“Unnatural Death” by Dorothy L. Sayers Part III

Here are a few of the many covers for Unnatural Death. I like them better than the ones on my mass-market paperback copies, both of which show a woman surrounded by blood in a bed, which isn't in the book! Again, on this third book in the Peter Wimsey series, I found the last act … Continue reading “Unnatural Death” by Dorothy L. Sayers Part III →

Unnatural Death by Dorothy L. Sayers, Part II, “The Legal Problem”

I'll save you some time and trouble. The gist, laid out in chapter XIV "Sharp Quillets of the Law," concerns a new-at-the-time law: if a person died without a will after 31 December 1925, the estate went to the next of kin with emphasis on the vagaries of the word "issue." In absence of "issue" … Continue reading Unnatural Death by Dorothy L. Sayers, Part II, “The Legal Problem” →

March 2024 Books

I managed to finish six books in March; three were quick reads and three had more heft, both in page count and subject matter. Letters to My Weird Sisters: On Autism and Feminism by Joanne Limburg. I really savored this strange book. Limburg, an autistic writer and mother, structures her book as letters addressed to … Continue reading March 2024 Books →

Dorothy L. Sayers’ Unnatural Death Part 1

Spoilers ahead for Part 1 of the third Peter Wimsey book, Unnatural Death, by Dorothy L. Sayers, first published in 1927. Before we begin I suggest you skip the fictional Biographical Note by Peter's uncle. It contains spoilers for future books, most notably Strong Poison. It was not part of the early editions of the … Continue reading Dorothy L. Sayers’ Unnatural Death Part 1 →

Clouds of Witness ch 13-end

Fair warning: spoilers ahead for the ending of Clouds of Witness! I wrote the posts on sections 2 and 3 of Clouds of Witness early, as I'd been reading ahead. I continued reading to the end, but my progress was slowed considerably (one might even say "bogged down" after the events of the last section, … Continue reading Clouds of Witness ch 13-end →

Clouds of Witness Ch 8-12

Good morning! You are reading this on Thursday but I'm writing it the previous Monday, having raced through this section after chapter 7 ended with a bang and a brass bedstead. In this section, I feel Sayers took a leap ahead in her storytelling abilities compared with Whose Body? Here she cranks up the tension … Continue reading Clouds of Witness Ch 8-12 →

Clouds of Witness ch 4-7

Hello! Am I talking to myself? Is anyone reading this or listening? Does anyone care? No matter. I'm reading. And I care deeply. My experience of the Sayers mysteries, having read them all once, is that as a writer, Dorothy set herself a challenge, and then wrote the book to meet the challenge. In Whose … Continue reading Clouds of Witness ch 4-7 →

Clouds of Witness ch 1-3

I wrote that I'd post this last Thursday, but life got away from me, as it is so wont to do. Clouds of Witness is the second of the Lord Peter Wimsey mysteries by Dorothy L. Sayers. She began writing it before the first book, Whose Body?, had been sold. Near the end of that … Continue reading Clouds of Witness ch 1-3 →

Clouds of Witness (Lord Peter Wimsey #2) by Dorothy L. Sayers readalong

Hello! Let's read Clouds of Witness in March. I'll put up a post each Thursday for these chapters: March 7: chapters 1-3 March 14: chapters 4-7 March 21: chapters 8-12 March 28: chapters 13-19 (end) As before, I don't recommend the afterword by John Curran unless you've already read the series before: spoilers. Sayers started … Continue reading Clouds of Witness (Lord Peter Wimsey #2) by Dorothy L. Sayers readalong →

Whose Body? Chaps 10-13 (end)

First, some unfinished business from the last section. I was so pleased with myself for recognizing the foreshadowing for the next book in the series, Clouds of Witness, in the beginning of this sentence when Peter is telling his brother why having an amateur detective in the family might be useful: "You may come to … Continue reading Whose Body? Chaps 10-13 (end) →