Wednesday, June 07, 2006

The Nine Tailors:Changes Rung on an Old Theme in Two Short Touches and Two Full Peals by Dorothy L. Sayers

This is the first full length Sayers novel I have read. At first glance it seemed rather unpromising, with its cryptic chapter titles and pages full of the odd vocabulary of campanology. (i.e. bell ringing)

However, my doubts were quickly dispelled as I discovered an exciting story set in a small church parish of rural England.

After a peaceful introduction, a mysterious body is found buried in someone else’s grave. Lord Peter Wimsey is called upon to give his expert advice as a detective, and thus begins a fascinating investigation which, after many twists and turns in plot, leads to a completely surprising ending.

An interesting feature of Ms. Sayers’ writing is the fact that often she takes the time to describe a scene which at the moment seems superfluous, but in the end is pivotal. None of her description is extraneous. Her stories are evidently very well thought out and researched, as well as well written.

This book joins G.K. Chesterton’s The Man Who Was Thursday as one of my favorite mysteries.

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