Reviews - Nine Tailors | The StoryGraph

381 reviews for:

As I've completed Agatha Christie's work, and am having difficulty tracking down Ngaio Marsh books, I took my first look at Dorothy L. Sayers. I enjoyed this book, for many of the same reasons I loved Christie so much. Great characters, clever whodunit, and a fascinating glimpse into early 20th century British country life.

The Nine Tailors are literally the bells of Fenchurch St. Paul, the setting of the book. The beginning of the book was a bit tedious with explanation of change-ringing in the Anglican church. Once Sayers moved past that, the story began to unfold and was engaging from that point on.

I found the dialog to be witty and especially enjoyed the character of Lord Peter Wimsey. I am excited to read more of Sayer's work.

SECOND READ 2012:

Loved it even more the second time. Knowing how it ends allowed me to see the brilliant hints Sayers drops throughout, making her work even more laudable.

julan1027's review against another edition

2.0

This wasn’t my favorite of the Sayers books. It felt like it needed tighter editing and maybe 100 fewer pages. The mystery seemed complex on the surface but was actually fairly easy to solve. I wanted to be interested in the bell theme, but it just didn’t work for me. Happy to have read it but not one I would return to.
It does contain a couple of anti-Semitic statements.

aliver's review against another edition

4.25

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

lakeshorelibrarian's review against another edition

3.0

I don't reread this one often, because a little information about English bell ringing goes a long way, though it is important to the plot and some of it is interesting. The mystery is a good one, and the characters who appear only in this book are interesting. Recommended, especially if you want to read a lot of the series.