The Nine Tailors
by Dorothy L. Sayers
The Nine Tailors
Dorothy L. Sayers |
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Read in August, 2007
recommends it for:
Shana
[borrowed from the kate:]
I started to eyeball Kate's review and I can't, because I'll probably just say what she says! But here are some thoughts unfiltered.
First, okay, there was a lot about bells. Let's say, if you're not interested in learning a lot of important information about the incredibly archane field of change-ringing, put the book down and back away slowly. Then again, if you're not interested in learning something new when you read, you should probably just got watch COPS.
...more
I started to eyeball Kate's review and I can't, because I'll probably just say what she says! But here are some thoughts unfiltered.
First, okay, there was a lot about bells. Let's say, if you're not interested in learning a lot of important information about the incredibly archane field of change-ringing, put the book down and back away slowly. Then again, if you're not interested in learning something new when you read, you should probably just got watch COPS.
...more
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Read in July, 2008
recommends it for:
People interested in English churches
I picked this one up because the adult education group at my Church read it before its June meeting. I could not make the meeting, but decided that I would read it anyway. This is a classic English detective novel; it takes place in a small town in the country, the detective comes to town by chance and a dead body shows up (sort of), and we discover the dark secrets that are kept by the villagers. However, given that it was written by Sayers, I would say that there is more to this book than ...more
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I have read so many Sayers novels in the past 2 weeks that I'm not going to bother to comparatively rate or review them, besides these comments and my review of Gaudy Night. While many of the others, although good, are starting to blend together into a lovely mass of Peter Wimsey-ness in my mind, Nine Tailors and Murder Must Advertise are definitely my favorites. (As can be surmised from earlier comments, Busman's Honeymoon is my very least favorite, by far.) I'm s...more
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Read in March, 2006
This intriguing mystery by Dorothy L. Sayers is an excellent read! I don't believe this book is the first of her tales starring Lord Peter Wimsey, but it's a great introduction that leaves the reader wondering where he came from and where he's going. I think this makes a terrific foray into Sayers' work! I will admit that The Nine Tailors is the first of her books that I've read personally, but I am looking forward to reading more!
The book takes place in rural England (I can't be more specif...more
The book takes place in rural England (I can't be more specif...more
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Read in June, 2007
Absolutely inimitable. A somewhat long and plodding first act, but wow, what a payoff. As much literature as it is genre fiction. Sayers is a master of the whodunnit, but at her very best, her novels encompass so much more than the whodunnit question. In The Nine Tailors, she writes about the geography of the English fen-country and the history of churchbell-ringing nearly as capably as she does murder and sleuthing. But unlike Gaudy Night, in which the backdrop drowned the my...more
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Has a copy to sell/swap
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Read in August, 2007
The mystery here is complex and interesting, and the book has plenty of Lord Peter doing terribly charming and wonderful things, which is always nice, but it is the atmospheric setting of East Anglia, used by Sayers to brilliant effect, that really made the book for me. I nearly cried during the final climactic scene, it was that powerful.
I understand some people don't like that it has so much detail on the history of the bells and change-ringing, but I found it to be just the right amount ...more
I understand some people don't like that it has so much detail on the history of the bells and change-ringing, but I found it to be just the right amount ...more
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Read in March, 2008
recommends it for:
people who have already read some Sayers
I guess that tailors are like church bells?? Or something? Whatever--I love Dorothy Sayers so much and so far I like this even though I have no clue what's going on.
Now that I've finished this book, I really like it. I generally like the Lord Peter Wimsey books that have a little more of him puttering around with his friends in London and hanging out with Harriet Vane, but this one has a nice focus on place--East Anglia--that that added to the story. It's one of the denser Sayers I've read--th...more
Now that I've finished this book, I really like it. I generally like the Lord Peter Wimsey books that have a little more of him puttering around with his friends in London and hanging out with Harriet Vane, but this one has a nice focus on place--East Anglia--that that added to the story. It's one of the denser Sayers I've read--th...more
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Read in April, 2006
I enjoyed this one a lot, if only because of Peter's characterisation in it, and because of the glimpses it gave us into his experiences in the Great War. The mystery was shockingly simple to figure out, even with the overly technical fussiness which was related to the bells and bell-ringing; I understood most of what was going on about a third of way through, less even, and after that it was more a question of trusting Sayers to wrap it up in style rather than trying to puzzle out what had happ...more
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Read in January, 1975
recommends it for:
everyone
It is immaterial that this is a mystery. It is , I think, a great accomplishment in fiction.I love books that educate or impart archane info in support of atmosphere or the story and this is one of those. It had me searching for recordings of change ringing(it also helped me "get" Richard Thompson's "Time to Ring Some Changes", a small thing but there it is.Take it as read that I love and recommend all the Whimsey books and ,and yes,the boy is down with the hyper-romantic H. ...more
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Read in January, 1975
recommends it for:
everyone
I found this to be a cracking good read. Sayers' descriptions of the East Anglia countryside made it sound so appealing, I wanted to go there. Of course, I would want to go ANYWHERE where Lord Peter and Bunter might be in attendance. I found the descriptions of the bells and the bell-ringing fascinating: after being in a handbell choir, the thought of ringing the nine tailors would petrify me. Everything about this story is sophisticated, and the tone set by Lord Peter is just right. I high...more
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Read in January, 1995
recommends it for:
anyone!
This is one of my favorite books of all time. I have read it and re-read it and I never get tired of it. I read it before I became an Episcopalian, and I think it contributed to my enthusiasm for the Episcopal church!! All those wonderful scenes in the church, the building itself, the bells, the liturgy, the stream-of-consciousness passages that follow Peter's thoughts during the service - tuning in and out of the Psalms and prayers - it's amazing. Tied with "Murder Must Advertise" for...more
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Read in July, 2007
recommends it for:
christie fans, sayers fans, mystery lovers
I am a HUGE fan of Dorothy L. Sayers. I ravenously tore through the Lord Peter Wimsey series over the course of two summers (about a decade ago). I recommend these books to any one who loves a good read.
Unlike the others, this one just drug out interminably. Perhaps it was the in-depth discussion of English church bell ringing. But something about it just didn't hold my interest.
This is my least favorite of the Lord Peter Wimsey series. (Also, avoid the PBS/Masterpiece Theatre produ...more
Unlike the others, this one just drug out interminably. Perhaps it was the in-depth discussion of English church bell ringing. But something about it just didn't hold my interest.
This is my least favorite of the Lord Peter Wimsey series. (Also, avoid the PBS/Masterpiece Theatre produ...more
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Read in January, 1973
This is one of the best written and greatest all around mystery stories of all time. Dorothy Sayers's Lord Peter Wimsey is witty and charming, unreasonably well educated, always impeccably dressed, and he can ring church bells. The history of the fen country (including the ever-present Lord Protector, Oliver Cromwell) and the mathematics of change ringing are fully developed as themes within a tidy and interesting tale. I re-read this book every few years and find it freshly entertaining each ...more
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Read in October, 2004
A most excellent mystery starring Lord Peter Wimsey. We have missing emeralds, an unidentified corpse in the churchyard, and strange clues popping up all over the place, as well as a rather ominous old set of nine bells. If you like your action to start right off the bat, this one might not be for you; it twists and turns and ultimately covers an entire year in "book time." Those who stick with it will be amply rewarded, however. This is counted as among Sayers finest mysteries, and I ...more
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Read in November, 2007
recommends it for:
anyone with a little patience
A great entry in the Wimsey series, "Nine Tailors" is a minor masterpiece. The morose atmosphere of the fens; the arcane art of change ringing; a nice little mystery; a great character in the person of the Rector; and a fascinating subplot involving the ditching, damming, draining, and dyking of the fens, similar to our Army Corps of Engineers work in the U.S.; all these make for a wonderful little read for a winter week-end. Highly recommended.
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Read in January, 1983
recommends it for:
Intelligent mystery readers
I think my three star rating is probably not fair to this mystery, because I read it when I was a teenager, and it's not the book's fault that it was a bit too esoteric for my high school self. I should re-read this mystery that hinges on the patterns of the ringing of the bells in a British church. The bells are the titular "Nine Tailors", and it's up to Lord Peter Wimsey to use the information they provide to solve the murder mystery.
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recommends it for:
Agatha Christie fans
This and Gaudy Night are my favorite Lord Peter Wimsey books. Even though these were written in the 20s to 30s, there is a timelessness about them. Sayers is excellent at transporting you to London and the English countryside without you being distracted about customs and lifestyles that have long since fallen out of practice (or never were in practice in the States).
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If you're a mystery lover, this book is amazing. Dorothy Sayers is such a good writer (and I don't just say this because my school's named after her. I'm still trying to figure out why they named my school after a mystery writer...hmm...). But this is one of those books that keep you guessing until the last 2 pages. It's great.
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Read in April, 2008
I've been re-reading Dorothy L. Sayers' Peter Wimsey series and now I'm up to the one with the boring stuff about bell ringing (i.e. this one). When I first read it, I was hideously bored by the bell ringing (or English change ringing, as I think it's called), but we'll see how I like it now that I'm older and wiser.
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This is certainly one of the better mysteries I have read. I loved this. It is extremely complex and detailed. However, if you are easily bored by long descriptions of bells (by the time you finish this book you will know more than you ever wanted to about them), then perhaps it is not the book for you.
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