The Nine Tailors by Dorothy L. Sayers Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of The Nine Tailors
Book Review: Atmospheric but not quite compelling whodunit
Summary: 4 Stars
This gentlemanly detective story is set in the bleak Fenlands of Eastern England - low-lying, flat, windswept, cold and vulnerable to flooding. Moreover it's set in the dispiriting era of the 1930s , with the countryside suffering from the great Depression. There's a lot of poverty and ill-health.
Into this setting steps the debonair Lord Peter Wimsey - stranded in the village of Fenchurch St Paul after a road accident. He makes the acquaintance of the Reverend Venables, the local parish priest and a source of generosity and encouragement for his flock. Venables is proud of his beautiful church and the tradition of bell-ringing there. Some of the bell-ringing is joyous. but the "Nine Tailors" is nine tolls of the bell to signify a man's death...
The "mystery" aspect of the novel is slow to develop. But eventually a body is discovered and Lord Peter Wimsey assists the police in the solving of the crime.
When I'm reading whodunits I seldom manage to solve them myself - however this time about one-third of the way into the book I confidently deduced who the culprit was. But I was completely wrong!
The atmosphere of the Fens seeps into the pages like a cold fog creeping in under a door. The bell-ringing is also an important aspect of the book and indeed some of the bells - Batty Thomas, Gaude, Tailor Paul, Dimity are almost characters in their own right.
As for the other characters, Bunter is present but fairly quiet, and there is no Harriet Vane - but she is compensated for by the 15-year-old Hilary, surely an alter ego of Dorothy L Sayers herself.
The setting is well-realised, and the mystery parts of the book are satisfactory. However there is a little bit too much incidental detail about bell-ringing (are we really meant to read the first page of each section of the book?) and Fenland drainage.
If you a a fan of good whodunits by all means please read and enjoy this book - but this isn't my first choice of the Lord Peter Wimsey stories.
Book Review: Best of All Time
Summary: 5 Stars
I would agree with some others that this is the best mystery of all time. It indeed is a book best to be read in the winter, in a big comfortable easy chair, in front of a roaring fire.I have several copies, but am always on the lookout for another one. Sayers has her ace detective and consumate English gentleman Lord Peter Wimsey in an absolutely engrossing rural landscape. Like many traditional country areas, this one is dominated by a massive church. And the parish has some strong bell ringers, but also some members with dark secrets. The plot develops slowly, like fine wine.
I am sorry that the Masterpiece Theater version is not yet out in video. Then I could read the book and watch the video throughout the long, freezing winters we have in my home in Arctic Alaska. Enjoy this book. Cherish it and buy a few extra copies, including a few for very close friends. It is a book you will want to keep handy on your bookshelf for the rest of your days! Earl Finkler in Barrow, Alaska
Book Review: Bunter begins
Summary: 5 Stars
Ian Carmichael at his best playing Lord Peter with grace and dignity and a wry humor that makes even Peter's most aristocratic excentricities enjoyable. This tale is another great mystery filled with brilliant deductions, unexpected twists and shocking horror and it reveals the relationship between Bunter, the most redoubtable man since Jeeves, and Lord Peter. Some actors paint a character with such definative strokes that it can never be played again. Robert Newton took a role that many of the greatest actors of the last century atempted and made it his forever. We all know what a pirate sounds like because of Newton's Long John Silver. Ian Carmichael is Lord Peter. Powder your plams, roll up your sleves, take a sip of strong brandy and get ready, you have many hours of pulling if you plan to complete that Triple-Bob MajorBook Review: Ding! Dong! Go the Bells
Summary: 2 Stars
For those interested in the intricacies of church bell ringing, look no further. This novel drones on and on about the clangers in a manner that displays Sayles' need to show off her extreme research. Cut out these 50 or so pages, and you might have a rather fine read indeed. Wimsey and his servant Bunter are endearing characters, and there are several other fine creations, including a lively parrot. Yet the mystery itself seems at times to be a wedged-in afterthought. And then there's the Superintendent's line: "She's got a stack of money and the meanness of fifty thousand Scotch Jews rolled into one." This is pure anti-Semitism and it isn't that favorable to the inhabitants of Scotland either. Truly this is one of the more overrated books I have ever read. As for Sinclair Lewis stating that this mystery might be better than Dickens' Bleak House, it makes you shudder. Either Lewis was in bed with Sayles, they were pals, she had reviewed one of his books favorably, or the man had gone crackers. I'm sticking with Dickens and Agatha Christie.Book Review: Ding! Dong! Merrily on High...
Summary: 5 Stars
Alongside Agatha Christie and P.D. James, Dorothy L. Sayers is one of the top female mystery writers of the twentieth century. Her singular creation of Lord Peter Wimsey assures that her novels will be full of uncanny wit and sparkling intelligence. "The Nine Tailors" is a spellbinding mystery with an overabundance of suspects but very little evidence. While some readers may be able to solve the heart of matter, that does not distract from the sheer novelty of this puzzle, steeped in the history and mystery of bell ringing.
On a snowy New Year's Eve, Lord Peter Wimsey accidentally runs his car into a ditch outside of the small town of Fenchurch St. Paul. The local rector rescues Wimsey and invites him to stay, soon pressing him to fill in as a substitute for an ill bell ringer. Wimsey gladly takes over the role and has a pleasant albeit strange holiday in the countryside of East Anglia. As he is leaving town, he encounters a tramp looking for work, and thinks nothing further about it. But when a body is discovered buried atop a recently dug grave, the rector calls on Lord Peter again, this time for his detective help.
The body found on top of the coffin is greatly disfigured and has had its hands removed, but Wimsey is certain it is the man he met on the road the day out of town. But who is he and how did he get there? Most importantly, who killed him? In searching for this answer, Wimsey and the local inspector are sent following clues to France and retracing the sordid history of some of the town's previous unsavory inhabitants. The identity of the body may prove easier to figure out than the method of his murder.
"The Nine Tailors", the title a reference to the bells that are rung when a man dies, is a unique thought-provoking mystery. Dorothy L. Sayers brings her story full circle and no small piece of information or clue gleaned along the way is left out. For those unfamiliar with bell-ringing, some of the descriptions and dialogue regarding this topic may seem tedious, but are not ones that should be overlooked in order to see the whole picture. "The Nine Tailors" is an enjoyable, puzzling whodunit sure to please mystery fans everywhere.