Lord Peter Death Bredon Wimsey (later 17th
Duke of Denver
In the works of Dorothy L. Sayers, the fictional title of Duke of Denver is held by Gerald Wimsey, older brother of the books' protagonist, Lord Peter Wimsey. In novels written after Sayers' death by Jill Paton Walsh (with the cooperation of the S ...
) is the fictional protagonist in a series of detective novels and short stories by
Dorothy L. Sayers
Dorothy Leigh Sayers (; 13 June 1893 – 17 December 1957) was an English crime writer and poet. She was also a student of classical and modern languages.
She is best known for her mysteries, a series of novels and short stories set between th ...
(and their continuation by
Jill Paton Walsh
Gillian Honorine Mary Herbert, Baroness Hemingford, (née Bliss; 29 April 1937 – 18 October 2020), known professionally as Jill Paton Walsh, was an English novelist and children's writer. She may be known best for her Booker Prize-nominated n ...
). A
dilettante
Dilettante or dilettantes may refer to:
* An amateur, someone with a non-professional interest
* A layperson, the opposite of an expert
* ''Dilettante'' (album), a 2005 album by Ali Project
* ''Dilettantes'' (album), a 2008 album by You Am I
* D ...
who solves mysteries for his own amusement, Wimsey is an archetype for the British
gentleman detective
The gentleman detective, less commonly lady detective, is a type of fictional character. He (or she) has long been a staple of crime fiction, particularly in detective novels and short stories set in the United Kingdom in the Golden Age. The heroe ...
. He is often assisted by his valet and former
batman
Batman is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger, and debuted in Detective Comics 27, the 27th issue of the comic book ''Detective Comics'' on ...
,
Mervyn Bunter
Mervyn Bunter is a fictional character in Dorothy L. Sayers' novels and short stories featuring Lord Peter Wimsey.
Literary Background
Dorothy L. Sayers (1893–1957) wrote a number of novels and short stories concerning the adventures of ...
; by his good friend and later brother-in-law, police detective
Charles Parker; and, in a few books, by
Harriet Vane, who becomes his wife.
Biography
Background
Born in 1890 and ageing in real time, Wimsey is described as being of average height, with straw-coloured hair, a beaked nose, and a vaguely foolish face. Reputedly his looks are patterned after those of academic and poet
Roy Ridley
Maurice Roy Ridley (25 January 1890, in Orcheston St Mary – 12 June 1969) was a writer and poet, Fellow and Chaplain of Balliol College, Oxford. He was also a visiting professor at Bowdoin under the auspices of the Tallman Foundation, and ...
, whom Sayers briefly met after witnessing him read his
Newdigate Prize-winning poem "Oxford" at the
Encaenia
Encaenia (; ) is an academic or sometimes ecclesiastical ceremony, usually performed at colleges or universities. It generally occurs some time near the annual ceremony for the general conferral of degrees to students. The word is from Latin, mean ...
ceremony in July 1913. Wimsey also possesses considerable intelligence and athletic ability, evidenced by his playing cricket for
Oxford University
Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...
while earning a
First
First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1).
First or 1st may also refer to:
*World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement
Arts and media Music
* 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and rec ...
. He creates a spectacularly successful publicity campaign for Whifflet cigarettes while working for Pym's Publicity Ltd, and at age 40 is able to turn three cartwheels in the office corridor, stopping just short of the boss's open office door (''
Murder Must Advertise
''Murder Must Advertise'' is a 1933 mystery novel by Dorothy L. Sayers, the eighth in her series featuring Lord Peter Wimsey. Most of the action of the novel takes place in an advertising agency, a setting with which Sayers was familiar as s ...
'').
Among Lord Peter's hobbies, in addition to criminology, is collecting
incunabula
In the history of printing, an incunable or incunabulum (plural incunables or incunabula, respectively), is a book, pamphlet, or broadside that was printed in the earliest stages of printing in Europe, up to the year 1500. Incunabula were pro ...
, books from the earliest days of printing. He is an expert on matters of food (and especially wine), male fashion, and classical music. He excels at the piano, including
Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach (28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his orchestral music such as the '' Brandenburg Concertos''; instrumental compositions such as the Cello Suites; keyboard w ...
's works for keyboard instruments. One of Lord Peter's cars is a 12-cylinder ("double-six") 1927
Daimler four-seater, which (like all his cars) he calls "Mrs Merdle" after a character in
Charles Dickens
Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the world's best-known fictional characters and is regarded by many as the greatest novelist of the Victorian e ...
's ''
Little Dorrit
''Little Dorrit'' is a novel by Charles Dickens, originally published in serial form between 1855 and 1857. The story features Amy Dorrit, youngest child of her family, born and raised in the Marshalsea prison for debtors in London. Arthur Cl ...
'' who "hated fuss".
![Daimler Double-Six](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e4/Daimler_Double-Six.JPG)
Lord Peter Wimsey's ancestry begins with the 12th-century knight Gerald de Wimsey, who went with King
Richard the Lionheart
Richard I (8 September 1157 – 6 April 1199) was King of England from 1189 until his death in 1199. He also ruled as Duke of Normandy, Aquitaine and Gascony, Lord of Cyprus, and Count of Poitiers, Anjou, Maine, and Nantes, and was overl ...
on the
Third Crusade
The Third Crusade (1189–1192) was an attempt by three European monarchs of Western Christianity (Philip II of France, Richard I of England and Frederick I, Holy Roman Emperor) to reconquer the Holy Land following the capture of Jerusalem by ...
and took part in the
Siege of Acre Siege of Acre may refer to:
* Siege of Acre (1104), following the First Crusade
*Siege of Acre (1189–1191), during the Third Crusade
* Siege of Acre (1263), Baibars laid siege to the Crusader city, but abandoned it to attack Nazareth.
*Siege of A ...
. This makes the Wimseys an unusually ancient family, since "Very few English noble families go that far in the first creation; rebellions and monarchic head choppings had seen to that", as reviewer Janet Hitchman noted in the introduction to ''
Striding Folly
''Striding Folly'' is a collection of short stories by Dorothy L. Sayers featuring Lord Peter Wimsey
Lord Peter Death Bredon Wimsey (later 17th Duke of Denver) is the fictional protagonist in a series of detective novels and short stories b ...
''. The family coat of arms is blazoned as "
Sable
The sable (''Martes zibellina'') is a species of marten, a small omnivorous mammal primarily inhabiting the forest environments of Russia, from the Ural Mountains throughout Siberia, and northern Mongolia. Its habitat also borders eastern Kaza ...
, 3 mice courant, argent; crest, a domestic cat couched as to spring,
proper
Proper may refer to:
Mathematics
* Proper map, in topology, a property of continuous function between topological spaces, if inverse images of compact subsets are compact
* Proper morphism, in algebraic geometry, an analogue of a proper map for ...
". The family motto, displayed under its coat of arms, is "As my Whimsy takes me."
Early life
Lord Peter was the second of the three children of Mortimer Wimsey, 15th
Duke of Denver
In the works of Dorothy L. Sayers, the fictional title of Duke of Denver is held by Gerald Wimsey, older brother of the books' protagonist, Lord Peter Wimsey. In novels written after Sayers' death by Jill Paton Walsh (with the cooperation of the S ...
, and Honoria Lucasta Delagardie, who lives on throughout the novels as the Dowager Duchess of Denver. She is witty and intelligent, and strongly supports her younger son, whom she plainly prefers over her less intelligent, more conventional older son
Gerald
Gerald is a male Germanic given name meaning "rule of the spear" from the prefix ''ger-'' ("spear") and suffix ''-wald'' ("rule"). Variants include the English given name Jerrold, the feminine nickname Jeri and the Welsh language Gerallt and Iri ...
, the 16th Duke. Gerald's snobbish wife, Helen, detests Peter. Gerald's son and heir is the devil-may-care Viscount St George. Lady Mary, the younger sister of the 16th Duke, and of Lord Peter, leans strongly to the political left and scandalises Helen by marrying a policeman of working-class origins.
Lord Peter Wimsey is called "Lord" as he is the younger son of a
duke
Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they are ran ...
. This is a
courtesy title
A courtesy title is a title that does not have legal significance but rather is used through custom or courtesy, particularly, in the context of nobility, the titles used by children of members of the nobility (cf. substantive title).
In some co ...
; he is not a peer and has no right to sit in the House of Lords, nor does the courtesy title pass on to any offspring he may have.
As a boy, Peter was, to the great distress of his father, strongly attached to an old, smelly poacher living at the edge of the family estate. In his youth, Peter was influenced by his maternal uncle, Paul Delagardie, who took it upon himself to instruct his nephew in the facts of life – how to conduct various love affairs and treat his lovers. Lord Peter was educated at
Eton College
Eton College () is a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1440 by Henry VI under the name ''Kynge's College of Our Ladye of Eton besyde Windesore'',Nevill, p. 3 ff. intended as a sister institution to King's College, C ...
and
Balliol College, Oxford
Balliol College () is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. One of Oxford's oldest colleges, it was founded around 1263 by John I de Balliol, a landowner from Barnard Castle in County Durham, who provided the f ...
, graduating with a
first
First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1).
First or 1st may also refer to:
*World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement
Arts and media Music
* 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and rec ...
-class degree in history. He was also an outstanding cricketer, whose performance was still well remembered decades later. Though not taking up an academic career, he was left with an enduring and deep love for Oxford.
Great War and aftermath
To his uncle's disappointment, Wimsey fell deeply in love with a young woman named Barbara and became engaged to her. When the
First World War
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
broke out, he hastened to join the
British Army
The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...
, releasing Barbara from her engagement in case he was killed or mutilated. The girl later married another, less principled officer.
Wimsey served on the
Western Front from 1914 to 1918, reaching the rank of
Major
Major (commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicators ...
in the
Rifle Brigade
The Rifle Brigade (The Prince Consort's Own) was an infantry rifle regiment of the British Army formed in January 1800 as the "Experimental Corps of Riflemen" to provide sharpshooters, scouts, and skirmishers. They were soon renamed the "Rifle ...
. He was appointed an
Intelligence Officer
An intelligence officer is a person employed by an organization to collect, compile or analyze information (known as intelligence) which is of use to that organization. The word of ''officer'' is a working title, not a rank, used in the same way a ...
, and on one occasion he infiltrated the staff room of a German officer. Though not explicitly stated, that feat implies that Wimsey spoke a fluent and unaccented German. As noted in ''
Have His Carcase
''Have His Carcase'' is a 1932 locked-room mystery by Dorothy L. Sayers, her seventh novel featuring Lord Peter Wimsey and the second in which Harriet Vane appears.
Plot
During a hiking holiday on the South West coast of England, the detecti ...
'', he communicated at that time with British Intelligence using the
Playfair cipher
The Playfair cipher or Playfair square or Wheatstone–Playfair cipher is a manual symmetric encryption technique and was the first literal digram substitution cipher. The scheme was invented in 1854 by Charles Wheatstone, but bears the name of ...
and became proficient in its use.
For reasons never clarified, after the end of his spy mission, Wimsey in the later part of the war moved from Intelligence and resumed the role of a regular line officer. He was a conscientious and effective commanding officer, popular with the men under his command—an affection still retained by Wimsey's former soldiers many years after the war, as is evident from a short passage in ''
Clouds of Witness
''Clouds of Witness'' is a 1926 mystery novel by Dorothy L. Sayers, the second in her series featuring Lord Peter Wimsey. In the United States the novel was first published in 1927 under the title ''Clouds of Witnesses''.
It was adapted for te ...
'' and an extensive reminiscence in ''
Gaudy Night
''Gaudy Night'' (1935) is a mystery novel by Dorothy L. Sayers, the tenth featuring Lord Peter Wimsey, and the third including Harriet Vane.
The dons of Harriet Vane's '' alma mater'', the all-female Shrewsbury College, Oxford (based on Say ...
''.
In particular, while in the army he met Sergeant
Mervyn Bunter
Mervyn Bunter is a fictional character in Dorothy L. Sayers' novels and short stories featuring Lord Peter Wimsey.
Literary Background
Dorothy L. Sayers (1893–1957) wrote a number of novels and short stories concerning the adventures of ...
, who had previously been
in service. In 1918, Wimsey was wounded by artillery fire near
Caudry
Caudry () is a commune in the Nord department in northern France. Its inhabitants are called theCaudrésiens. The town is mostly known as the Capital City of French Lace (along with Calais). Caudry station has rail connections to Douai, Cambr ...
in France. He suffered a breakdown due to
shell shock
Shell shock is a term coined in World War I by the British psychologist Charles Samuel Myers to describe the type of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) many soldiers were afflicted with during the war (before PTSD was termed). It is a react ...
(which we now call
post-traumatic stress disorder
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a mental and behavioral disorder that can develop because of exposure to a traumatic event, such as sexual assault, warfare, traffic collisions, child abuse, domestic violence, or other threats on ...
but which was then often thought, by those without first-hand experience of it, to be a species of malingering) and was eventually sent home. While sharing this experience, which the Dowager Duchess referred to as "a jam", Wimsey and Bunter arranged that if they were both to survive the war, Bunter would become Wimsey's
valet
A valet or varlet is a male servant who serves as personal attendant to his employer. In the Middle Ages and Ancien Régime, valet de chambre was a role for junior courtiers and specialists such as artists in a royal court, but the term "vale ...
. Throughout the books, Bunter takes care to address Wimsey as "My Lord". Nevertheless, he is a friend as well as a servant, and Wimsey again and again expresses amazement at Bunter's high efficiency and competence in virtually every sphere of life.
After the war, Wimsey was ill for many months, recovering at the family's ancestral home in Duke's Denver, a fictional setting—as is the Dukedom of Denver—about 15 miles (24 km) beyond the real
Denver
Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...
in Norfolk, on the
A10 near
Downham Market
Downham Market, sometimes simply referred to as Downham, is a market town and civil parish in Norfolk, England. It lies on the edge of the Fens, on the River Great Ouse, approximately 11 miles south of King's Lynn, 39 miles west of Norwich and 3 ...
. Wimsey was for a time unable to give servants any orders whatsoever, since his wartime experience made him associate the giving of an order with causing the death of the person to whom the order was given. Bunter arrived and, with the approval of the Dowager Duchess, took up his post as valet. Bunter moved Wimsey to a London flat at 110A
Piccadilly
Piccadilly () is a road in the City of Westminster, London, to the south of Mayfair, between Hyde Park Corner in the west and Piccadilly Circus in the east. It is part of the A4 road that connects central London to Hammersmith, Earl's Court, ...
,
W1, while Wimsey recovered. Even much later, however, Wimsey would have relapses—especially when his actions caused a murderer to be hanged. As noted in ''
Whose Body?
''Whose Body?'' is a 1923 mystery novel by Dorothy L. Sayers. It was her debut novel, and the book in which she introduced the character of Lord Peter Wimsey.
Plot
Thipps, an architect, finds a dead body wearing nothing but a pair of pince-n ...
'', on such occasions Bunter would take care of Wimsey and tenderly put him to bed, and they would revert to being "Major Wimsey" and "Sergeant Bunter".
In the reissue of ''The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club'' (1935), the biography of Wimsey is "brought up to date" by his uncle, Paul Austin Delagardie, purportedly at the request of Sayers herself, further giving the illusion that he is a real person. At this point, Wimsey is claimed to be 45 years old and "time he was settled". The biography takes up the last eight pages of the book and concludes with the statement that Wimsey "has always had everything except the things he really wanted, and I suppose he is luckier than most."
Detective work
Wimsey begins his hobby of investigation by recovering ''
The Attenbury Emeralds
''The Attenbury Emeralds'' is the third Lord Peter Wimsey- Harriet Vane detective novel written by Jill Paton Walsh. Featuring characters created by Dorothy L. Sayers, it was written with the co-operation and approval of Sayers' estate. It was ...
'' in 1921. At the beginning of ''
Whose Body?
''Whose Body?'' is a 1923 mystery novel by Dorothy L. Sayers. It was her debut novel, and the book in which she introduced the character of Lord Peter Wimsey.
Plot
Thipps, an architect, finds a dead body wearing nothing but a pair of pince-n ...
'', there appears the unpleasant Inspector Sugg, who is extremely hostile to Wimsey and tries to exclude him from the investigation (reminiscent of the relations between
Sherlock Holmes
Sherlock Holmes () is a fictional detective created by British author Arthur Conan Doyle. Referring to himself as a " consulting detective" in the stories, Holmes is known for his proficiency with observation, deduction, forensic science and ...
and
Inspector Lestrade
Detective Inspector G. Lestrade, or Mr. Lestrade ( or ), is a fictional character appearing in several of the Sherlock Holmes stories written by Arthur Conan Doyle. Lestrade's first appearance was in the first Sherlock Holmes story, the novel ...
). However, Wimsey is able to bypass Sugg through his friendship with
Scotland Yard
Scotland Yard (officially New Scotland Yard) is the headquarters of the Metropolitan Police, the territorial police force responsible for policing Greater London's 32 boroughs, but not the City of London, the square mile that forms London's ...
detective
Charles Parker, a sergeant in 1921. At the end of ''Whose Body?'', Wimsey generously allows Sugg to take completely undeserved credit for the solution; the grateful Sugg cannot go on with his hostility to Wimsey. In later books, Sugg fades away and Wimsey's relations with the police become dominated by his amicable partnership with Parker, who eventually rises to the rank of Commander (and becomes Wimsey's brother in law).
Bunter, a man of many talents himself, not least photography, often proves instrumental in Wimsey's investigations. However, Wimsey is not entirely well. At the end of the investigation in ''Whose Body?'' (1923), Wimsey
hallucinates
A hallucination is a perception in the absence of an external stimulus that has the qualities of a real perception. Hallucinations are vivid, substantial, and are perceived to be located in external objective space. Hallucination is a combinatio ...
that he is back in the trenches. He soon recovers his senses and goes on a long holiday.
The next year, Wimsey travels (in ''
Clouds of Witness
''Clouds of Witness'' is a 1926 mystery novel by Dorothy L. Sayers, the second in her series featuring Lord Peter Wimsey. In the United States the novel was first published in 1927 under the title ''Clouds of Witnesses''.
It was adapted for te ...
'', 1926) to the fictional Riddlesdale in
North Yorkshire
North Yorkshire is the largest ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county (lieutenancy area) in England, covering an area of . Around 40% of the county is covered by National parks of the United Kingdom, national parks, including most of ...
to assist his elder brother Gerald, who has been accused of murdering Captain Denis Cathcart, their sister's fiancé. As Gerald is the Duke of Denver, he is
tried by the entire House of Lords, as required by the law at that time, to much scandal and the distress of his wife Helen. Their sister, Lady Mary, also falls under suspicion. Lord Peter clears the Duke and Lady Mary, to whom Parker is attracted.
As a result of the slaughter of men in the First World War, there was in the UK a considerable imbalance between the sexes. It is not exactly known when Wimsey recruited
Miss Climpson
Miss Katharine Alexandra Climpson is a minor character in the Lord Peter Wimsey stories by Dorothy L. Sayers. She appears in two novels: ''Unnatural Death (novel), Unnatural Death'' (1927) and ''Strong Poison'' (1930), and is mentioned in ''Gaudy N ...
to run an undercover employment agency for women, a means to garner information from the otherwise inaccessible world of spinsters and widows, but it is prior to ''
Unnatural Death
In many legal jurisdictions, the manner of death is a determination, typically made by the coroner, medical examiner, police, or similar officials, and recorded as a vital statistic. Within the United States and the United Kingdom, a distinct ...
'' (1927), in which Miss Climpson assists Wimsey's investigation of the suspicious death of an elderly cancer patient. Wimsey's highly effective idea is that a male detective going around and asking questions is likely to arouse suspicion, while a middle-aged woman doing it would be dismissed as a gossip and people would speak openly to her.
As recounted in the short story "The Adventurous Exploit of the Cave of Ali Baba", in December 1927 Wimsey fakes his own death, supposedly while hunting big game in
Tanganyika
Tanganyika may refer to:
Places
* Tanganyika Territory (1916–1961), a former British territory which preceded the sovereign state
* Tanganyika (1961–1964), a sovereign state, comprising the mainland part of present-day Tanzania
* Tanzania Main ...
, to penetrate and break up a particularly dangerous and well-organised criminal gang. Only Wimsey's mother and sister, the loyal Bunter and Inspector Parker know he is still alive. Emerging victorious after more than a year masquerading as "the disgruntled sacked servant Rogers", Wimsey remarks that "We shall have an awful time with the lawyers, proving that I am me." In fact, he returns smoothly to his old life, and the interlude is never referred to in later books.
During the 1920s, Wimsey has affairs with various women, which are the subject of much gossip in Britain and Europe. This part of his life remains hazy: it is hardly ever mentioned in the books set in the same period; most of the scant information on the subject is given in flashbacks from later times, after he meets Harriet Vane and relations with other women become a closed chapter. In ''
Busman's Honeymoon
''Busman's Honeymoon'' is a 1937 novel by Dorothy L. Sayers, her eleventh and last featuring Lord Peter Wimsey, and her fourth and last to feature Harriet Vane.
Plot introduction
Lord Peter Wimsey and Harriet Vane marry and go to spend thei ...
'' Wimsey facetiously refers to a gentleman's duty "to remember whom he had taken to bed" so as not to embarrass his bedmate by calling her by the wrong name.
There are several references to a relationship with a famous Viennese opera singer, and Bunter—who evidently was involved with this, as with other parts of his master's life—recalls Wimsey being very angry with a French mistress who mistreated her own servant.
The only one of Wimsey's earlier women to appear in person is the artist Marjorie Phelps, who plays an important role in ''
The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club
''The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club'' is a 1928 mystery novel by Dorothy L. Sayers, her fourth featuring Lord Peter Wimsey. Much of the novel is set in the Bellona Club, a fictional London club for war veterans (Bellona being a Roman godd ...
''. She has known Wimsey for years and is attracted to him, though it is not explicitly stated whether they were lovers. Wimsey likes her, respects her, and enjoys her company—but that is not enough. In ''
Strong Poison
''Strong Poison'' is a 1930 mystery novel by Dorothy L. Sayers, her fifth featuring Lord Peter Wimsey and the first in which Harriet Vane appears.
Plot
The novel opens with mystery author Harriet Vane on trial for the murder of her forme ...
'', she is the first person other than Wimsey himself to realise that he has fallen in love with Harriet.
Reviewer Barbara Stanton noted that "Dorothy Sayers had created Peter Wimsey as a womanizer - though a rather gentlemanly and sensitive one. It would have been out of character for him to return Marjorie Phelps' love, and inevitable that he would break her heart - as he must have done to many other women before. But Sayers - a woman writer who had herself experienced disappointments and frustrations in relations with men - evidently decided to take revenge on her character and educate him. Sayers took the conscious decision to turn the tables on Wimsey and make him fall deeply in love with a woman who would make him sweat and wait very very long before she finally accepted him".
In ''Strong Poison'' Lord Peter encounters
Harriet Vane, a cerebral, Oxford-educated mystery writer, while she is on trial for the murder of her former lover in December 1929. He falls in love with her at first sight. He saves Harriet from the gallows, but she believes that gratitude is not a good foundation for marriage, and politely but firmly declines his frequent proposals. Lord Peter encourages his friend and foil, Chief Inspector Charles Parker, to propose to his sister, Lady Mary Wimsey, despite the great difference in their rank and wealth. They marry and have a son, named Charles Peter ("Peterkin"), and a daughter, Mary Lucasta ("Polly"). Visiting the Fen country in Easter 1930 (in ''
The Nine Tailors
''The Nine Tailors'' is a 1934 mystery novel by the British writer Dorothy L. Sayers, her ninth featuring Lord Peter Wimsey. The story is set in the Lincolnshire Fens, and revolves around a group of bell-ringers at the local parish church. The b ...
'') Wimsey must unravel a 20-year-old case of missing jewels, an unknown corpse, a missing World War I soldier believed alive, a murderous escaped convict believed dead, and a mysterious code concerning church bells.
While on a fishing holiday in Scotland later in 1930, Wimsey takes part in the investigation of the murder of an artist, related in ''
Five Red Herrings
''The Five Red Herrings'' (also ''The 5 Red Herrings'') is a 1931 novel by Dorothy L. Sayers, her sixth featuring Lord Peter Wimsey. In the United States it was published in the same year under the title ''Suspicious Characters''.
Foreword
The ...
''. Despite her rejection of his marriage proposals, he continues to court Miss Vane. In ''
Have His Carcase
''Have His Carcase'' is a 1932 locked-room mystery by Dorothy L. Sayers, her seventh novel featuring Lord Peter Wimsey and the second in which Harriet Vane appears.
Plot
During a hiking holiday on the South West coast of England, the detecti ...
'', in 1931, he finds Harriet is not in London, but learns from a reporter that she has discovered a corpse while on a walking holiday on England's south coast. Wimsey is at her hotel the next morning. He not only investigates the death and offers proposals of marriage, but also acts as Harriet's patron and protector from press and police. Despite a prickly relationship, they work together to identify the murderer.
Back in London in 1932, Wimsey goes undercover as "Death Bredon" at an advertising firm, working as a
copywriter
Copywriting is the act or occupation of writing text for the purpose of advertising or other forms of marketing. The product, called copy or sales copy, is written content that aims to increase brand awareness and ultimately persuade a person or ...
(''
Murder Must Advertise
''Murder Must Advertise'' is a 1933 mystery novel by Dorothy L. Sayers, the eighth in her series featuring Lord Peter Wimsey. Most of the action of the novel takes place in an advertising agency, a setting with which Sayers was familiar as s ...
''). Bredon is framed for murder, leading Charles Parker to "arrest" Bredon for murder in front of numerous witnesses. To distinguish Death Bredon from Lord Peter Wimsey, Parker smuggles Wimsey out of the police station and urges him to get into the papers. Accordingly, Wimsey accompanies "a Royal personage" to a public event, leading the press to carry pictures of both "Bredon" and Wimsey.
By 1935 Lord Peter is in continental Europe, acting as an unofficial attaché to the British
Foreign Office
Foreign may refer to:
Government
* Foreign policy, how a country interacts with other countries
* Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in many countries
** Foreign Office, a department of the UK government
** Foreign office and foreign minister
* Unit ...
(at the time of writing, British diplomacy was much concerned with the impending
Italian invasion of Ethiopia). Harriet Vane contacts him about a problem she has been asked to investigate in her college at
Oxford
Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...
(''
Gaudy Night
''Gaudy Night'' (1935) is a mystery novel by Dorothy L. Sayers, the tenth featuring Lord Peter Wimsey, and the third including Harriet Vane.
The dons of Harriet Vane's '' alma mater'', the all-female Shrewsbury College, Oxford (based on Say ...
''). At the end of their investigation, Vane finally accepts Wimsey's proposal of marriage.
The couple marry on 8 October 1935, at
St Cross Church, Oxford, as depicted in the opening collection of letters and diary entries in ''
Busman's Honeymoon
''Busman's Honeymoon'' is a 1937 novel by Dorothy L. Sayers, her eleventh and last featuring Lord Peter Wimsey, and her fourth and last to feature Harriet Vane.
Plot introduction
Lord Peter Wimsey and Harriet Vane marry and go to spend thei ...
''. The Wimseys honeymoon at Talboys, a house in east
Hertfordshire
Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is one of the home counties in southern England. It borders Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire to the north, Essex to the east, Greater London to the south, and Buckinghamshire to the west. For govern ...
near Harriet's childhood home, which Peter has bought for her as a wedding present. There they find the body of the previous owner, and spend their honeymoon solving the case, thus having the
aphoristic
An aphorism (from Greek ἀφορισμός: ''aphorismos'', denoting 'delimitation', 'distinction', and 'definition') is a concise, terse, laconic, or memorable expression of a general truth or principle. Aphorisms are often handed down by tra ...
"Busman's Honeymoon".
Over the next five years, according to Sayers' short stories, the Wimseys have three sons: Bredon Delagardie Peter Wimsey (born in October 1936 in the story "The Haunted Policeman"); Roger Wimsey (born 1938), and Paul Wimsey (born 1940). However, according to the wartime publications of ''The Wimsey Papers'', published in ''
The Spectator
''The Spectator'' is a weekly British magazine on politics, culture, and current affairs. It was first published in July 1828, making it the oldest surviving weekly magazine in the world.
It is owned by Frederick Barclay, who also owns ''The ...
'', the second son was called Paul. In ''The Attenbury Emeralds'', Paul is again the second son and Roger is the third son. In the subsequent ''The Late Scholar'', Roger is not mentioned at all. It may be presumed that Paul is named after Lord Peter's maternal uncle Paul Delagardie. "Roger" is an ancestral Wimsey name.
In Sayers's final Wimsey story, the 1942 short story "Talboys", Peter and Harriet are enjoying rural domestic bliss with their three sons when Bredon, their first-born, is accused of the theft of prize peaches from the neighbour's tree. Peter and the accused set off to investigate and, of course, prove Bredon's innocence.
Fictional bibliography
![Dante, Commedia, 1472 - Bacheca palazzo Trinci](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/91/Dante%2C_Commedia%2C_1472_-_Bacheca_palazzo_Trinci.jpg)
Wimsey is described as having authored numerous books, among them the following fictitious works:
*''Notes on the Collecting of Incunabula''
*''The Murderer's
Vade-Mecum''
The stories
Dorothy Sayers wrote 11 Wimsey novels and a number of short stories featuring Wimsey and his family. Other recurring characters include Inspector Charles Parker, the family solicitor Mr Murbles, barrister Sir Impey Biggs, journalist Salcombe Hardy, and family friend and financial whiz the Honourable Freddy Arbuthnot, who finds himself entangled in the case in the first of the Wimsey books, ''
Whose Body?
''Whose Body?'' is a 1923 mystery novel by Dorothy L. Sayers. It was her debut novel, and the book in which she introduced the character of Lord Peter Wimsey.
Plot
Thipps, an architect, finds a dead body wearing nothing but a pair of pince-n ...
'' (1923).
Sayers wrote no more Wimsey murder mysteries, and only one story involving him, after the outbreak of
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
. In ''
The Wimsey Papers
The Wimsey Papers are a series of articles by Dorothy L. Sayers published between November 1939 and January 1940 in ''The Spectator''. They had the form of letters exchanged by members of the Wimsey family and other characters familiar to readers ...
'', a series of fictionalised commentaries in the form of mock letters between members of the Wimsey family published in ''The Spectator'', there is a reference to Harriet's difficulty in continuing to write murder mysteries at a time when European dictators were openly committing mass murders with impunity; this seems to have reflected Sayers' own wartime feeling.
''The Wimsey Papers'' included a reference to Wimsey and Bunter setting out during the war on a secret mission of espionage in Europe, and provide the ironic epitaph Wimsey writes for himself: "Here lies an anachronism in the vague expectation of eternity". The papers also incidentally show that in addition to his thorough knowledge of the classics of English literature, Wimsey is familiar — though in fundamental disagreement — with the works of
Karl Marx
Karl Heinrich Marx (; 5 May 1818 – 14 March 1883) was a German philosopher, economist, historian, sociologist, political theorist, journalist, critic of political economy, and socialist revolutionary. His best-known titles are the 1848 ...
, and well able to debate with Marxists on their home ground.
The only occasion when Sayers returned to Wimsey was the 1942 short story "Talboys". The story is set in a quiet rural environment, the war at that time devastating Europe received only a single oblique reference, and the case Wimsey undertakes is just to clear his young son of the false accusation of stealing fruit from the neighbor's tree. Though Sayers lived until 1957, she never again took up the Wimsey books after this final effort.
Jill Paton Walsh
Gillian Honorine Mary Herbert, Baroness Hemingford, (née Bliss; 29 April 1937 – 18 October 2020), known professionally as Jill Paton Walsh, was an English novelist and children's writer. She may be known best for her Booker Prize-nominated n ...
wrote about Wimsey's career through and beyond the Second World War. In the
continuation
In computer science, a continuation is an abstract representation of the control state of a computer program. A continuation implements ( reifies) the program control state, i.e. the continuation is a data structure that represents the computati ...
s ''
Thrones, Dominations
''Thrones, Dominations'' is a Lord Peter Wimsey– Harriet Vane murder mystery novel that Dorothy L. Sayers began writing but abandoned, and which remained at her death as fragments and notes. It was completed by Jill Paton Walsh and published ...
'' (1998), ''
A Presumption of Death
''A Presumption of Death'' is a 2002 Lord Peter Wimsey– Harriet Vane mystery novel by Jill Paton Walsh, based loosely on ''The Wimsey Papers'' by Dorothy L. Sayers. The novel is Walsh's first original Lord Peter Wimsey novel, following ''T ...
'' (2002), ''
The Attenbury Emeralds
''The Attenbury Emeralds'' is the third Lord Peter Wimsey- Harriet Vane detective novel written by Jill Paton Walsh. Featuring characters created by Dorothy L. Sayers, it was written with the co-operation and approval of Sayers' estate. It was ...
'' (2010), and ''
The Late Scholar
''The Late Scholar'' is the fourth Lord Peter Wimsey- Harriet Vane detective novel written by Jill Paton Walsh. Featuring characters created by Dorothy L. Sayers, it was written with the co-operation and approval of Sayers' estate. It was pu ...
'' (2014), Harriet lives with the children at Talboys, Wimsey and Bunter have returned successfully from their secret mission in 1940, and his nephew Lord St. George is killed while serving as an RAF pilot in the
Battle of Britain
The Battle of Britain, also known as the Air Battle for England (german: die Luftschlacht um England), was a military campaign of the Second World War, in which the Royal Air Force (RAF) and the Fleet Air Arm (FAA) of the Royal Navy defende ...
. Consequently, when Wimsey's brother dies of a heart attack in 1951 during a fire in Bredon Hall, Wimsey becomes — very reluctantly — the Duke of Denver. Their Graces are then drawn into a mystery at a
fictional Oxford college.
Origins
In ''How I Came to Invent the Character of Lord Peter Wimsey,'' Sayers wrote:
Janet Hitchman, in the preface to ''
Striding Folly
''Striding Folly'' is a collection of short stories by Dorothy L. Sayers featuring Lord Peter Wimsey
Lord Peter Death Bredon Wimsey (later 17th Duke of Denver) is the fictional protagonist in a series of detective novels and short stories b ...
'', remarks that "Wimsey may have been the sad ghost of a wartime lover(...). Oxford, as everywhere in the country, was filled with bereaved women, but it may have been more noticeable in university towns where a whole year's intake could be wiped out in France in less than an hour." There is, however, no verifiable evidence of any such
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
lover of Sayers on whom the character of Wimsey might be based.
Another theory is that Wimsey was based, at least in part, on
Eric Whelpton
Eric George Whelpton (21 March 1894 – 13 February 1981) was a British writer, teacher and traveller.
Early life and education
Whelpton was born on 21 March 1894 in Le Havre, France, the son of the Revd George Whelpton, minister of Trinity Metho ...
, who was a close friend of Sayers at Oxford.
Ian Carmichael
Ian Gillett Carmichael, OBE (18 June 1920 – 5 February 2010) was an English actor who worked prolifically on stage, screen and radio in a career spanning 70 years. He found prominence in the films of the Boulting brothers, including ' ...
, who played the part of Wimsey in the first BBC television adaptation and studied the character and the books thoroughly, said that the character was Sayers' conception of the 'ideal man', based in part on her earlier romantic misfortunes.
Another theory is that Wimsey was based, at least in part, on Philip Trent, created by
E. C. Bentley in the novel ''
Trent's Last Case
''Trent's Last Case'' is a detective novel written by E. C. Bentley and first published in 1913. Its central character, the artist and amateur detective Philip Trent, reappeared subsequently in the novel '' Trent's Own Case'' (1936), and the s ...
''. Dorothy Sayers greatly admired that book.
Social satire
Many episodes in the Wimsey books express a mild satire on the British
class system
A social class is a grouping of people into a set of hierarchical social categories, the most common being the upper, middle and lower classes. Membership in a social class can for example be dependent on education, wealth, occupation, incom ...
, in particular in depicting the relationship between Wimsey and Bunter. The two of them are clearly the best and closest of friends, yet Bunter is invariably punctilious in using "my lord" even when they are alone, and "his lordship" in company. In a brief passage written from Bunter's point of view in ''
Busman's Honeymoon
''Busman's Honeymoon'' is a 1937 novel by Dorothy L. Sayers, her eleventh and last featuring Lord Peter Wimsey, and her fourth and last to feature Harriet Vane.
Plot introduction
Lord Peter Wimsey and Harriet Vane marry and go to spend thei ...
'' Bunter is seen, even in the privacy of his own mind, to be thinking of his employer as "His Lordship". Wimsey and Bunter even mock the
Jeeves and Wooster
''Jeeves and Wooster'' is a British comedy-drama television series adapted by Clive Exton from P. G. Wodehouse's "Jeeves" stories. It aired on the ITV network from 22 April 1990 to 20 June 1993, with the last series nominated for a British ...
relationship.
In ''
Whose Body?
''Whose Body?'' is a 1923 mystery novel by Dorothy L. Sayers. It was her debut novel, and the book in which she introduced the character of Lord Peter Wimsey.
Plot
Thipps, an architect, finds a dead body wearing nothing but a pair of pince-n ...
'', when Wimsey is caught by a severe recurrence of his First World War shell-shock and nightmares and being taken care of by Bunter, the two of them revert to being "Major Wimsey" and "Sergeant Bunter". In that role, Bunter, sitting at the bedside of the sleeping Wimsey, is seen to mutter affectionately, "Bloody little fool!"
In "The Vindictive Story of the Footsteps That Ran", the staunchly democratic Dr Hartman invites Bunter to sit down to eat together with himself and Wimsey, at the doctor's modest apartment. Wimsey does not object, but Bunter strongly does: "If I may state my own preference, sir, it would be to wait upon you and his lordship in the usual manner". Whereupon Wimsey remarks: "Bunter likes me to know my place".
At the conclusion of ''
Strong Poison
''Strong Poison'' is a 1930 mystery novel by Dorothy L. Sayers, her fifth featuring Lord Peter Wimsey and the first in which Harriet Vane appears.
Plot
The novel opens with mystery author Harriet Vane on trial for the murder of her forme ...
'', Inspector Parker asks "What would one naturally do if one found one's water-bottle empty?" (a point of crucial importance in solving the book's mystery). Wimsey promptly answers, "Ring the bell." Whereupon Miss Murchison, the indefatigable investigator employed by Wimsey for much of this book, comments "Or, if one wasn't accustomed to be waited on, one might use the water from the bedroom jug."
George Orwell
Eric Arthur Blair (25 June 1903 – 21 January 1950), better known by his pen name George Orwell, was an English novelist, essayist, journalist, and critic. His work is characterised by lucid prose, social criticism, opposition to totalitar ...
was highly critical of this aspect of the Wimsey books: "... Even she
ayers Ayers may refer to:
__NOTOC__ People
* A.D. Ayers, American baseball umpire (National League)
* Aaron Ayers (1836–1900), New Zealand auctioneer and politician
* Bill Ayers (born 1944), American academic and activist
* Bill Ayers (baseball) (1919 ...
is not so far removed from ''
Peg's Paper'' as might appear at a casual glance. It is, after all, a very ancient trick to write novels with a lord for a hero. Where Miss Sayers has shown more astuteness than most is in perceiving that you can carry that kind of thing off a great deal better if you pretend to treat it as a joke. By being, on the surface, a little ironical about Lord Peter Wimsey and his noble ancestors, she is enabled to lay on the snobbishness ('his lordship' etc.) much thicker than any overt snob would dare to do".
Dramatic adaptations
Film
In 1935, the British film ''
The Silent Passenger
''The Silent Passenger'' is a British black-and-white mystery film produced in 1935 at Ealing Studios, London. It is based on an original story written by Sayers specifically for the screen. Her amateur sleuth was portrayed as a somewhat eccentr ...
'' was released, in which Lord Peter, played by well-known comic actor
Peter Haddon
Peter Haddon (31 March 1898 – 7 September 1962) was an English actor.
Personal life
Haddon was born Peter Haddon Tildsley in Rawtenstall, Lancashire. He was the son of Alfred and Mary Tildsley and he had a brother, Vincent Harvey (1894), a ...
, solved a mystery on the boat train crossing the
English Channel
The English Channel, "The Sleeve"; nrf, la Maunche, "The Sleeve" (Cotentinais) or ( Jèrriais), (Guernésiais), "The Channel"; br, Mor Breizh, "Sea of Brittany"; cy, Môr Udd, "Lord's Sea"; kw, Mor Bretannek, "British Sea"; nl, Het Kana ...
. Sayers disliked the film and
James Brabazon describes it as an "oddity, in which Dorothy's contribution was altered out of all recognition."
The novel ''Busman's Honeymoon'' was originally a stage play by Sayers and her friend Muriel St. Clare Byrne. A 1940 film of ''Busman's Honeymoon'' (US: ''
The Haunted Honeymoon''), stars
Robert Montgomery and
Constance Cummings
Constance Cummings CBE (May 15, 1910 – November 23, 2005) was an American-British actress with a career spanning over 50 years.
Early life
Cummings was born in Seattle, Washington, the only daughter and younger child of Kate Logan (née Cu ...
as Lord and Lady Peter and
Seymour Hicks
Sir Edward Seymour Hicks (30 January 1871 – 6 April 1949), better known as Seymour Hicks, was a British actor, music hall performer, playwright, actor-manager and producer. He became known, early in his career, for writing, starring in and p ...
as Bunter.
Television
A BBC television version of the play ''Busman's Honeymoon'' with
Harold Warrender
Harold John Warrender (15 November 1903 – 6 May 1953) was a British stage, film and television actor, and radio presenter.
His father was Sir George Warrender, 7th Baronet. His mother was Lady Ethel Maud Ashley Cooper, a singer and patro ...
as Lord Peter, was transmitted live on the BBC Television Service on 2 October 1947. A second live BBC version was broadcast on 3 October 1957, with Peter Gray as Wimsey.
Several other Lord Peter Wimsey novels were made into television productions by the BBC, in two separate series. Wimsey was played by
Ian Carmichael
Ian Gillett Carmichael, OBE (18 June 1920 – 5 February 2010) was an English actor who worked prolifically on stage, screen and radio in a career spanning 70 years. He found prominence in the films of the Boulting brothers, including ' ...
, with Bunter being played by
Glyn Houston
Glyn Houston (23 October 1925 – 30 June 2019) was a Welsh actor best known for his television work. He was the younger brother of film actor Donald Houston.
Early life
Glyndwr Desmond Houston was born at 10 Thomas Street, Tonypandy, Glamorgan ...
(with
Derek Newark
Derek John Newark (8 June 1933 – 11 August 1998) was an English actor in television, film and theatre.
Career
Newark began his working life as a soldier in the Coldstream Guards before joining the Royal Artillery. However, he wanted to beco ...
stepping in for ''The Unpleasantness at The Bellona Club''), in a series of separate serials under the umbrella title ''
Lord Peter Wimsey
Lord Peter Death Bredon Wimsey (later 17th Duke of Denver) is the fictional protagonist in a series of detective novels and short stories by Dorothy L. Sayers (and their continuation by Jill Paton Walsh). A dilettante who solves mysteries for ...
'', that ran between 1972 and 1975, adapting five novels (''Clouds of Witness'', ''The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club'', ''Five Red Herrings'', ''Murder Must Advertise'' and ''The Nine Tailors'').
Edward Petherbridge
Edward Petherbridge (born 3 August 1936) is an English actor, writer and artist. Among his many roles, he portrayed Lord Peter Wimsey in the 1987 BBC television adaptations of Dorothy L. Sayers' novels, and Guildenstern in Tom Stoppard's ''Ro ...
played Lord Peter for BBC Television in 1987, in which three of the four major Wimsey/Vane novels (''Strong Poison'', ''Have His Carcase'' and ''Gaudy Night'') were dramatised under the umbrella title ''
A Dorothy L. Sayers Mystery
''A Dorothy L. Sayers Mystery'' is a series of television adaptations of three Lord Peter Wimsey novels—''Strong Poison'', ''Have his Carcase'' and ''Gaudy Night''—by Dorothy L. Sayers.
The series follows the aristocratic sleuth Lord Peter's ...
''. Harriet Vane was played by
Harriet Walter
Dame Harriet Mary Walter (born 24 September 1950) is a British actress. She has received a Laurence Olivier Award as well as numerous nominations including for a Tony Award, three Primetime Emmy Awards, and a Screen Actors Guild Award. In 20 ...
and Bunter was played by
Richard Morant
Richard Morant (30 October 1945 – 9 November 2011) was an English actor.
Biography
Morant was born in Shipston-on-Stour, Warwickshire. His father was the Shakespearean actor Philip Morant (1909–1993). His sister is the actress Angela ...
. The BBC was unable to secure the rights to turn ''Busman's Honeymoon'' into a proposed fourth and last part of the planned 13-episode series, so the series was produced as ten episodes. (Edward Petherbridge later played Wimsey in the UK production of the ''Busman's Honeymoon'' play staged at the
Lyric Hammersmith
The Lyric Theatre, also known as the Lyric Hammersmith, is a theatre on Lyric Square, off King Street, Hammersmith, London. and on tour in 1988, with the role of Harriet being taken by his real-life spouse,
Emily Richard
Emily Richard (born 25 January 1948) is a British actress and a former member of the Royal Shakespeare Company.
One of three sisters, Richard was born in London, where she attended drama school in 1966, aged 18, but she was asked to leave afte ...
.)
Both sets of adaptations were critically successful, with both Carmichael and Petherbridge's respective performances being widely praised. However, the two portrayals are quite different from one another: Carmichael's Peter is eccentric, jolly and foppish with occasional glimpses of the inner wistful, romantic soul, whereas Petherbridge's portrayal was more calm, solemn and had a stiff upper lip, subtly downplaying many of the character's eccentricities. Both the 1970s productions and the 1987 series are now available on videotape and DVD.
Radio
Adaptations of the Lord Peter Wimsey novels appeared on BBC Radio from the 1930s onwards. An adaptation of the short story "The Footsteps That Ran" dramatised by John Cheatle appeared on the
BBC Home Service
The BBC Home Service was a national and regional radio station that broadcast from 1939 until 1967, when it was replaced by BBC Radio 4.
History
1922–1939: Interwar period
Between the early 1920s and the outbreak of World War II, the BBC ...
in November 1939 with
Cecil Trouncer
Cecil Stallard Trouncer (5 April 1898 – 15 December 1953) was an English actor. His daughter Ruth Trouncer also took up acting.
Early life
Cecil Trouncer was born in Southport on 5 April 1898 and was educated at Clifton College. During the Firs ...
as Wimsey.
Rex Harrison
Sir Reginald Carey "Rex" Harrison (5 March 1908 – 2 June 1990) was an English actor. Harrison began his career on the stage in 1924. He made his West End debut in 1936 appearing in the Terence Rattigan play ''French Without Tears'', in what ...
took on the role in an adaptation of "Absolutely Everywhere" on the Home Service on 5 March 1940. The short story "The Man With No Face" was dramatised by Audrey Lucas for the Home Service ''Saturday-Night Theatre'' play, broadcast on 3 April 1943 with Robert Holmes in the lead role.
A four-part adaptation of ''The Nine Tailors'' adapted by Giles Cooper and starring
Alan Wheatley
Alan Wheatley (19 April 1907 – 30 August 1991) was an English actor. He was a well known stage actor in the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s, appeared in forty films between 1931 and 1965 and was a frequent broadcaster on radio from the 1930s to the ...
as Wimsey was broadcast on the
BBC Light Programme
The BBC Light Programme was a national radio station which broadcast chiefly mainstream light entertainment and light music from 1945 until 1967, when it was replaced by BBC Radio 2 and BBC Radio 1. It opened on 29 July 1945, taking over the ...
in August 1954.
Ian Carmichael reprised his television role as Lord Peter in ten
radio adaptations for BBC Radio 4 of Sayers's Wimsey novels between 1973 and 1983, all of which have been available on cassette and CD from the
BBC Radio Collection
AudioGO (formerly BBC Audiobooks) was a publisher of audiobooks and a range of spoken word and large-print titles. It was majority owned by AudioGO Ltd, and minority owned by BBC Worldwide. It was formed in 2010, when AudioGO purchased a majori ...
. These co-starred
Peter Jones as Bunter. In the original series no adaptation was made of the seminal ''
Gaudy Night
''Gaudy Night'' (1935) is a mystery novel by Dorothy L. Sayers, the tenth featuring Lord Peter Wimsey, and the third including Harriet Vane.
The dons of Harriet Vane's '' alma mater'', the all-female Shrewsbury College, Oxford (based on Say ...
'', perhaps because the leading character in this novel is Harriet and not Peter; this was corrected in 2005 when a version specially recorded for the BBC Radio Collection was released starring Carmichael and
Joanna David
Joanna David (born Joanna Elizabeth Hacking; 17 January 1947) is an English actress, best known for her television work.
Life
David was born in Lancaster, England, to Davida Elizabeth (''née'' Nesbitt) and John Almond Hacking.
In 1971, she ...
. The CD also includes a panel discussion on the novel, the major participants in which are
P. D. James
Phyllis Dorothy James, Baroness James of Holland Park, (3 August 1920 – 27 November 2014), known professionally as P. D. James, was an English novelist and life peer. Her rise to fame came with her series of detective novels featuring th ...
and
Jill Paton Walsh
Gillian Honorine Mary Herbert, Baroness Hemingford, (née Bliss; 29 April 1937 – 18 October 2020), known professionally as Jill Paton Walsh, was an English novelist and children's writer. She may be known best for her Booker Prize-nominated n ...
. ''Gaudy Night'' was released as an unabridged audio book read by Ian Carmichael in 1993.
Gary Bond
Gary James Bond (7 February 1940 – 12 October 1995) was an English actor and singer. He is known for originating the role Joseph in Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical ''Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat'', his performances ...
starred as Lord Peter Wimsey and
John Cater
John Edward Cater (17 January 1932 – 21 March 2009) was an English actor.
His television credits include: ''Danger Man''; ''Z-Cars''; '' The Avengers''; '' The Baron''; ''Doctor Who'' (in the serial ''The War Machines''); ''Follyfoot''; '' ...
as Bunter in two single-episode
BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history from the BBC' ...
adaptations: ''The Nine Tailors'' on 25 December 1986 and ''Whose Body'' on 26 December 1987.
Simon Russell Beale
Sir Simon Russell Beale (born 12 January 1961) is an English actor. He is known for his appearances in film, television and theatre, and work on radio, on audiobooks and as a narrator. For his services to drama, he was knighted by Queen Elizabe ...
played Wimsey in an adaptation of ''Strong Poison'' dramatised by
Michael Bakewell
Michael Bakewell (born 1931) is a British television producer.
Bakewell was born in Birmingham, Warwickshire in England.
He is best known for his work during the 1960s, when he was the first Head of Plays at the BBC, after Sydney Newman divid ...
in 1999.
Bibliography
Novels
With year of first publication
*''
Whose Body?
''Whose Body?'' is a 1923 mystery novel by Dorothy L. Sayers. It was her debut novel, and the book in which she introduced the character of Lord Peter Wimsey.
Plot
Thipps, an architect, finds a dead body wearing nothing but a pair of pince-n ...
'' (1923)
*''
Clouds of Witness
''Clouds of Witness'' is a 1926 mystery novel by Dorothy L. Sayers, the second in her series featuring Lord Peter Wimsey. In the United States the novel was first published in 1927 under the title ''Clouds of Witnesses''.
It was adapted for te ...
'' (1926)
*''
Unnatural Death
In many legal jurisdictions, the manner of death is a determination, typically made by the coroner, medical examiner, police, or similar officials, and recorded as a vital statistic. Within the United States and the United Kingdom, a distinct ...
'' (1927) (U.S. title originally ''The Dawson Pedigree'')
*''
The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club
''The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club'' is a 1928 mystery novel by Dorothy L. Sayers, her fourth featuring Lord Peter Wimsey. Much of the novel is set in the Bellona Club, a fictional London club for war veterans (Bellona being a Roman godd ...
'' (1928)
*''
Strong Poison
''Strong Poison'' is a 1930 mystery novel by Dorothy L. Sayers, her fifth featuring Lord Peter Wimsey and the first in which Harriet Vane appears.
Plot
The novel opens with mystery author Harriet Vane on trial for the murder of her forme ...
'' (1930)
*''
The Five Red Herrings
''The Five Red Herrings'' (also ''The 5 Red Herrings'') is a 1931 novel by Dorothy L. Sayers, her sixth featuring Lord Peter Wimsey. In the United States it was published in the same year under the title ''Suspicious Characters''.
Foreword
The ...
'' (1931)
*''
Have His Carcase
''Have His Carcase'' is a 1932 locked-room mystery by Dorothy L. Sayers, her seventh novel featuring Lord Peter Wimsey and the second in which Harriet Vane appears.
Plot
During a hiking holiday on the South West coast of England, the detecti ...
'' (1932)
*''
Murder Must Advertise
''Murder Must Advertise'' is a 1933 mystery novel by Dorothy L. Sayers, the eighth in her series featuring Lord Peter Wimsey. Most of the action of the novel takes place in an advertising agency, a setting with which Sayers was familiar as s ...
'' (1933)
*''
The Nine Tailors
''The Nine Tailors'' is a 1934 mystery novel by the British writer Dorothy L. Sayers, her ninth featuring Lord Peter Wimsey. The story is set in the Lincolnshire Fens, and revolves around a group of bell-ringers at the local parish church. The b ...
'' (1934)
*''
Gaudy Night
''Gaudy Night'' (1935) is a mystery novel by Dorothy L. Sayers, the tenth featuring Lord Peter Wimsey, and the third including Harriet Vane.
The dons of Harriet Vane's '' alma mater'', the all-female Shrewsbury College, Oxford (based on Say ...
'' (1935)
*''
Busman's Honeymoon
''Busman's Honeymoon'' is a 1937 novel by Dorothy L. Sayers, her eleventh and last featuring Lord Peter Wimsey, and her fourth and last to feature Harriet Vane.
Plot introduction
Lord Peter Wimsey and Harriet Vane marry and go to spend thei ...
'' (1937)
*''
Thrones, Dominations
''Thrones, Dominations'' is a Lord Peter Wimsey– Harriet Vane murder mystery novel that Dorothy L. Sayers began writing but abandoned, and which remained at her death as fragments and notes. It was completed by Jill Paton Walsh and published ...
'' (1998) Unfinished Sayers manuscript completed by
Jill Paton Walsh
Gillian Honorine Mary Herbert, Baroness Hemingford, (née Bliss; 29 April 1937 – 18 October 2020), known professionally as Jill Paton Walsh, was an English novelist and children's writer. She may be known best for her Booker Prize-nominated n ...
Short story collections
*''
Lord Peter Views the Body
''Lord Peter Views the Body'', first published in 1928, was the first collection of short stories about Lord Peter Wimsey by Dorothy L. Sayers. All of them were included in later complete collections.
Synopsis The Abominable History of the M ...
'' (1928)
*''
Hangman's Holiday
''Hangman's Holiday'' is a collection of short stories, mostly murder mysteries, by Dorothy L. Sayers. This collection, the ninth in the Lord Peter Wimsey series, was first published by Gollancz in 1933, and has been frequently reprinted (199 ...
'' (1933) Also contains non-Wimsey stories
*''
In the Teeth of the Evidence
''In the Teeth of the Evidence'' is a collection of short stories by Dorothy L. Sayers first published by Victor Gollancz Ltd, Victor Gollancz in 1939 in literature, 1939.
The book's title is taken from the first story in the collection.
Conte ...
'' (1939) Also contains non-Wimsey stories
*''
Striding Folly
''Striding Folly'' is a collection of short stories by Dorothy L. Sayers featuring Lord Peter Wimsey
Lord Peter Death Bredon Wimsey (later 17th Duke of Denver) is the fictional protagonist in a series of detective novels and short stories b ...
'' (1972)
*''
Lord Peter
''Lord Peter'' is a collection of short stories featuring Lord Peter Wimsey.
First published in 1972 (), it includes all the short stories about Lord Peter written by Dorothy L. Sayers, most of which were published elsewhere soon after they were ...
'' (1972)
Uncollected Lord Peter Wimsey stories
*''The Locked Room''.
Bodies from the Library: Volume 2, Ed. Tony Medawar (HarperCollins, 2019).
In addition there are
*''
The Wimsey Papers
The Wimsey Papers are a series of articles by Dorothy L. Sayers published between November 1939 and January 1940 in ''The Spectator''. They had the form of letters exchanged by members of the Wimsey family and other characters familiar to readers ...
'', published between Nov. 1939 and Jan. 1940 in ''
The Spectator
''The Spectator'' is a weekly British magazine on politics, culture, and current affairs. It was first published in July 1828, making it the oldest surviving weekly magazine in the world.
It is owned by Frederick Barclay, who also owns ''The ...
'' Magazine—a series of mock letters by members of the Wimsey family, being in effect fictionalised commentaries on life in England in the early months of the war.
Books about Lord Peter by other authors
* ''Ask a Policeman'' (1934), a
collaborative novel by members of
The Detection Club
The Detection Club was formed in 1930 by a group of British Mystery fiction, mystery writers, including Agatha Christie, Dorothy L. Sayers, Ronald Knox, Freeman Wills Crofts, Arthur Morrison, Hugh Walpole, John Rhode, Jessie Louisa Rickard, Jessi ...
, wherein several authors 'exchanged' detectives. The Lord Peter Wimsey sequence was penned by
Anthony Berkeley
Anthony Berkeley Cox (5 July 1893 – 9 March 1971) was an English crime writer. He wrote under several pen-names, including Francis Iles, Anthony Berkeley and A. Monmouth Platts.
Early life and education
Anthony Berkeley Cox was born 5 July ...
.
* ''The Wimsey Family: A Fragmentary History compiled from correspondence with Dorothy L. Sayers'' (1977) by
C. W. Scott-Giles, Victor Gollancz, London.
* ''Lord Peter Wimsey Cookbook'' (1981) by Elizabeth Bond Ryan and William J. Eakins
* ''The Lord Peter Wimsey Companion'' (2002) by Stephan P. Clarke published by The Dorothy L. Sayers Society.
* ''Conundrums for the Long Week-End : England, Dorothy L. Sayers, and Lord Peter Wimsey'' (2000) by Robert Kuhn McGregor, Ethan Lewis
* ''
A Presumption of Death
''A Presumption of Death'' is a 2002 Lord Peter Wimsey– Harriet Vane mystery novel by Jill Paton Walsh, based loosely on ''The Wimsey Papers'' by Dorothy L. Sayers. The novel is Walsh's first original Lord Peter Wimsey novel, following ''T ...
'' (2002) by
Jill Paton Walsh
Gillian Honorine Mary Herbert, Baroness Hemingford, (née Bliss; 29 April 1937 – 18 October 2020), known professionally as Jill Paton Walsh, was an English novelist and children's writer. She may be known best for her Booker Prize-nominated n ...
*''
The Attenbury Emeralds
''The Attenbury Emeralds'' is the third Lord Peter Wimsey- Harriet Vane detective novel written by Jill Paton Walsh. Featuring characters created by Dorothy L. Sayers, it was written with the co-operation and approval of Sayers' estate. It was ...
'' (2010) by Jill Paton Walsh
*''
The Late Scholar
''The Late Scholar'' is the fourth Lord Peter Wimsey- Harriet Vane detective novel written by Jill Paton Walsh. Featuring characters created by Dorothy L. Sayers, it was written with the co-operation and approval of Sayers' estate. It was pu ...
'' (2014) by Jill Paton Walsh
Lord Peter Wimsey has also been included by the science fiction writer
Philip José Farmer
Philip José Farmer (January 26, 1918 – February 25, 2009) was an American author known for his science fiction and fantasy novels and short stories.
Obituary.
Farmer is best known for his sequences of novels, especially the ''World of Tiers ...
as a member of the
Wold Newton family
The Wold Newton family is a literary concept derived from a form of crossover fiction developed by the American science fiction writer Philip José Farmer.
Origins
In real life a meteorite, called the Wold Cottage meteorite, fell near Wold New ...
.
References
External links
Lord Peter Wimsey chronology Lord Peter Wimsey portrait at Balliol, OxfordExtensive review of the Wimsey books in "Second Glance: Dorothy Sayers and the Last Golden Age" by Joanna ScuttsLord Peter Wimseyin the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wimsey, Lord Peter
Literary characters introduced in 1923
Characters in British novels of the 20th century
Dorothy L. Sayers characters
Fictional amateur detectives
Fictional gentleman detectives
Fictional male detectives
Fictional people educated at Eton College
Fictional University of Oxford people
Fictional World War I veterans
Fictional characters with post-traumatic stress disorder
Fictional cricketers
Novel series
People associated with Balliol College, Oxford