A book that changed the face of detective fiction. The opening chapter would stand alone in its description of landscape, mood, character and atmosphere. Set in the 1920s, it has resonances of what the Great War did to English society. Wimsey and his 'man', Bunter, obviously served in the war and did hard time, but this gets the lightest of touches. The plot is labrynthine, but unfolds beautifully. The pacing of the novel is masterful. Sayers' true genius, however, is that she presents her characters by their actions and their words. Apart from a brief description of the orphan girl from The Red House, we are given few physical descriptions, thus allowing each one of us to paint our own personal portrait of what the characters actually look like. Yes, the dialogue is 'of its time'. Yes, there is a certain amount of 'forelock-tugging' towards Lord Peter, but the characters of Fenchurch are not caricatures - they are real people, who face real problems, both economic and personal. A truly great book, which can be re-read for the sheer joy of language, even though one knows from page 1 who (or 'what) 'dunnit'