Showing results by author "Dorothy L Sayers" in All Categories

This anthology of rare stories of crime and suspense brings together 13 tales from the Golden Age of Detective Fiction for the first time in book form, including a newly discovered Gervase Fen novella by Edmund Crispin that has never previously been published. With the Golden Age of detective fiction shining ever more brightly thanks to the recent reappearance of many forgotten crime novels, Bodies from the Library offers a rare opportunity to read lost stories from the first half of the twentieth century by some of the genre’s most accomplished writers.

When Harriet Vane attends her Oxford reunion, known as the 'Gaudy', the prim academic setting is haunted by a rash of bizarre pranks: scrawled obscenities, burnt effigies and poison-pen letters - including one that says, 'Ask your boyfriend with the title if he likes arsenic in his soup.' Some of the notes threaten murder, and one of them involves a long Latin quotation, which makes Harriet suspect that the perpetrator is probably a member of the Senior Common Room. But which of the apparently rational, respectable dons could be committing such crazed acts?

When copywriter Victor Dean falls to his death on the stairs of Pym's Advertising Agency, everyone assumes it was an unfortunate accident. His replacement doesn't think so and begins asking a lot of questions. The new man is something of a mystery to his colleagues, and he certainly dresses well considering his meagre writer's salary.

Three of Lord Peter Wimsey's most baffling cases demonstrate his unique detection skills at their most spectacular. The engima of a house numbered thirteen in a street of even numbers; an indignant child accused of theft; a dream about a game of chess that uncovers the true story behind a violent death. Each of the stories introduces a different side of the twentieth century's most ingenious detective hero.

Two years after the trial for the murder of her lover, the blaze of publicity surrounding mystery writer Harriet Vane has begun to die away and Harriet decides it's time for a break. But the peace of a North Devon walking tour is rudely shattered when she discovers the body of a man on the beach, his throat slit from ear to ear. The moment the story breaks Harriet’s old friend Lord Peter Wimsey is on the scene to lend his powers of detection. Can the two of them discover who the murderer is?

Immerse yourself in the gripping tale of Lord Peter Wimsey, called from his holiday in Corsica to solve a dense mystery that engulfs his own family. His brother, Gerald, Duke of Denver, stands accused of the murder of their sister Marys fiance, Dennis Cathcart. The peculiar circumstances of this crime baffle and intrigue, with the Duke found leaning over Cathcarts dead body outside their home in the dead of a freezing, wet night. As Lord Peter and his skilled servant-turned-assistant Bunter delve into the case, theyre confronted with a web of inexplicable actions and motives. Why would the ...

The Bellona Club is the picture of old-world respectability—a gentleman’s retreat where war veterans and aristocrats gather for quiet conversation, brandy, and a game of chess. But on Armistice Day, the peace is shattered when the body of General Fentiman is discovered slumped in his usual chair. At first glance, it seems the elderly war hero simply passed away, but something doesn’t add up. The time of death is unclear, his stiff posture is unnatural, and an inheritance worth half a million pounds hangs in the balance.

The chief character, Lord Peter Wimsey, goes to the Bellona Club to have a meal with an old friend of his, ninety-year old General Fentiman. In great surprise, he finds the aged man fully dressed by the fire in full rigor mortis. A question arises concerning the time of death and the situation develops into a serious murder investigation. Wimsey sometimes seemed to have a supercilious attitude as a monocled aristocrat and sometimes became a sort of professional detective. His family motto was, “As my whimsy takes me.”

A short story from the British Library Crime Classic collection Final Acts. Detective novelist Dorothy L. Sayers presents a look at morality and motive as playwright John Scales grows angrier and more resentful towards the actor who reinvented his script, and must decide how far he will allow his hatred to take him.

Written in reaction to what Bentley perceived as the sterility and artificiality of the detective fiction of his day, Trent's Last Case features Philip Trent, an all-too-human detective who not only falls in love with the chief suspect but reaches a brilliant conclusion that is totally wrong. Trent's Last Case begins when millionaire American financier Sigsbee Manderson is murdered while on holiday in England. A London newspaper sends Trent to investigate, and he is soon matching wits with Scotland Yard's Inspector Murth.

General Fentiman is found dead on the afternoon of November 11 in his armchair at the Bellona Club—just hours after the passing of his wealthy estranged sister. At ninety years old, his physician certifies death by natural causes. The important question, then, is not how he died, but when, as the answer determines the fate of an inheritance worth half a million pounds. If he died after his sister, her fortune stands to go to his grandsons, who are sorely in need of the funds.

Allen im Gerichtssaal, auch dem vorsitzenden Richter, scheint es klar: Die Kriminalschriftstellerin Harriet Vane hat ihren Geliebten mit Arsen vergiftet. Nur einer - und das ist natürlich Lord Peter - findet die scheinbar so klare Beweisführung nicht stichhaltig. Er glaubt an die Unschuld Harriets und das nicht nur, weil er sich Hals über Kopf in sie verliebt hat.

Es bedeutet "Ärger im Bellona-Club", wenn der alte General Arthur Fentiman fast zeitgleich mit seiner Schwester stirbt und dabei ein Erbe von mehreren Hunderttausend Pfund im Spiel ist. Das kann kein Zufall sein, findet zumindest Lord Peter Wimsey, Aristokrat und Amateurdetektiv, und wirft einen Blick in die Abgründe der adeligen Familie Fentiman... Mit viel psychologischem Scharfsinn und schwarzem Humor zeichnet Dorothy L. Sayers ein Bild der englischen Aristokratie der 1920er Jahre.

Es ist so weit: Lord Peter Wimsey heiratet die Kriminalschriftstellerin Harriet Vane. Doch das Eheglück bleibt nicht lange unbeschwert, denn im Keller ihres Flitterwochen-Domizils liegt die Leiche des ehemaligen Besitzers. Darf sich ein Gentleman auf seiner Hochzeitsreise mit Mord befassen?

Eine peinliche Überraschung für den biederen Mr. Tipps: Da liegt doch tatsächlich eines Morgens ein nackter Unbekannter in seiner Badewanne. Und nicht nur das, der Fremde ist auch noch tot. Lord Peter Wimsey interessiert sich natürlich sofort für den skurrilen Fall, zumal fast gleichzeitig ein dem Toten entfernt ähnlich sehender Börsenmakler spurlos verschwunden ist. Fehlt da ein Toter? Christian Brückner liest den aristokratischen Lord Peter mit Charme und britischem Humor.

Lord Peter Wimsey ist "not amused": Im Urlaub erreicht ihn die unschöne Nachricht, dass sein Bruder Gerald des Mordes bezichtigt wird. Auf seine Nachforschungen hin entdeckt Peter zu seinem Entsetzen, dass die Zeugen des Mordes sich in Widersprüche verstricken und letztlich gar seine Schwester zum Kreis der Verdächtigen zu gehören scheint.

In "Aufruhr in Oxford" ermitteln Lord Peter Wimsey und die von ihm umworbene Kriminalautorin Harriet Vane am Elite-College in Oxford. Schülerinnen und Lehrkräfte erhalten Drohbriefe. Eine von einem Messer durchbohrte Strohpuppe hängt an einem Dachbalken. Und Harriet Vane, die wegen einer Jahresfeier an ihrer alten Ausbildungsstätte weilt, entgeht nur knapp einem Mordanschlag. Wer steckt hinter diesen Taten? Und was ist das Motiv?

Peter Wimsey arbeitet inkognito als Texter bei einer Werbeagentur - keine große Herausforderung für einen so charmanten und intelligenten Detektiv, dem es auch an werbewirksamem Wortwitz nicht mangelt. Es geht ihm vor allem darum herauszufinden, wer am Ableben seines Büro-Vorgängers Schuld trägt und ob die Firma womöglich mit einem Rauschgiftring in Verbindung steht.

Da krimiforfatter Harriet Vane kommer under anklage for at have forgiftet sin tidligere elsker, forventer alle, at hun skal møde bødlen. Sagen virker åbenlys, og bevisbyrden er inkriminerende, men lord Peter Wimsey er blandt de mange tilskuere til retssagen. Han forelsker sig i den selvstændige, moderne kvinde og sætter sig for at bevise hendes uskyld. Efterhånden som nye omstændigheder kommer for dagens lys, bliver det tydeligt, at mordet handler om andet og mere end ulykkelig kærlighed og følelser af svigt.