystery, with the "nine tailors," a pattern of bell ringing, figuring prominently in the action. A coded letter suggests that the bells themselves may be connected to the emerald necklace.
Author Dorothy Sayers creates vivid characters--the somewhat arrogant Lord Peter Wimsey, his faithful manservant Bunter, the "forgetful" rector of the local church and his wife, the French wife and children of one of the thieves, assorted odd characters from the town, and local law enforcement. The opportunity to locate the emeralds and ascertain the fate of the thieves, one of whom escaped shortly after being sentenced to jail, intrigues Lord Peter, and some townspeople have much to gain (or lose), depending on the identity of the man in the grave and his possible killer. Sayers's complex mystery and the equally complex interactions of the various characters keep the reader guessing to the very end.
Ingenious and clever, this mystery is full of dry humor, as Lord Peter and Bunter engage in word play, hilarious who's-on-first dialogue, and multiple absurdities as they try to solve the case. The characters go beyond stereotype, eliciting sympathy and often respect, as they contrast with the sometimes stuffy and aristocratic Lord Peter. A mystery which is as satisfying in its conclusion (resembling the divine intervention of classical Greek tragedy) as it is in its immediate action, The Nine Tailors is one of Sayers's best and most intricate mysteries. n Mary Whipple
49 of 55 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This novel, Dorothy L. Sayers' best-known, is, without doubt, one of her best-if not the best. Sayers takes the customary English village, and makes something new of it, by setting it in the Fen country, and by giving to it a church, which, as the well-drawn rector describes, "East Anglia is famous for the size and splendour of its parish churches. Still, we flatter ourselves we are almost unique, even in this part of the world." The church services show great feeling and power, and neatly tie in with the theme of religion. The church possesses bells, the book being best-known for the bell-ringing, described in such powerfully beautiful descriptions as:
"Out over the flat, white wastes of fen, over the spear-straight, steel-dark dykes and the wind-bent, groaning poplar trees, bursting from the snow-choked louvres of the belfry, whirled away southward and westward in gusty blasts of clamour to the sleeping counties went the music of the bells-little Gaude, silver Sabaoth, strong John and Jericho, glad Jubilee, sweet Dimity and old Batty Thomas, with great Tailor Paul bawling and striding like a giant in the midst of them. Up and down went the shadows of the ringers upon the walls, up and down went the shadows of the ringers upon the walls, up and down went the scarlet sallies flickering roofwards and floorwards, and up and down, hunting in their courses, went the bells of Fenchurch St. Paul."
The bells are also eerily threatening-"Bells are like cats and mirrors-they're always queer, and it doesn't do to think too much about them."-which is fitting, as the plot hinges on bells: both an ingenious cryptogram (again, to quote the rector, "I should never have thought of the possibility that one might make a cipher out of change-ringing. Most ingenious."), and an ingenious murder method.
The whodunit aspect of the story is not neglected; for once, it is a genuine problem. The body is buried in a grave, and involves a complicated problem of identity, and an unknown method. The victim, as Wimsey describes, is "a perfect nuisance, dead or alive, and whoever killed him was a public benefactor. I wish I'd killed him myself." Wimsey is engaging here, and not the parody of Bertie Wooster he sometimes is-he is a human being, without being the equally obnoxious creature found in Gaudy Night and Busman's Honeymoon. The detection is excellent, and, as was to be the trend in nearly every detective story following (especially Nicholas Blake's), the detective "felt depressed. So far as he could see, his interference had done no good to anybody and only made extra trouble. It was a thousand pities that the body of Deacon had ever come to light at all. Nobody wanted it." These tie in with the burden of guilt and innocence, redemption and repentance.
Finally, the book comes to its powerful climax in a flooded village, "with an aching and intolerable melancholy, like the noise of the bells of a drowned city pushing up through the overwhelming sea."
This is not a detective story-this is, if anything, a novel.
19 of 20 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Unlike some of her Lord Peter mysteries, this novel can be read by itself, and it is a delight. About a murder done in an old church in the English countryside, you will learn more about the ringing of church bells than you thought possible. Lord Peter is at the top of his form, literate, intelligent, and a thinker beyond being just a mystery novel detective. None of the characters are one or two dimensional, and each of them is developed fully and delightfully. When it comes to mystery fiction, you can't do much better than Sayers...which may be one reason her novels appeared on PBS' MASTERPIECE THEATRE rather than MYSTERY! They are indeed, masterpieces
Most Recent Customer Reviews
Abridged Into Mismeaning!
A hearty Lord Peter Wimsey fan, having read the canon, including the short stories several times, even bought the DVD sets( especially
enjoying Edward Petherbridge as Lord... Read more
enjoying Edward Petherbridge as Lord... Read more
Published 1 month ago by Lanna S. Seuret
Nine Taylors
This is mystery fiction at its best. Even after all these years no author has been able to compete with Dorothy Sayers for ideas and expression.
Published 2 months ago by BHB
A mystery about bell ringing
If you don't know about bell peals, this book will teach you something. Of course, Lord Peter knows all the peals. This mystery may keep you up at night getting to the finish.
Published 2 months ago by James L. Davis
The Nine Tailors is a classic golden age of murder mystery novel by...
Dorothy L. Sayers (1893-1957) was born to a clergyman in Oxford. She was a brilliant woman who taught and translated Dante;
was a formidable apologist for Christianity and... Read more
was a formidable apologist for Christianity and... Read more
Published 5 months ago by C. M Mills
One of the Best
This is one of the greatest mysteries I've ever read. I enjoyed the religious elements, remained baffled throughout, and found the payoff to be terrific (and, dare I say,... Read more
Published 5 months ago by JSmalls
Campy Campanology
Well, I'm not sure if it's accurate to call Dorothy Sayers' writing "campy," but this novel is certainly full of wit and campanology: the art and science of bell ringing. Read more
Published 6 months ago by Ohioan
Atmospheric
This books is the epitome of the English countryside murder mystery. There's a mysterious dead body, an old parish church, a bumbling rector, and lots of foul weather. Read more
Published 10 months ago by LH422
Sayers weaves an engrossing tale of English tradition and murder!
The story of The Nine Tailors revolves around an English tradition, bell change-ringing, that I'm not sure exists today (the book was first published in 1934). Read more
Published 13 months ago by Sarah Rogers
Arguably the greatest detective novel of all time
This, the ninth of Sayers's eleven full length Wimsey novels, is the one that lifts her above the category of twentieth-century female detective novelist, and places her among the... Read more
Published 14 months ago by B. Bennetts
The Premier Mystery Story Writer of the 20th century
Dorothy L. Sayers born 1893,published 1923,and wrote for twenty years. She was one of the first women Oxford graduates. Most of her writings were scholarly works. Read more
Published 15 months ago by Gwen Bohlen
Inside This Book
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First Sentence:
plunged down the side of the dyke into the deep ditch beyond, where the black spikes of a thorn hedge stood bleak and unwelcoming in the glare of the headlights. Right and left, before and behind, the fen lay shrouded. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
nine tailors, south porch Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Lord Peter, Tailor Paul, Batty Thomas, Will Thoday, Superintendent Blundell, Sir Henry, Lady Thorpe, New Year, Jack Godfrey, Paul Taylor, Sir Charles, Miss Hilary, Red House, Uncle Edward, Potty Peake, Hilary Thorpe, Miss Thorpe, Treble Bob, Chief Constable, Harry Gotobed, Hezekiah Lavender, Suzanne Legros, Mary Thoday, Wally Pratt, James Thoday New!
Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
plunged down the side of the dyke into the deep ditch beyond, where the black spikes of a thorn hedge stood bleak and unwelcoming in the glare of the headlights. Right and left, before and behind, the fen lay shrouded. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
nine tailors, south porch Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Lord Peter, Tailor Paul, Batty Thomas, Will Thoday, Superintendent Blundell, Sir Henry, Lady Thorpe, New Year, Jack Godfrey, Paul Taylor, Sir Charles, Miss Hilary, Red House, Uncle Edward, Potty Peake, Hilary Thorpe, Miss Thorpe, Treble Bob, Chief Constable, Harry Gotobed, Hezekiah Lavender, Suzanne Legros, Mary Thoday, Wally Pratt, James Thoday New!
Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
Citations (learn more)
This book cites 2
books:
97
books
cite this book:
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- Lord Peter: A Collection of All the Lord Peter Wimsey Stories by Dorothy L. Sayers on page 27
- Lord Peter : The Complete Lord Peter Wimsey Stories by Dorothy L. Sayers on page 27
- Writing Performances: The Stages of Dorothy L. Sayers by Crystal Downing on 18 pages
- Adventure, Mystery, and Romance: Formula Stories as Art and Popular Culture (Phoenix Series) by John G. Cawelti on 8 pages
- Masterpiece Theatre: A Celebration of 25 Years of Outstanding Television by Terrence O'Flaherty on 4 pages
- Kregel Pictorial Guide to Christian Heritage in England (Kregel Pictorial Guides) (The Kregel Pictorial Guide Series) by Daniel A. Scalberg on page 42, page 84, and Back Matter
- Women's Fiction of the Second World War: Gender, Power, Resistance on page 59, page 65, and Back Matter
See all 97 books citing this book
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