This was selected for me at the Book Thing in Baltimore this past weekend by the friends I was adventuring with, because I do like Dorothy Sayers. It will go on Mt. TBR for now.

It didn't take me long to realize that I had read this book several years ago. I didn't re-read it completely, just skimmed the part until discovery of the body and the solution to the mystery to be sure I remembered it correctly. What the British do with churchbells is over my head and even if I get to hear an example in my upcoming visit, the intricacies of ringing will never make sense to me. Nonetheless, Wimsey is amusing as always and the mystery is well-done.

Taking this to Oxford, a town famous for its spires -- perhaps I will hear one of the churchbell demonstrations while I am there.

adding this to the mystery/thriller VBB started by Bookstogive

Thank you so much for sharing this book with me. It has been on my wishlist. I am looking forward to reading it.

Reserved for ABC VBB

Enjoy! KTM RABCK to Perryfran

Received today along with Half a Yellow Sun. Thanks for sending these. I'm working on the 1001 book challenge this year and these are both on the list.

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The Nine Tailors (Lord Peter Wimsey #11)
by Dorothy L. Sayers

When a disfigured corpse is discovered in a country parish, the local rector pleads with Lord Peter to take on what will become one of his most brilliant and complicated cases.

This is also No. 632 on the 1001 books you must read before you die list.

This is the first Lord Peter Wimsey novel by Sayers that I have read. I have meant to read some of these for several years, in fact, I have owned a few copies but for some reason never got to them. I read this one primarily because it is on the 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die list. I definitely was not disappointed and I will be reading more in the series at some point.

This novel has Lord Peter Wimsey and his manservant, Bunter, traveling in the Fens of Eastern England on New Year's Eve. Their car goes off the road in a snow storm and they are stuck for a few days in the town of Fenchurch St. Paul where the Rector of the church is preparing for an epic bell-ringing to bring in the new year. One of the highlights of this novel is the information on "change ringing" which "is the art of ringing a set of tuned bells in a controlled manner to produce variations in their striking sequences." I knew next to nothing about this art and never realized how intricate and complicated the bell ringing can be.



Change ringing plays a big part in the story and the title "Nine Tailors" actually refers to the nine bell tolls that are made when someone dies. Anyway, one of the bell ringers is sick so Lord Wimsey agrees to fill in for the epic 9 hour record-breaking peal. A few months later, Peter is called back to Fenchurch when a mutilated body is discovered in a grave that was reopened. The body's face was disfigured and its hands were removed to disguise its identity. It appears this may be related to a crime that happened several years earlier where an emerald necklace was stolen and never recovered. But can Wimsey identify the body and determine how and why he was killed?

This one had many twists and turns and complexities before coming to its conclusion practically on the last page. I really enjoyed the cast of characters and the setting in the Fens where a massive flood also plays a part before the story is finished. Recommended!

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Read this as part of the 1001 list challenge for 2018.

Dropping off at the LFL

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