Born: 13 June 1893, Oxford
Died: 17 December 1957, Witham, UK
Detective writer, bluestocking, critic, and translator of Dante, Sayers was one of the all-time greats. The creator of Lord Peter Wimsey, pedigreed sleuth, her detective stories are both ingenious and literate. The early ones are clever and funny, and a breath of fresh air at that staider time; the later, more serious ones of the mid-’30s have depth of character and theme. Opinions are divided about the wooing, wedding, and bedding of Harriet Vane.
Works
- Whose Body? (1923; Lord Peter Wimsey)
- Clouds of Witness (1926; Lord Peter Wimsey)
- Unnatural Death (1927; Lord Peter Wimsey; aka The Dawson Pedigree)
- The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club (1928; Lord Peter Wimsey)
- Lord Peter Views the Body (1928; Lord Peter Wimsey; short stories)
- The Documents in the Case (1930; with Robert Eustace)
- Strong Poison (1930; Lord Peter Wimsey)
- The Five Red Herrings (1931; Lord Peter Wimsey; published in the US as Suspicious Characters)
- Have His Carcase (1932; Lord Peter Wimsey)
- Murder Must Advertise (1933; Lord Peter Wimsey)
- Hangman’s Holiday (1933; short stories, some with Lord Peter Wimsey or Montague Egg)
- The Nine Tailors (1934; Lord Peter Wimsey)
- Gaudy Night (1935; Lord Peter Wimsey)
- Busman’s Honeymoon (1937; Lord Peter Wimsey)
- In the Teeth of the Evidence (1939; short stories, some with Lord Peter Wimsey or Montague Egg)
- Striding Folly (1972; Lord Peter Wimsey; short stories)