Dorothy L. Sayers

Dorothy Leigh Sayers (Oxford, 13 June 1893 – Witham, 17 December 1957) was a British author, translator, student of classical and modern languages, and Christian humanist.

The Lady as a Writer

After graduation, Sayers struggled to find her place in the world. It is conjectured that she began working out the plot to her first novel sometime in 1921. The seeds of the plot for Whose Body? can be seen in a letter Sayers wrote on January 22, 1921:

Related Topics:
1921 - Whose Body? - January 22

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:"My detective story begins brightly, with a fat lady found dead in her bath with nothing on but her pince-nez. Now why did she wear pince-nez in her bath? If you can guess, you will be in a position to lay hands upon the murderer, but he's a very cool and cunning fellow..." (p.101, Reynolds)

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Lord Peter Wimsey burst upon the world of detective fiction with an explosive "Damn!" and continues to engage the reader through the course of ten novels and two sets of short stories. Sayers once commented that Lord Peter was a mixture of Fred Astaire and Bertie Wooster, which is most evident in the first five novels. However, it is evident through Lord Peter's development as a round character, that he existed in Sayers' mind as a living breathing, fully human entity.

Related Topics:
Fred Astaire - Bertie Wooster

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When she tired of grinding out detective stories, Sayers introduced Harriet Vane, a detective novelist and amateur detective, in the definitive Strong Poison. She remarked on more than one occasion that she had developed the "husky voiced, dark-eyed" Harriet to put an end to Lord Peter via matrimony. But in the course of writing Gaudy Night, Sayers imbued Lord Peter and Harriet with so much life that she was never able to, as she put it, "see Lord Peter exit the stage."

Related Topics:
Harriet Vane - Strong Poison - Gaudy Night

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Sayers also wrote a number of short stories about Montague Egg, a wine salesman who also solves mysteries.

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