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3.9 AVERAGE
3.9 AVERAGE
Sayers is brilliant, if not exactly to my taste. She wrote at a time where authors expected their readers to work at reading. I will confess that I like to be catered to as a reader, and found the lack of accessibility off-putting. Between the bells, bells, BELLS, and the Britishisms, well-- if I had started looking up everything I didn't know, i'd still be reading the book. But the plot is quite clever, the characters well-drawn, and the setting well-captured. I'll try another Sayers that will hopefully be bell-free before I make up my mind about her.
Can we all just take a moment to applaud Dorothy Sayers for creating one of the most memorable, lovable, quirky characters in Golden Era detective fiction?
Applause aside, I loved this story. Perhaps a bit slow to start, but I love the way Sayers deep-dives into her settings and supporting characters. Great, great mystery and the ending was particularly powerful and wonderfully dark! One of my fav. Wimsey mysteries!
Applause aside, I loved this story. Perhaps a bit slow to start, but I love the way Sayers deep-dives into her settings and supporting characters. Great, great mystery and the ending was particularly powerful and wonderfully dark! One of my fav. Wimsey mysteries!
The Nine Tailors is book 9 in the Lord Peter Wimsey series by Dorothy L. Sayers.
Set in a village in the Fenlands, it has interesting characters, bell ringing, a missing necklace, and of course, a murder. The story begins with Lord Peter running his car off the road in a snowstorm. He and his man, Bunter, find themselves stranded on New Year’s Eve. It's the perfect book for wintry evening reading.
I absolutely loved this book. Like the other Sayer's books I have read, this one is extremely well-plotted, well-written and fun.
Set in a village in the Fenlands, it has interesting characters, bell ringing, a missing necklace, and of course, a murder. The story begins with Lord Peter running his car off the road in a snowstorm. He and his man, Bunter, find themselves stranded on New Year’s Eve. It's the perfect book for wintry evening reading.
I absolutely loved this book. Like the other Sayer's books I have read, this one is extremely well-plotted, well-written and fun.
A very good and entertaining mystery, even if I did find it helpful to read Wikipedia on English Change-Ringing to understand what anyone was talking about. Also helped that I had read Proulx's "Fen, Bog & Swamp". Anyway, it's good and I'll probably read more Sayers in the future.
Summary: Another Lord Peter Wimsey mystery involving campanology and the intricate happenings of a small town.
Thoughts: I actually had meant to request Nine Coaches Waiting by Mary Stewart but somehow I mixed the two up (hey they both have nine in the tile and I had prioritized both!) I enjoyed the short stories I read earlier in the year but I felt that the mystery was not necessarily a priority to the Lord Peter stories; instead character takes preference. I also thought the title referred to the trade but it is actually about bells as you can tell by the cover.
I had a lot of trouble with this book-the mystery was somewhat confusing (and, no I didn't solve it). To be honest, I don't even feel up to summarizing this book hence the short sentence. There was WAY too much about bell-ringing and the workings of the Church of England. Perhaps if you lived during that time and were involved in one or the other, it would have been interesting to you. According to the internet, the method of death could not have occurred but I don't know much about that.
I did enjoy hanging out with Peter some more though and I wish there had been more Bunter, his butler. He's so deliciously dry! The rector of the place was also delightful in his absentmindedness and relationship with his wife. But I didn't care that much about solving the murder mystery which is not good for a mystery story.
Overall: 2.5 out of 5. Very disappointing but it will not stop me from reading the others.
Thoughts: I actually had meant to request Nine Coaches Waiting by Mary Stewart but somehow I mixed the two up (hey they both have nine in the tile and I had prioritized both!) I enjoyed the short stories I read earlier in the year but I felt that the mystery was not necessarily a priority to the Lord Peter stories; instead character takes preference. I also thought the title referred to the trade but it is actually about bells as you can tell by the cover.
I had a lot of trouble with this book-the mystery was somewhat confusing (and, no I didn't solve it). To be honest, I don't even feel up to summarizing this book hence the short sentence. There was WAY too much about bell-ringing and the workings of the Church of England. Perhaps if you lived during that time and were involved in one or the other, it would have been interesting to you. According to the internet, the method of death could not have occurred but I don't know much about that.
I did enjoy hanging out with Peter some more though and I wish there had been more Bunter, his butler. He's so deliciously dry! The rector of the place was also delightful in his absentmindedness and relationship with his wife. But I didn't care that much about solving the murder mystery which is not good for a mystery story.
Overall: 2.5 out of 5. Very disappointing but it will not stop me from reading the others.
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
85/104 - 1934 - The Nine Tailors by Dorothy Sayers
Another mystery from my late grandmother’s bookcase, with yellowed pages and a cover I had to tape back on. Thanks to my grandmother, any modern cover on a golden age mystery will always feel wrong in my hands.
I really enjoyed this mystery too. It had a slow start, but once the mystery gets going, I was hooked. This one is quite different from Gaudy Night. The atmosphere and mystery are excellent, and the end surprised me. And there’s a cleverness to the structure of this book that I can’t say I completely grasped, since I know so little about change ringing. I really want to read more Dorothy Sayer books. There’s something about her writing that makes it feel a little more than your average cozy mystery.
Highly recommend this one to mystery fans.
Another mystery from my late grandmother’s bookcase, with yellowed pages and a cover I had to tape back on. Thanks to my grandmother, any modern cover on a golden age mystery will always feel wrong in my hands.
I really enjoyed this mystery too. It had a slow start, but once the mystery gets going, I was hooked. This one is quite different from Gaudy Night. The atmosphere and mystery are excellent, and the end surprised me. And there’s a cleverness to the structure of this book that I can’t say I completely grasped, since I know so little about change ringing. I really want to read more Dorothy Sayer books. There’s something about her writing that makes it feel a little more than your average cozy mystery.
Highly recommend this one to mystery fans.
Library.
Perhaps it was Christmas, perhaps it was my own busyness, but I thought Parts I and II dragged a bit. I kept checking page numbers; sighed that part of the mystery was - once again - who the corpse belonged to (I did figure it out before it was revealed); and was wondering about Sayers' story.
Then, the mysteries unraveled and it turned beautiful. My friend pointed out a quote from early in the book that tied the whole thing together, "Where there is a church, there is civilization."
So, after dragging, the final flourish makes me love it.
Perhaps it was Christmas, perhaps it was my own busyness, but I thought Parts I and II dragged a bit. I kept checking page numbers; sighed that part of the mystery was - once again - who the corpse belonged to (I did figure it out before it was revealed); and was wondering about Sayers' story.
Then, the mysteries unraveled and it turned beautiful. My friend pointed out a quote from early in the book that tied the whole thing together, "Where there is a church, there is civilization."
So, after dragging, the final flourish makes me love it.
my first read of this author; upon beginning it, I needed some research about geography, landscape, and practice of bell ringing in England. I learned some new things, and will give Lord Peter Whimsey another try in another mystery.
A really excellent mystery and it's fun to hang out with Wimsey.