12 Reasons the Lord Peter Wimsey Mysteries Should be on Your 2017 Reading List

Cover to Clouds of Witness, by Dorothy L. Sayers. Image via Open Road Media, digital publisher of this edition.

5. Dialogue

Sayers really has a wonderful ear for dialogue, and since the novels often consist of long periods where people talk back and forth to each other, this is actually a selling point. Characters spar back and forth, and even though Wimsey is the lead character, he doesn’t always come out on top. This is another spot where a character like Harriet Vane shines. Her and Lord Peter’s first exchange in Strong Poison has some great wit to it as well as accomplishing the goal of showing the sometime detective in love. (Check out Chapter 4 to see what we mean.)

Some of the funniest dialogue is played completely straight, however. For example, Clouds of Witness, another of the earliest novels, sees Lord Peter attend a meeting at the Soviet Club. It is entirely ridiculous, with one man asking if his lordship is familiar with a poet who recites poetry to “the tom-tom and the penny whistle”. Lord Peter then “[detaches] his attention from this fascinating discussion” (103 in the Project Gutenberg edition).

Although a cursory glance would make one think that Lord Peter really is into the discussion, by the time you reach Clouds of Witness, you’ll likely know that when you can read sarcasm in these stories, you likely should.