Five Red Herrings (TV Mini-Series 1975) - IMDb Five Red Herrings Solve the mystery with Lord Peter Whimsey, based on the book by Dorothy L Sayers. Stars: a list of 917 titles created 30 Jun 2011 a list of 1931 titles created 11 Nov 2012 a list of 115 titles created 05 Oct 2013 a list of 57 titles created 25 Oct 2013 a list of 289 titles created 18 Nov 2014 Title: Five Red Herrings (1975– ) 8.3/10 Want to share IMDb's rating on your own site? Use the HTML below. You must be a registered user to use the IMDb rating plugin. Murder Must Advertise (TV Mini-Series 1973) Mystery When one of the copy writers of Pym's Advertising Agency meets his death by falling down a spiral staircase, a new "writer" joins the staff to investigate the matter.

Stars: Ian Carmichael, Mark Eden, Rachel Herbert Clouds of Witness (TV Mini-Series 1972) Drama Lord Peter's brother, the Duke of Denver is accused of murdering their sister Mary's fiancé. It's up to Lord Peter and his faithful man Bunter to untangle all the clues and the ... See full summary » Stars: Ian Carmichael, Glyn Houston, Mark Eden When one of the members of the Bellona Club passes away, Lord Wimsey is brought in to determine the time of death for testamentary purposes. Stars: Ian Carmichael, Terence Alexander, Anna Cropper The Nine Tailors (TV Mini-Series 1974) Mystery The title refers to the nine strokes of a church bell to announce the death of a man. In this adaptation of Dorothy L. Sayers's intricate, nostalgic, and atmospheric novel of the same name,... See full summary » Stars: Ian Carmichael, Glyn Houston, Elizabeth Proud A gentleman sleuth solves mysteries and falls in love with a detective novelist.

Stars: Harriet Walter, Edward Petherbridge, Richard Morant Bertram Wooster, a well-intentioned, wealthy layabout, has a habit of getting himself into trouble and it's up to his brilliant valet, Jeeves, to get him out. Stars: Stephen Fry, Hugh Laurie, Robert Daws Drawing on her love of theatre and art, New Zealand novelist Ngaio Marsh created elegant crime-puzzlers full of quirky characters with hidden agendas, all brought meticulously to life in this BBC series. Stars: William Simons, Patrick Malahide, Belinda Lang Amateur detective Miss Jane Marple investigates the murder of a young woman whose body is found in the library at Gossington Hall, home of Colonel and Mrs. Arthur Bantry. Stars: Joan Hickson, Debbie Arnold, John Bardon Inspector Robert Lewis and Sergeant James Hathaway solve the tough cases that the learned inhabitants of Oxford throw at them. Stars: Kevin Whately, Laurence Fox, Clare Holman At a reception for a fading film star making a screen comeback, a gushing, pushy fan is poisoned by a drink apparently meant for the actress.

Director: Norman Stone 19 December 1976 (USA) See more » Also Known As: Lord Peter Wimsey: Five Red Herrings See more » Filming Locations: Did You Know? Trivia None of the stations shown are the real locations as the railway line closed in 1965. See more » Connections reviewed by Jay Rothermel By the early 1940s many creative artists were pushed toward defeatism, capitulation to the bourgeoisie, and sometimes outright reaction. The rise and triumph of fascism in Germany, the class collaborationist policies of the Stalin leadership in the USSR, and the fall of republican Spain were all prelude to September 1, 1939. In Dorothy L. Sayers this is seen in her complete abandonment of novel writing after Busman's Honeymoon (1937) and embrace of religious obscurantism. Her play cycle The Man Born to be King (1941) and the later Dante translations are today a mere pendant, ignored completely by those who know her true faith in craft and social life was best expressed in the Wimsey stores, filled with life and exalted aestheticism. The contempt and dismissiveness leveled at Dorothy l.

Sayers' novels about Lord Peter Wimsey runs like an unbroken thread through most criticism of the genre. Damned by damns and faint praise, Sayers is depicted as a woman who made a fool of herself over the detective in her novels. "Falling in love with her hero" is a commonly used phrase, and an undeserved one. Sayers, unlike most crime novelists, developed splendid gifts as a writer in exploring Wimsey, bringing him forth as a real character and not the usual genre stereotype. Wimsey is a hard, harsh and haunted man. Like many who came through the Great War, he could not find a proper use for the rest of his life. Over the no-mans-land of his mind, Wimsey was able to spread a thin patina of simulated humanity: interest in incunabula and detection; a passion for "butting in" and correcting the fortunes and destinies of others. He mastered the fine psychological art of silly-ass self-deprecation which harried opponents and friends alike. All but four of the novels feature Wimsey in his bachelor days, before falling in love with accused poisoned and novelist Harriet Vane.

While the Vane novels are not inferior to the others, or to the wonderful short stories collected in Lord Peter Views the Body (1928), they do suffer a certain limitation of scene compared to the open air and rude good health of Unnatural Death (1927) and The Nine Tailors (1934). In the early 1970s the BBC made a series of adaptations of the non-Vane Wimsey novels. They starred Ian Carmichael, who had previously donned the monocle in The World of Wooster. Each production has been released on video and DVD, and the DVDs are also presented as a box set. In TV mysteries, pacing is all. Carmichael's performance as the brittle, bracing aristocrat pushes the plot forward beyond all the patent absurdities of the mystery genre. Why would the police tolerate an amateur sleuth bulling his way through a murder investigation? Always steps ahead, Wimsey leaves neither police nor viewer time to reflect upon the question. The pleasures of language, character, and mis en scene take care of the rest. * * * Well-written mysteries are as enjoyable as any other well-wrought fiction. It was P.D.Q.

Bach composer Peter Schickele who famously said of music: "If it sounds good, it is good." Puzzle mysteries are said to appeal to snobbish intellectuals who want to put their reasoning to a test, much like scrabble or chess players or people who work newspaper crosswords each day. The smug certainly want to justify reading mysteries by equating them with some form of august mentation. Such comparisons usually smack of sham or guilty conscience. When Edmund Wilson wrote "Who Cares Who Killed Roger Ackroyd?" (1945) he was declaring independence from rationalizing readers who tried disguising their desire to be titillated as though it were a date with Finnegan's Wake. * * * Five Red Herrings takes place in and around an artists' colony in wildest Scotland, near Gatehouse and Kirkcudbright. The area is a raw St. Ives of the north, populated by various bohemian painters. Fine exterior photography lends the cold, unforgiving sky and clear waters of frigid trout streams a vivid and almost palpable life. When Wimsey dons thick gauntlets before driving in his open car, one's own hands begin to ache of cold.

Scottish painter Sandy Campbell (Ian Ireland) is the terror of the colony. A "maudlin brute," he bullies and terrorizes the men who become suspects in his murder. His explosive temper and bloody-minded contrariness have alienated fellow artists who would normally be natural allies and confidantes. He takes any comment as just cause for battle. His most obscene outrage is taking a cut-throat razor to the beard and scalp of a fellow painter (Russell Hunter) he has waylaid one night on a lonely road. Justifiable homicide never had more justification. Most murder mysteries deal with social humiliation, vigilante retribution, and redress of balance: all pragmatic expressions of bourgeois ideology that disguise and make bearable the unpredictable violence bred by the workings of the law of value. The Wimsey stories are no different. The enjoyment resides in how the changes are rung. The "puzzle aspect" of Five Red Herrings is Lord Peter's demolition of the murderer's alibi. It is a buoyant, open-air series of deductions, a far cry from the stereotypical "gathering of suspects" which sinks the ending of so many Golden Age of Mystery novels and their film adaptations.

One of the great strengths of any Dorothy L. Sayers novel is variation of setting, and the BBC version of Five Red Herrings replicates this perfectly. The pleasures of Sayers' Wimsey stories and novels are many. Freshly imagined and ingeniously presented characters, evocative locations, logical scene building, consistent and clever handling of point of view (one thinks of Miss Climpson's letters in Unnatural Death) are all Sayers strengths. "Simplicity itself," as the saying goes. _____________________________ The Nine Tailors : Dorothy L. Sayers : 9780450001000 Dorothy L. Sayers Crime About Dorothy L. Sayers Dorothy L Sayers was born in Oxford in 1893, and was both a classical scholar and a graduate in modern languages. As well as her popular Lord Peter Wimsey series, she wrote several religious plays, but considered her translations of Dante's Divina Commedia to be her best work. She died in 1957.

show more Review Text Missing emeralds, unexpected corpses, a cryptogran, erudition, a touch of the macabre, an old church with ringing bells, and Peter Wimsy performing feats of deduction and exercising his freakish humor. A fine bit of writing, a good story, and at the same time a rattling good mystery. Dorothy Sayers at her best. (Kirkus Reviews) show more Review quote She brought to the detective novel originality, intelligence, energy and wit. -- P.D. James Dorothy L Sayers is one of the best detective story writers. -- E. C. Bentley Daily Telegraph I admire her novels ... she has great fertility of invention, ingenuity and a wonderful eye for detail. -- Ruth Rendell A truly great storyteller. -- Minette Walters show more Customer reviews This, the ninth of Sayers's eleven full length Wimsey novels, is the one that lifts her above the category of twentieth-century female detective novelist, and places her among the literary greats. It is a thoroughly satisfying mystery - sophisticated, complex, intellectually challenging. Everything in the plot is there for a reason; and the final explanation is ingenious and unexpected.

It is Sayers, so there is more than just a plot. The characters have a depth and realism far beyond the caricatures of Agatha Christie. They have individuality and weaknesses and baggage and unexpected strength in the face of adversity. They are, in short, people. Wimsey himself appears more relaxed in this than in most of the other books. A far cry from the self-conscious man-about-town of Whose Body? or the nervy war veteran of The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club, this is the Wimsey hinted at in Five Red Herrings, the Wimsey who will set out his personal credo in Gaudy Night: the born and bred countryman, at ease with himself, almost classless at times, an incomer who at once instinctively understands and is accepted by this tiny community. The community itself is minutely and deftly drawn too - partly through its supporting characters, partly through Sayers's own narrative voice, stronger and more distinctive in this book than in the others, and often taking on the cadence and the overtones of a local character to remarkable effect.

And then there are the most powerful and enduring characters of all: the bells of Fenchurch St Paul and the place itself. 'The Nine Tailors' is to the Fens what 'The Return of the Native' is to the heathlands of Dorset. It is a work of art, a tone-poem, a sonorous evocation of place and time, a symphony of words and images that endure in the mind long after the last page is turned. (For more on the power of language in 'The Nine Tailors', I refer you to my recent essay on The Art of Reading at Much attention is given in literary circles to the 'great American novel'; little, if any, is given to the novel that depicts England. Yet 'The Nine Tailors', for all that it is set in an obscure and bleak corner of the countryside, is as intimate and accurate a portrait of inter-war Englishness as anything ever written - and an enduring one at that. ~~~ One must then turn, with the utmost reluctance and distaste, to the current sub-standard paperback edition of this masterpiece (978-0-450-00100-0).

It appears to have been typeset and proof-read by persons with little knowledge of, and less interest in, either the English language or the basic rules of punctuation. It is further encumbered with an arch and self-congratulatory introduction by Elizabeth George, which adds little to one's appreciation of the work, and which - to add insult to injury - is inserted between Sayers's own foreword and the first chapter, thus breaking the rhythm of the author's original text. (No doubt the same vandalism has been committed in the latest impression of Gaudy Night, where any interruption between the Foreword and Chapter 1 would be even more obtrusive. Fortunately I still have my 1988 paperback of that work.) A minor point, but a further niggle in light of these graver shortcomings, is the faintly 1970s typography employed for the section headings. In summary, this edition gives the unfortunate impression of having been brought to press by an editor who neither recognised nor valued the calibre and significance of the book. I have now placed my 2011 paperback in the recycling bin and ordered a second-hand hardback.

On the grounds of the punctuation errors alone, I would urge anyone who wishes to read what Miss Sayers actually wrote, to eschew the current paperback edition in favour of any other second-hand copy available. show more by B Bennetts The Five Red Herrings by Dorothy L. Sayers on iBooks This book is available for download with iBooks on your Mac or iOS device, and with iTunes on your computer. Books can be read with iBooks on your Mac or iOS device. Description During a painting retreat, a killer takes a creative approach to the ancient art of murder The majestic landscape of the Scottish coast has attracted artists and fishermen for centuries. In the idyllic village of Kirkcudbright, every resident and visitor has 2 things in common: They either fish or paint (or do both), and they all hate Sandy Campbell. Though a fair painter, he is a rotten human being, and cannot enter a pub without raising the blood pressure of everybody there. No one weeps when he dies. Campbell’s body is found at the bottom of a steep hill, and his easel stands at the top, suggesting that he took a tumble while painting.

But something about the death doesn’t sit right with gentleman sleuth Lord Peter Wimsey. No one in Kirkcudbright liked Campbell, and 6 hated him enough to become suspects; 5 are innocent, and the other is the perpetrator of the most ingenious murder Lord Peter has ever encountered. The Five Red Herrings is the 7th book in the Lord Peter Wimsey Mysteries, but you may enjoy the series by reading the books in any order. This ebook features an illustrated biography of Dorothy L. Sayers including rare images from the Marion E. Wade Center at Wheaton College. “A first-rate piece of work. . . . This book is a treat.” —The New York Times “One of the greatest mystery writers of this century.” —Los Angeles Times “[Sayers] brought to the detective novel originality, intelligence, energy and wit.” —P. D. James Dorothy L. Sayers (1893–1957) was a British playwright, scholar, and acclaimed author of mysteries, best known for her books starring the gentleman sleuth Lord Peter Wimsey. While working as an advertising copywriter, Sayers began writing Whose Body?

(1923), the 1st Wimsey mystery, followed by 10 sequels and several short stories. Sayers set the Wimsey novels between the World Wars, giving them a realistic tone by incorporating details from contemporary issues such as advertising, women’s education, and veterans’ health. Sayers also wrote theological essays and criticism during and after World War II, and in 1949 published the 1st volume of a translation of Dante’s Divine Comedy. Although she considered this translation to be her best work, it is for her elegantly constructed detective fiction that Sayers remains best remembered. Other Books in This Series Publisher: Open Road Media Mystery & Thriller Seller: OpenRoad Integrated Media, LLC Print Length: 284 Pages Language: English Series: The Lord Peter Wimsey Mysteries Requirements: To view this book, you must have an iOS device with iBooks 1.3.1 or later and iOS 4.3.3 or later, or a Mac with iBooks 1.0 or later and OS X 10.9 or later.

Customer Ratings <i>The Nine Tailors</i>: The Bell Tolls for Thee - Read expert review at epinions.com The Nine Tailors: The Bell Tolls for Thee Review by murasaki Pros: Character development, several mysteries Cons: No glossary of campanology terms So I thought The Nine Tailors would be about sewing or some such. Instead, with Dorothy Sayers? inimitable penchant for the obscure, she researched and wrote a mystery about bells. Like many hobbies, bell-ringing has its own culture, vocabulary, and standards of excellence, which Sayers explores in great detail. In The Nine Tailors, bells and campanology form the framework for a mystery--who knew bells could be so interesting, or so dangerous? The Plot Lord Peter Wimsey, with Bunter by his side, lands the Daimler in a ditch on his way through Fenchurch St. Paul at the end of December. Because of the weather and damage to the car, Lord Peter and Bunter end up staying at the rectory. The Rector and his wife, Mrs. Venables, make them quite welcome and Lord Peter inquires about the church and community.

The Rector is inordinately proud of the church, a rather fine example of architecture over the centuries, and the nine bells in the bell tower, called the Nine Tailors. At midnight on New Year?s Eve, the bell-ringing group has a long and complicated movement to perform, nine hours long, in fact. Unfortunately, one of their number, Will Thoday, has come down with the flu and won?t be able to take part. Lord Peter volunteers to take his place (is there anything this man can?t do? I mean, bell-ringing?). A few days after the historic bell-ringing, Lady Thorpe dies and ?six tailors? are rung to signal her passing. During Lord Peter?s stay in Fenchurch St. Paul, he hears the story of how a wedding guest of Sir Henry and Lady Thorpe was the victim of a robbery: the butler and a jewel thief were in collusion to steal her emerald necklace, the existance and whereabouts of which the butler had learned from his unwitting wife Mary, a parlor maid at Red House. Although the emeralds were indeed stolen from Mrs.

Wilbraham, both the bulter (Deacon) and the jewel thief (Cranton) claimed that the other had the jewels and had double-crossed him. Both men were sent to prison: Cranton served his time; Deacon escaped after a few years and his body was found, still in his prison clothes, some time after his break-out. Mary, in the meantime, had returned to Fenchurch St. Paul with her new husband, Will Thoday. Mrs. Wilbraham had not insured her jewelry and Sir Henry had felt honor-bound to pay for the necklace, although it nearly ruined him financially. The jewels were never found. Wimsey and Bunter leave Fenchurch St. Paul once the Daimler was running again, but they are called back a few months later when Sir Henry dies. Sometime after the ?nine tailors? were rung for his passing, the sexton and his assistant were digging out Lady Thorpe?s grave so that Sir Henry could be buried in the same plot. Before they reached Lady Thorpe?s coffin, however, they dug up a body--a body whose hands had been cut off and whose face was beaten beyond recognition.

Lord Peter?s off to discover the identity of the body, the identity of the murderer, and to find out what really happened to the emerald necklace, thanks to a cryptic note found by Hilary Thorpe, the 15-year old orphan of Lady Thorpe and Sir Henry, in the bell tower. Elements of Style I had thought tracking down the train schedules in Five Red Herrings was complicated, but The Nine Tailors, and the exacting detail about campanology that Sayers employs was mind-boggling. Sayers organized the book into five parts, each named for a famous bell chorus, and prefaced by the pattern used for the chorus and how it?s ?called.? She utilizes various bell-ringing terms throughout the book as chapter headings and clues in the mystery. While it?s not necessary to actually know what some of the terminology means (I still haven?t figured out what ?hunting down? is supposed to signify), I would have liked a glossary of bell-ringing terms to help me along, but that?s my one complaint. Even without any knowledge of campanology, any reader can easily follow developments in the mystery.

I thought at first that Sayers was taking her time getting into the meat of the story, but once I had finished the book, I understood better the background required for her plot. I also liked that this book presented more than one mystery to solve, though all were related in some way, and that Lord Peter solved each aspect in stages rather than one fell swoop as many detectives stories are wont to do in the final scene of the novel. Sayers? prose never fails to captivate me, but I feel particularly drawn to the characters in this book. She casts the townspeople of Fenchurch St. Paul in a very sympathetic light, from Hillary Thorpe to the Rector to Mary Deacon Thoday. The reader also sees Lord Peter?s growing attachment to the fen and its inhabitants because we?re getting attached right along with him. Overall Although my favorite Sayers novel will always be Gaudy Night, The Nine Tailors has taken the place of my ?favorite without Harriet Vane.? I liked the play of uncontrollable events in this rather long (for a Lord Peter mystery) novel, as well as the characters and the eventual outcome. Bell-ringing--who knew?

Lord Peter Wimsey (Literature) - TV Tropes Lord Peter Wimsey You need to login to do this. Get Known if you don't have an account Share WMG Wimsey, Peter Death Bredon, DSO; born 1890, 2nd son of Mortimer Gerald Bredon Wimsey, 15th Duke of Denver, and of Honoria Lucasta, daughter of Francis Delagardie of Bellingham Manor, Hants. * Educated: Eton College and Balliol College, Oxford (1st class honours, Sch. of Mod. Hist. 1912); served with H.M. Forces 1914/18 (Major, Rifle Brigade). Author of: "Notes on the collecting of Incunabula", "The Murderer's Vade-Mecum", etc. * Recreations: Criminology, bibliophily; music; cricket * Clubs: Marlborough; Egotists'. * Residences: 110A Piccadilly, W.; Bredon Hall, Duke's Denver, Norfolk.

* Arms: Sable, 3 mice courant, argent; crest, a domestic cat couched as to spring, proper; motto: As my Whimsy takes me. The hero of eleven books, a play, and a number of short stories, by Dorothy L. Sayers , with three sequels by Jill Paton Walsh . Though ostensibly mystery novels, modern readers may see them as more like deconstructions of , parodies of, and occasionally paeans to British culture in the Interbellum , that happen to be about murder. In order of publication, the novels are: Whose Body?

(1923) The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club (1928) Strong Poison (1931) The Five Red Herrings (1931) Have His Carcase (1932) There are, further, three collections of short stories: Lord Peter Views the Body (1928; containing 15 stories): "The Abominable History of the Man with Copper Fingers" "The Entertaining Episode of the Article in Question" "The Fascinating Problem of Uncle Meleager's Will" "The Fantastic Horror of the Cat in the Bag" "The Unprincipled Affair of the Practical Joker" "The Undignified Melodrama of the Bone of Contention" "The Vindictive Story of the Footsteps That Ran" "The Bibulous Business of a Matter of Taste" "The Learned Adventure of the Dragon's Head" "The Piscatorial Farce of the Stolen Stomach" "The Unsolved Puzzle of the Man with No Face" "The Adventurous Exploit of the Cave of Ali Baba" In the Teeth of the Evidence (1933; containing 2 Lord Peter stories): "In the Teeth of the

 Evidence" "Absolutely Elsewhere" Hangman's Holiday (1939; containing 4 Lord Peter stories) "The Image in the Mirror" "The Incredible Elopement of Lord Peter Wimsey" "The Queen's Square" "The Necklace of Pearls" Three further short stories, "Striding Folly," "The Haunted Policeman," and "Talboys", were collected posthumously in the anthology Striding Folly in 1971.

All the short stories were subsequently anthologized in the compendium Lord Peter (1972). A collection of mock-historical studies by Sayers and various friends, notably including professional herald C.W. Scott-Giles, of the Wimsey family was printed privately and finally published in 1977 under Scott-Giles's name and the title, The Wimsey Family, with Scott-Giles's illustrationsnote He would subsequently provide Sayers with the maps and diagrams for her translation of Dante's Commedia . One unfinished novel, Thrones, Dominations, was completed by novelist Jill Paton Walsh in 1998, who went on to write three sequels on her own: A Presumption of Death in 2002, The Attenbury Emeralds in 2010, and The Late Scholar in 2013. A series of "letters written by various members of the Wimsey family" and generally referred to as The Wimsey Papers appeared in the Spectator magazine between November 1939 and January 1940; these have not yet been anthologized, though various excerpts from them appear in A Presumption of Death.

The Wimsey stories take place between 1922 and 1936, and (a bit unusually for a mystery series) the characters age in real time: Lord Peter is thirty-two in Whose Body? and forty-six in Busman's Honeymoon. Lord Peter is the younger brother of the Duke of Denver, the richest peer in the United Kingdom. As he has no need for a job, he spends his time collecting rare books and acting as a police consultant in murder and grand larceny cases. His main ally in the police is Charles Parker, who later marries Peter's sister. Other recurring characters include Harriet Vane, Peter's love interest and a rare example of an Author Avatar done exceptionally well; Miss Climpson, an elderly spinster whom Peter sometimes sends on fact-finding missions; Mervyn Bunter, Peter's valet and old army buddy; The Honourable Freddy Arbuthnot, financial genius, and one of the oldest Boisterous Bruisers in the book; Peter's mother, the Dowager Duchess of Denver; and a sleazy actress named Miss Vavasour who seems to be a Weirdness Magnet of some strange kind.

The books are considered to be among the best pre- World War II mysteries. The sequels by Paton Walsh take Peter and Harriet into the war and beyond. While there is an film called The Silent Passenger made in Sayers's lifetime based on the character, she disliked it, a feeling seemingly reciprocated by the public and fandom, as it has not survived. In the 1970s, the BBC produced five miniseries starring Ian Carmichael as Lord Peter (Clouds of Witness, The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club, Five Red Herrings, Murder Must Advertise, and The Nine Tailors). Carmichael also starred in the BBC's radio drama series from the '70s to the '80s which adapted nearly all the novels, save for Gaudy Night, which was finally adapted in 2005. The '80s saw Edward Petherbridge and Harriet Walter adapt the three main Harriet Vane novels, Strong Poison, Have His Carcase, and Gaudy Night. Carmichael brought both humor and depth to the role, while Petherbridge emphasized the melancholy and romantic sides of the sleuth.

The books provide examples of: Above Good and Evil : Sir Julian Freke believes that morality is a neurological reflex, redundant in a modern, individualist society, and that one who can commit immoral acts without guilt or shame is therefore a more enlightened human being. This is part of his motivation for committing at least one murder. Absence of Evidence : The Five Red Herrings turns on the absence of a tube of white paint from the crime scene. A dog-in-the-night-time-style example appears in "The Undignified Melodrama of the Bone of Contention", when a horse that is terrified of an allegedly haunted heath doesn't react at all to a phantom coach driven by a headless horseman. Miss Lydgate of Shrewsbury College. The Reverend Venables is an amateur rather than a professional scholar, but is otherwise a textbook example. The Ace : Wimsey can do anything he likes or needs to do, and always excels at it.

Besides being a world-renowned wine connoisseur and expert on rare books, he wins car races, rides a horse perfectly, swims, climbs, recites poetry, intimidates or blackmails criminals, picks locks, chooses frocks, and proves to be a great advertisement writer and bespoke-bell-ringer when he has to. Not far behind is his man Bunter, a talented amateur photographer who can spy on criminals better than Scotland Yard can. Actually Not a Vampire : One witness in The Five Red Herrings is chased out of a disused part of the house by what she thinks is a zombie. She realises, on reflection, that this apparition was actually a badly-injured man hiding in the attic, which is almost as frightening. Accidental Murder : The death in Nine Tailors turns out to have been this. The victim was restrained and unable to escape a situation the belfry during a nine-hour ringing marathon that causes his death from exposure and shock. Adaptation Expansion : Busman's Honeymoon was expanded from a stage play. Aluminum Christmas Trees : Critics at the time doubted that Unnatural Death's method of murder would work. Not only would it work, it was actually employed by a number of real-life murderers.

All Witches Have Cats : In the short story "The Incredible Elopement of Lord Peter Wimsey", Wimsey poses as a wizard in a remote and backwards village. Nine white cats form part of his disguise. Always Murder : Every novel involves a murder, mysterious death, or at least attempted murder. Gaudy Night predominantly concerns lesser crimes, though, and violence doesn't emerge until the criminal has been pursued for some time. Amusingly Lampshaded in Thrones, Dominations, where Harriet becomes worried that the corpse in her latest mystery might be the victim of manslaughter or unlawful death rather than true murder. She explains that a murder is an absolute necessity for a successful mystery story; anything less won't sell. Ambiguously Gay : "Sir Impey Biggs is the handsomest man in England, and no woman will ever care twopence for him." Amateur Sleuth : Wimsey is one of the great literary examples of the type.

Anachronistic Clue : In the 1939 short story "In the Teeth of the Evidence", a corpse is found in a burned out garage, and it is initially identified (in part by the dental work done to the body's teeth) as one Arthur Prendergast, a Wimbledon dentist. As the authorities were trying to ascertain whether the death was due to accident or suicide, further examination turned up a cast porcelain filling in one particular tooth (specifically on the anterior face of the left upper canine). Prendergast's own personal dental records indicated he had a fused porcelain filling in that tooth in that position in 1923. The problem comes in when the English consulting dentist Mr. Lamplough observes that the cast porcelain process came to Britain from America in 1928, and that the two types of fillings are visually different and inserted by different means. Wimsey points out that the records don't show the '23 filling was replaced, so he urges the filling be removed and examined. It turns out Prendergast killed a man and altered the fellow's teeth to pass the corpse off as himself.

Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking : In Unnatural Death, Miss Climpson relays a racist rant by another character, about a "nasty dirty black man" who should have been thrown out of the house, including that the mere sight of him turned the ranter's stomach... then apologises for mentioning stomachs in polite company. Ascended Extra : Lord Peter himself. He started out as a secondary character in a Sexton Blake fanfic that Sayers was writing. Details here. Artifact of Doom : The church bells in The Nine Tailors Author Avatar : Harriet Vane is certainly an author avatar. Sayers herself strenuously, though not entirely convincingly, denied this. Miss Meteyard, a rather ladettish, Oxford-educated advertising copywriter in Murder Must Advertise is actually an excellent candidate for this. She even has some kind of romantic history that she'd rather was kept secret from her straitlaced boss. She's a pretty minor character, though, so has never drawn the attention Harriet did. Badass Boast : Wimsey, when asked by a drunken Pomfret why he won't stand up and fight: "First, because I'm twenty years older than you.

Secondly, because you're six inches taller than I am. And thirdly, because I don't want to hurt you." Badass Bookworm : Small, bookish martial artist Peter. Harriet, Parker and Bunter fit as well, all being highly well-read and -spoken, and pursuing intellectual hobbies, as well as being strong and highly capable. Battle Butler : Bunter is quite a competent detective in his own right, and, like Peter, he's an ex-soldier. Because I'm Good at It : Harriet in Gaudy Night is asked why she writes detective literature — isn't it trivialising crime? Shouldn't she, who was acquitted of murder herself, refuse to do such work? She replies in part "I know what you're thinking — that anybody with proper sensitive feelings would rather scrub floors for a living. But I should scrub floors very badly, and I write detective stories rather well." Beardness Protection Program : Nobby enters it in The Nine Tailors. Beautiful Dreamer : Harriet watches Lord Peter nap in a punt in Gaudy Night. The Five Red Herrings: Lord Peter takes time out of a fishing holiday in Scotland to investigate a killing made to look like a painting accident.

Have His Carcase: Harriet's walking tour is interrupted by a murder mystery. The Nine Tailors: Lord Peter's visit to friends in Norfolk is interrupted by a car accident... which, four months or so later, leads to his involvement in a murder mystery. Busman's Honeymoon: Lord Peter's honeymoon is interrupted by a murder mystery. The title is a deliberate reference to this trope. But I Digress : The Dowager Duchess tends to change the subject four or five times — in rapid succession — whenever she opens her mouth. The Calls Are Coming from Inside the House : Used in Absolutely Elsewhere — a murderer has their accomplice place the call from another town, and picks up the extension when the call goes through, as a way of faking an alibi. Catch Your Death of Cold : Lady Dormer's death, which sets off the plot of The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club — she insisted on going to a firework display, and caught a cold which turned to pneumonia and killed her. Changing of the Guard : The stories experimented with perspective shifts from the beginning, but we see Harriet's point of view more and more as the books go on.

Gaudy Night only has one scene that features Peter without Harriet, and Busman's Honeymoon is shared between them as a couple. The Charmer : Lord Peter is very quick-witted and talented at getting people on side — or, when it becomes necessary (or he's bored), mocking or manipulating them. In the early books, he comes across as rather too prickly and facetious — he moderates this as he ages and expands his social circles. Bunter takes over this role when dealing with working-class folks — especially female servants, who appreciate his dark good looks and flirtatious manner. Chekovs Gunman : In Nine Tailors, the alert reader will notice that one character is excluded from suspicion due to being dead—but that his body was identified only by the clothes it had on. Chivalrous Pervert : Peter was one in his youth. His uncle, who claims to have taught Peter all he knows, is a Chivalrous Dirty Old Man . Christianity Is Catholic : Averted — Sayers was a respected Anglican theologian and knew her denominations. Catholicism and High Anglicanism appear in several stories, but so do a number of Protestant and Orthodox faiths.

Christmas Cake : Harriet, in her mid-thirties when she marries Peter. Clear Their Name : The plot of Strong Poison kicks off when Peter attends Harriet Vane's murder trial and realises that she's not guilty despite the apparently strong case against her. Clock Discrepancy : Have His Carcase has a discrepancy that's based on medical evidence rather than timepieces. Harriet finds the body of the victim with still-liquid blood pooled around it; then the body is washed out to sea before it can be autopsied. Peter and Harriet spend most of the book assuming the murder happened almost immediately before she found the body, because the blood didn't have time to clot; in actuality, the victim was a hemophiliac and the murder happened several hours earlier. Competition Coupon Madness : Lord Peter's "Whiffling" advertising scheme in Murder Must Advertise is described as becoming a nationwide obsession.

Complaining about Shows You Don't Watch : In-Universe , Harriet attends a literary party, where a gang of authors take turns theorising why some thoroughly arty and undeserving novel has been awarded a reviewer's prize — because of advertising deals, or political loyalties, or familial connections, or other underhand reasons. Naturally, none of them have actually read the book, or have the faintest idea what it's even about. Conspicuous Gloves : In the novel Have His Carcase, the fact that the victim was wearing gloves is a clue to his haemophilia, which figures in the plot. Cool Old Lady : The Dowager Duchess. Lady Dormer in The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club is also described as one by those who knew her. The Coroner : Several coroner's inquests take place throughout the books, but Dr Horner, assistant to forensic examiner Sir James Lubbock, is an example of the "medical examiner" model: he's a hearty, cheerful man who chatters, jokes and sings while he's sawing through the skull of a weeks-old corpse.

Could Have Avoided This Plot : The antagonist in Unnatural Death murders her own aunt, her maid and her best friend, and attempts to murder Lord Peter, Parker, Miss Climpson and a London solicitor, before finally killing herself, all to secure a fortune that, as we discover in Gaudy Night, they would have inherited anyway. Crime Reconstruction : At the end of Five Red Herrings, Lord Peter and the police re-enact the events of the murder and the following day, accumulating evidence as they go. Cut-and-Paste Note : The poison-pen writer in Gaudy Night uses letters cut from newspapers for her notes. A search for the source papers forms part of the investigation. Dead Artists Are Better : In Strong Poison, Lord Peter suggests this as a motive for murder: the murderess kills her lover, so his books become bestsellers. Then when she's arrested and hanged, her books will become bestsellers, too. Deadpan Snarker : Bunter's humorous dialogue is always delivered as part of his highly formal, old-fashioned and subservient manner of speaking. Deadly Doctor : The murderer in Whose Body?

kills his victim, and then dissects the body as part of a lecture to his students. Dirty Business : Lord Peter encourages Harriet in a discussion when she realizes that detective work is often this. Disguised in Drag : Jacques "Sans-culotte" Lerouge, who disguises himself as a flirtatious, gamine lady's maid in order to infiltrate wealthy houses and pilfer their valuables. Dogged Nice Guy : Lord Peter pursues Harriet for something like five years. Lord Peter: I shall, with your permission, continue to propose to you at decently regulated intervals, as a birthday treat, and on Guy Fawkes' Day and on the Anniversary of the King's Ascension. But consider it, if you will, a pure formality. You need not pay the slightest attention to it. Harriet: Peter, it's foolish to go on like this. Lord Peter: And, of course, on the Feast of All Fools. Downer Ending : In Have His Carcase, it's implied that there isn't enough solid evidence to hold or convict the murderers, even though Peter and Harriet figured out how they did it.

Though in Gaudy Night we're told that at least one of them was convicted. And the end of Unnatural Death sees Wimsey musing that almost certainly, fewer people would have died if he hadn't involved himself — and the man who originally asked him to investigate isn't even grateful. Drives Like Crazy : Peter, as he explains in Busman's Honeymoon: I don't happen to be afraid of speed — that's why I like to show off. Driven to Suicide : At least three of the series' various murderers. In Murder Must Advertise, suicide is a choice to keep the villain's innocent family from guaranteed poverty and social ostracism. In Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club, it was seen as the only honourable way out of the situation—which was not unusual in those days, at least in certain realms of fiction. In Strong Poison, the grief-stricken Ryland Vaughan tells Peter his suicide plan, and shows him the drugs he intends to use. We never find out what happens to him. Eureka Moment : Whose Body?, Clouds of Witness and Have His Carcase, among others, are solved with Eureka Moments. Whose Body? discusses the phenomenon in some detail.

Everybody Lives : Each of the novels has at least one major death, at least in the backstory; Gaudy Night is the least bloody, as the death was some years ago and all of the criminal's victims survive. Everybody Smokes : Peter, Parker, Harriet and St George all smoke, as do many supporting characters. Peter's masterwork while working in advertising is a campaign for Whifflets Cigarettes. Evil Counterpart : In Whose Body?: Sir Julian Freke, a genius who kills without remorse, motivated by sexual jealousy and anti-Semitism, is contrasted with Lord Peter who catches criminals for the fun of it and feels deep guilt. Evil Matriarch : Helen, Duchess of Denver, is a rather unpleasant person, and nobody in her family much likes her. She's openly antagonistic towards Peter and Harriet in the later books. Evil Twin : Appears in the short story The Image in the Mirror. A pair of mirror-image twins, born out of wedlock, are Separated at Birth — one is raised by a kindly aunt as her own, while the other is taken to the colonies by the mother and left alone and resentful after her death.

Expy : Bunter is explicitly compared to Wodehouse's Jeeves; Lord Peter and Freddy Arbuthnot both resemble Bertie Wooster. I Remember Because... : One witness in Unnatural Death notes that she remembers Miss Dawson's maids' surname because it was such a silly name: "Gotobed". Averted in Whose Body? and Clouds of Witness, where investigators and witnesses spend several pages painstakingly reconstructing memories with reference to physical records, and where I Remember Because... explanations are specifically referred to as inadmissible in court. Subverted in Strong Poison; the servants remember in detail everything Boyes could possibly have eaten or drank in their house because the murderer is their master and he made sure they remembered, to create the impression Boyes couldn't have been poisoned on their premises. Ironic Echo : Gaude, Sabaoth, John, Jericho, Jubilee, Dimity, Batty Thomas, and Tailor Paul. Nine Tailors Make a Man. The first spoken word in Whose Body? is the same as the final spoken word in Busman's Honeymoon, and is said by the same person, but in a very different context and mood.

Knight Templar : At the climax of Strong Poison, Lord Peter tells Norman Urquhart that he has just given him a massive dose of arsenic and asks why he isn't showing symptoms. This prompts Urquhart to break down and confess that he has made himself immune to arsenic, and so was able to kill his cousin by splitting an arsenic-laced omelette with him. Then Parker arrests him. Of course, Peter says that he was lying about the arsenic in the sweets, but there's also a possibility that he wasn't... Lord Peter talking a murderer into shooting himself at the end of The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club. Knows a Guy Who Knows a Guy : In Strong Poison, The Hon. Freddy saw a man who knows a fellow who has it from a chappie that the villain is in financial trouble. The man owed Freddy a favour, and can have the fellow put him in touch with the chappie in exchange for another favour — for the chappie, that is, not for the fellow, or the man. Y'see?

Lame Pun Reaction : In the cricket match in Murder Must Advertise, Ingleby in his first innings is out for zero, called "out for a duck". When he returns to the pavilion, Wimsey tells him "Quack, quack." Ingleby throws the bat at him. Lampshade Hanging : Repeatedly. For the entire mystery genre. Laser-Guided Karma : Lord Peter gets a blackmailer to return the stolen items by turning the tables. Last Name Basis : The SCR all refer to each other by title or honorific , except for very close friends, who use last-name-based nicknames, like "Teddy" for Miss Edwards. Leave Behind a Pistol : The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club Less literally in Murder Must Advertise it's actually "redeem yourself by walking straight into an obvious 'nasty accident' trap" Let Off by the Detective : In The Unsolved Puzzle of the Man with No Face Lord Peter decides not to try to prove his theory because the victim is a villain and the alleged murderer a gifted painter.

Likes Older Women : Reggie Pomfret in Gaudy Night, an undergraduate of twenty or so, is taken with Harriet (who's in her early-to-mid-thirties). Line-of-Sight Name : Mr. Oliver, from a copy of Oliver Twist, in The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club Literary Allusion Title : Not just the books, usually each chapter too Little Old Lady Investigates : Miss Climpson investigates solo in Unnatural Death and Strong Poison. Long List : Peter rattles off a particularly impressive one in The Nine Tailors, consisting of all the things he's figured out about the case. The only thing missing from it is the identity of the murderer. Lost in Character : In Murder Must Advertise, Peter gets enough into the character of Death Bredon and the details of his Whiffle campaign that an interruption from Scotland Yard with evidence related to his actual case is greeted with genuinely heartfelt cursing. Loveable Rogue : Jock Graham in The Five Red Herrings; Nobby Cranton in The Nine Tailors. Magical Negro : Hallelujah Dawson, a handsome, elderly West Indian clergyman who's falsely accused of murder and takes it in his stride while charming everyone around him.

Maybe Magic, Maybe Mundane : The solution to The Nine Tailors — rationally plausible, but spooky. The Image in the Mirror suggests that twin brothers might share a psychic connection, though it lampshades the unlikelihood. In Murder Must Advertise, Dian de Momerie, in conversation with a disguised Lord Peter, seems to have a moment of telepathy : "There's a hanged man in your thoughts. Why are you thinking of hanging?" Lord Peter's internal monologue tries to explain it as an effect of the drink and drugs she's taken. Meaningful Name : Hallelujah Dawson. Yes, that's his real name. Yes, he's a missionary. How did you guess? Then there's the venerable Rev. Venables (see The Vicar , below) and the equally Reverend Tredgold (named in anticipation of Heaven's golden streets). Arguably, Wimsey's own name is an example, and lampshaded in the series: his coat of arms bears the motto "As My Whimsy Takes Me." Pym's Publicity in Murder Must Advertise, although it's obviously less extreme than others of the type.

Several characters lost money in the collapse of the Megatherium Trust. Minor Injury Overreaction : In Five Red Herrings, the wealthy painter Gowan has his friends and servants arrange an elaborate alibi, and skips the country in the middle of the night, because Campbell cut off his prized beard. Motive Rant : Annie Wilson at the end of Gaudy Night berates the S.C.R. for what she sees as a betrayal of the feminine ideal (never mind that the S.C.R. are actually for the most part fairly girly — they're bluestockings, not tomboys). She is arguably the only ideologically-motivated villain in the entire series (although revenge also plays a part, and the scene in question is both highly effective and unbelievably offensive and disturbing. This single scene is typically considered Sayers's masterpiece. More Hero Than Thou : In Nine Tailors, two men try to shield each other from blame for murder, unaware that neither of them did it. Murder-Suicide : Peter stops the murderer from committing suicide in Whose Body?, and encourages it (more or less) in Murder Must Advertise.

Mysterious Note : Mysterious poison-pen letters (together with pranks and outright vandalism) are part of a plot against Shrewsbury College, Oxford in Gaudy Night. Mystery Writer Detective : Harriet Vane is best known for her detective novels. She takes an active part in the investigations of Have His Carcase and Gaudy Night. The Attenbury Emeralds case. An incident with a pig, during the war. Notably Quick Deliberation : Subverted in Strong Poison, when Harriet is on trial for murder. Everybody in the gallery expects a quick deliberation, but it drags on for hours and the jury foreman eventually reports that they've been unable to agree on a verdict. Not a Game : Investigating murder. Parker points this out explicitly in Whose Body? Not Listening to Me, Are You? : In Gaudy Night, Peter has been investigating the backgrounds of the suspects, but Harriet is too distracted to take in what he's saying. She's able to recite some of his findings back to him, but misses the clues that would have allowed her to join the dots and identify the criminal herself.

Not Proven : Have His Carcase ends with Peter and Harriet knowing who committed the murder, how it was done, and that there's no possible way he could ever be convicted for it. Obfuscating Stupidity : Peter and Climpson seem to use this as their entire modus operandi. Of Corpse He's Alive : Both The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club and Five Red Herrings. Old Flame Fizzle : Harriet finds going to the Shrewsbury Gaudy to see an old friend doesn't work out well. Oh Crap! : Younger brother of an Upper-Class Twit , Lord Peter goes out of his way to cultivate an Upper-Class Twit image himself. The hapless criminals of Britain think of him as "Bertie Wooster playing detective"; by the time they find themselves face to face with Lord Peter's frightening intelligence, it's much too late. Old-Fashioned Rowboat Date : Wimsey and Harriet Vane go punting in Gaudy Night, and the scene is retained in the 1987 BBC television production. Such boating excursions are traditional at Oxford, where the story is set.

The modern twists on this are their practical discussion of Harriet's poison pen prankster investigation and the "spot of celibacy" Harriet is maintaining, despite Wimsey's numerous proposals of matrimony. Shout-Out : In Murder Must Advertise, Death Bredon creates an innovative advertising campaign that he predicts (accurately) will be "the biggest advertising stunt since the Mustard Club"; the Mustard Club was a famous Real Life advertising gimmick for Colman's Mustard. Murder Must Advertise was inspired by the time Sayers spent working in advertising before the Wimsey novels took off — and now, three guesses who came up with the Mustard Club... One of the characters in Strong Poison refers to the advertising slogan "Guinness is good for you." Guess who came up with that slogan? (If you go into an "Oirish Pub" and see one of those old Guinness ads with zookeepers and toucans, you may be satisfied to learn that that was Sayers, too.) Peter's address, 110 A Piccadilly, is a subtle salute to Sherlock Holmes, who lived at 221 B Baker Street.

It's a rare Wimsey story that doesn't include a Shout-Out to Gilbert and Sullivan , Alice in Wonderland , or both. In Five Red Herrings, there are mentions of several other detective novels. At least two of them are deliberate hints to the solution of the murder: "Sir John Magill's Last Journey" in which the murderer impersonates his victim to conceal the true time of death, and "The Two Tickets Puzzle", in which a vital railway ticket is forged. Silly Will : In "The Piscatorial Farce of the Stolen Stomach", a wealthy man leaves his stomach to his great-nephew, a medical student. When Lord Peter decides he wants to see the actual wording of the will, he poses as an author collecting examples of comic wills. Smart People Know Latin : And Peter and Harriet are smart enough that he proposes to her, and she accepts, in Latin. This is Truth in Television for educated English people of that generation. Also, the specific words he uses (placetne, magistra?) are a Shout-Out to the Oxford degree ceremony. note The standard form is placetne, magistre?

asking the assembled graduates ("Masters") to consent to admit the graduand. Wimsey uses the female form magistra to Harriet, who is herself an Oxford graduate. This ties in nicely with the Family Versus Career themes of the novel. Smart People Play Chess : Averted — while a few gifted players appear among the supporting characters, neither Peter nor Harriet can play very well. Spirited Young Lady : Lady Mary Wimsey, country lady and socialist activist. It's also quite common in the series that a rich elderly lady was one in her youth: Agatha Dawson, Clara Whitaker, Lady Dormer and Rosanna Wrayburn were all, in one way or another, successful rebels against Victorian convention. Spousal Privilege : Invoked in The Nine Tailors as the reason why the police can't allow the Thodays to marry. Straw Feminist : Miss Hillyard in Gaudy Night, whose prejudice against "womanly" women, married women and mothers , especially in the workplace, is implied to arise from simple jealousy and is contrasted against the various more reasoned models of feminism displayed by the university staff and students.

Stronger Than They Look : Lord Peter is a small, slight man, and gets thrown around when caught in a scrum, but has terrific strength in his arms and body, and can't be overpowered one-on-one. George in The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club — unusually, the condition arises after he marries. Why Denver was able to dismiss Goyles in Clouds of Witness One Dawson family member lost his fiancee when his family lost its money, in Unnatural Death Uncanny Family Resemblance : Invoked in the invention of Peter's identical cousin, Death Bredon, in Murder Must Advertise and The Bibulous Business of a Matter of Taste. Undercover When Alone : In The Adventurous Exploit of the Cave of Ali Baba. Unusual Chapter Numbers : Each book has a different system. Some have plain numbers; some are named for that chapter's chief character; some are thematic. Upper-Class Twit : Peter's brother Gerald, the Duke of Denver; Gerald's wife Helen, the Duchess of Denver Viewers Are Geniuses : Well, readers anyway.

The books are stuffed with obscure literary allusions, and just try to solve the crossword puzzle clue in The Fascinating Problem Of Uncle Meleager's Will... Tricked Into Signing : Averted in Unnatural Death. Mary Whittaker tries to trick her great-aunt Agatha Dawson into signing a will by burying it in a bunch of other papers that need a signature — and by having two of the housemaids ready to witness the signing of the will without Agatha realizing it. However, Agatha notices the will and refuses to sign. The Vicar : Several across the stories, reflecting Sayers's interest in theology. The Reverend Tredgold in Unnatural Death is High Church and conscientious, and offers Peter sensible moral counsel. The Reverend Boyes in Strong Poison is long-suffering, poor and notably tender-hearted. The Reverend Venables in The Nine Tailors is High Church (again), energetic, long-winded and obsessed with his pet subject of campanology. The Reverend Goodacre in Busman's Honeymoon is a classic bumbling Vicar, complete with an inept attempt at a sherry party.

Mr Hancock in The Undignified Melodrama of the Bone of Contention is High Church (yet again!), over-earnest, and out of his depth in a conservative rural parish. All of these, especially the Rev. Venables, are based to a greater or lesser degree on Sayers' father. The Watson : Parker, Bunter, Harriet or a local policeman typically serve as Peter's Watson, and various members of the SCR serve as Harriet's. These Watsons are generally very bright themselves, and serve as sounding-boards to more speculative theories or areas of highly-specialised exposition. Wax Museum Morgue : In The Abominable History of the Man With the Copper Fingers. The last statue the jealous sculptor made of his mistress ... isn't quite a statue. Wham Episode : The cricket match chapter in Murder Must Advertise ends with Lord Peter getting arrested. Howzat? What Happened to the Mouse? : In The Five Red Herrings, part of the evidence against Waters is the absence of his bicycle, and the police note that they don't know whether to arrest Waters, or make a search for a bicycle thief. Waters is innocent, and the bicycle thief is never mentioned again.

Wine Is Classy : Lord Peter is a big time oenophilenote "wine lover" for the Greek-impaired. and so this trope comes up often. Wishful Projection : Dr Penberthy in The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club accuses a number of women around him of having an obsession with sex, until it becomes clear that he's got one himself. With Due Respect : Bunter frequently addresses Lord Peter in this manner, with equal parts sincerity and criticism. Naturally, he's always right. World War I : Though he was a capable soldier, decorated for valour, Peter's wartime experiences basically left him shattered. Zany Scheme : Clouds of Witness has pretty nearly every character trying to pull one of these on the others :: Indexes :: Five Red Herrings : Dorothy L.

Sayers : 9780450012488 Five Red Herrings US$6.75 US$12.64 You save US$5.89 Free delivery worldwide Add to basket Add to wishlist Description A must-read for fans of Agatha Christie's Poirot and Margery Allingham's Campion Mysteries, Lord Peter Wimsey is the immortal amateur sleuth created by Dorothy L Sayers. Lord Peter Wimsey could imagine the artist stepping back, the stagger, the fall, down to where the pointed rocks grinned like teeth. But was it an accident - or murder? Six members of the close-knit Galloway artists' colony do not regret Campbell's death. Five of them are red herrings. show more Product details 110 x 176 x 26mm | 199.58g Publication date Crime Review quote She brought to the detective novel originality, intelligence, energy and wit. -- P. D. James Sayers is one of the best detective story writers. -- E. C. Bentley Daily Telegraph I admire her novels ... she has great fertility of invention, ingenuity and a wonderful eye for detail.

-- Ruth Rendell She combined literary prose with powerful suspense, and it takes a rare talent to achieve that. A truly great storyteller. -- Minette Walters show more About Dorothy L. Sayers Dorothy L Sayers was born in Oxford in 1893, and was both a classical scholar and a graduate in modern languages. As well as her popular Lord Peter Wimsey series, she wrote several religious plays, but considered her translations of Dante's Divina Commedia to be her best work. She died in 1957. show more Review Text Clouds of Witness (TV Mini-Series 1972) - IMDb Clouds of Witness Lord Peter's brother, the Duke of Denver is accused of murdering their sister Mary's fiancé. It's up to Lord Peter and his faithful man Bunter to untangle all the clues and the ...

See full summary » Stars: a list of 100 titles created 24 Jun 2012 a list of 20 titles created 31 Jul 2012 a list of 289 titles created 18 Nov 2014 a list of 200 titles created 1 month ago a list of 157 titles created 3 weeks ago Title: Clouds of Witness (1972– ) 8.3/10 Want to share IMDb's rating on your own site? Use the HTML below. You must be a registered user to use the IMDb rating plugin. Murder Must Advertise (TV Mini-Series 1973) Mystery When one of the copy writers of Pym's Advertising Agency meets his death by falling down a spiral staircase, a new "writer" joins the staff to investigate the matter. Stars: Ian Carmichael, Mark Eden, Rachel Herbert When one of the members of the Bellona Club passes away, Lord Wimsey is brought in to determine the time of death for testamentary purposes.

Stars: Ian Carmichael, Terence Alexander, Anna Cropper Five Red Herrings (TV Mini-Series 1975) Crime | Mystery Solve the mystery with Lord Peter Whimsey, based on the book by Dorothy L Sayers. Stars: Ian Carmichael, Glyn Houston, Roy Boutcher The Nine Tailors (TV Mini-Series 1974) Mystery The title refers to the nine strokes of a church bell to announce the death of a man. In this adaptation of Dorothy L. Sayers's intricate, nostalgic, and atmospheric novel of the same name,... See full summary » Stars: Ian Carmichael, Glyn Houston, Elizabeth Proud A gentleman sleuth solves mysteries and falls in love with a detective novelist. Stars: Harriet Walter, Edward Petherbridge, Richard Morant Bertram Wooster, a well-intentioned, wealthy layabout, has a habit of getting himself into trouble and it's up to his brilliant valet, Jeeves, to get him out. Stars: Stephen Fry, Hugh Laurie, Robert Daws A series of dramatisations of some of P.G. Wodehouse's comic short stories - in which P.G. Wodehouse, himself, introduced some of the early episodes.

Stars: John Alderton, Pauline Collins, P.G. Wodehouse Amateur detective Miss Jane Marple investigates the murder of a young woman whose body is found in the library at Gossington Hall, home of Colonel and Mrs. Arthur Bantry. Stars: Joan Hickson, Debbie Arnold, John Bardon Drawing on her love of theatre and art, New Zealand novelist Ngaio Marsh created elegant crime-puzzlers full of quirky characters with hidden agendas, all brought meticulously to life in this BBC series. Stars: William Simons, Patrick Malahide, Belinda Lang In 1930's England, a man from an aristocratic family takes up the pseudonym Albert Campion and, with the help of his ex-burglar manservant, solves mysteries. Stars: Peter Davison, Brian Glover, Andrew Burt Whilst traveling in pre-war Nazi Germany, a young couple realise a passenger seems to have been kidnapped off their train, but, no other passenger aside from themselves, recalls her. Director: Anthony Page Inspector Robert Lewis and Sergeant James Hathaway solve the tough cases that the learned inhabitants of Oxford throw at them.

Stars: Kevin Whately, Laurence Fox, Clare Holman Edit Storyline Lord Peter's brother, the Duke of Denver is accused of murdering their sister Mary's fiancé. It's up to Lord Peter and his faithful man Bunter to untangle all the clues and the contradicting testimony of a cloud of witnesses to save Denver. Written by Kathy Li 7 October 1973 (USA) See more » Also Known As: Lord Peter Wimsey: Clouds of Witness See more » Company Credits Lord Peter Wimsey : Now Polly's had a rotten show. Dowager Dutchess : I don't care what she's had. But when I discover she's warming her thermometer on her hot water bottle to promote a temperature, and has swallowed the entire contents of a bottle of ipecacuanha so that her symptoms become even more convincing... Lord Peter Wimsey : Are you absolutely certain? Dowager Dutchess : My dear boy, she's been throwing the wool over the eyes of all of you! I suppose you call that kind of thing a neurosis or some such nonsense, and ... – See all my reviews There are several ways for a writer to startle the reader at the end of a mystery.

The most overused is "the least likely suspect" solution, a variant being found in an early Ellery Queen novel when a character already proven to be innocent turned out to be the guilty party. Agatha Christie broke all the rules when she made the first-person narrator the killer and again when she made all the suspects the collaborating killers and most outrageously of all when she made the Master Detective the killer. (Contact me if you want the titles of these books.) With Dorothy Sayers we have far better written novels--though not necessarily better mysteries than those solved by Poirot and Marple--with characters far more human and therefore interesting. So when the BBC decided back in 1972 to film several of her Lord Peter Wimsey mysteries, mostly at the urging of comedian Ian Carmichael, that actor was not even on the short list of candidates for the part since he was too closely associated with Bertie Wooster, whom he had shortly before that played on British telly. But he got the part and the rest is history.

Five of the Wimsey mysteries were filmed and shown a year later on "Masterpiece Theatre": Clouds of Witness, The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club, Five Red Herrings, Murder Must Advertise and The Nine Tailors. They were a smash with audiences on both sides of the Atlantic and showed up later with a new series title, "Murder Most British," which included only three of them. The Lord Peter Wimsey website was filled with inquiries from fans panting to get copies of any or all of the fabulous five, but the BBC retained a stony silence. The good news is, as you might have guessed by now, that Acorn Media is releasing four of them and <Clouds of Witness> is now available as a boxed set of five tapes and it is a stunner. My only quibble is that more than one of the 45 minute episodes could easily have been accommodated on a tape; but I am so delighted to have it at all that any such monetary objections must fall by the wayside. Without revealing the ending, let me say it is of a type not already mentioned in my opening!

Lord Peter's brother Gerald is accused of murdering a man he had just argued with that evening and steadfastly refuses to say where he was at the time of the killing, although he was found bending over the body and his own gun was the means of death. So with too many clues to help him and a certain major character making up lies all the way, Lord Peter is chased by a vicious dog, nearly drowns in a bog, barely makes a stormy trans-Atlantic flight to save his brother, and unlike the more cerebral Poirot, bumbles now and then in his conclusions in a very human way. In fact, all the characters are quite human. When the well-read Wimsey tosses a reference to "Manon Lescaut" to his Scotland Yard companion and brother-in-law-to-be (played beautifully by Mark Eden), the impatient detective retorts, "I never read Manon Lescaut," and drawing an apology from the somewhat abashed Lord. Even the Duchess avoids stereotype with her upperclass-cool remarks concerning the proceedings, suggesting in a deep contralto a "nice cup of tea" at a crisis during her son's trial.

As with the BBC Poirot series, the 1920s décor is impeccable and adds greatly to the amusement. Indeed it is for the acting and the art design that I will return many times to view this and the other tapes. I can only hope that The Nine Tailors will find its way into the series once the other four are out for sale. Acorn Media, who has already given us "Mapp and Lucia," "Disraeli," and the Canadian Gilbert and Sullivans already reviewed on these pages, is to be thanked for making this new series available to seekers of the finer style of mystery recreation. 13 of 13 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes

Question: Who wrote Five Red Herrings and The Nine Tailors?
Answer: Dorothy L Sayers