Rating: 
Summary: Good old Wimsey and Bunter.
Review: A humane and human book - no arch villains really, just people making the best of what's available in the strange, water-soaked, bitterly cold Fen country. Brilliant descriptions of bell ringing technics, love, and water sluices. Lots of layers, and people with their own lives, no stereotypes - excellent!
Rating:
Summary: Identity Quest
Review: Change ringing is an ancient craft. Lord Peter Wimsey and Bunter have been held up at four A.M. New Years Eve. A snow storm and a bridge cause their car to be upended in a ditch. The rector of the parish offers to put them up for the night. Wimsey thinks the church is impressive. He calls it a young cathedral. The rector claims that East Anglia is famous for the size and splendor of its parish churches. The term tailors refers to bell ringing. Wimsey is solicited to engage in a very great task of nine hours duration, that of change ringing. It seems that additional manpower is needed since many of the men of the village have been felled by influenza. Subsequently, at the death of Sir Henry, the local lord, nine tailors and forty six strokes are rung. Making plans for the burial, an unknown body is discovered. To clear up the mystery, Lord Peter's help is sought. The man is between forty five and fifty years of age. The face has been battered and the ankles may have been tightly bound. On the arms there are pressure marks. The cause of death is suffocation. Wimsey speaks with the heir, Hilary, and learns that the body may have been placed in the crypt at the time of her mother's death. There is already a local mystery of considerable importance. Emeralds were stolen and have never been recovered. The setting of the story is fictitious. Nonetheless the area in the vicinity of Cambridge and the inhabitants there receive compelling descriptions by Dorothy Sayers. A Frenchwoman, Suzanne Legros, writes her husband a letter using the English pseudonym of Paul Taylor. It is addressed to one of the village post offices in the fens, poste restante. Bunter comes into possession of it. It is passed on through Wimsey and the authorities and provides the basis for the unraveling of the mystery. Another factor leading to the solution is an experience undergone by Wimsey, that of remaining in the bell tower at the time the bells are rung. There is additional excitement in fourteen days of flooding resulting in the death of one of the main actors of this tale.
Rating:
Summary: Sayers is, as usual, fabulous
Review: I always love Dorothy Sayers, and this mystery is as good as usual. It is, however, bleaker--more like "Busman's Honeymoon" in leaving one feeling both gratified that the mystery has been solved and at the same time unsettled and pained by its effect on a wide range of characters. The change of scene from London to the Fen country is interesting, and Mr. and Mrs. Venables are quirkily endearing characters. As usual, Sayers is very technical and precise about her plot, and I confess to total confusion with regards to the bell-ringing details. But it's nice to know she went to so much trouble to make it accurate! I recommend this book to any mystery-lover (but then, what Sayers would I NOT recommend?).
Rating:
Summary: Great Sayers novel even without "the gang"
Review: I'm a huge fan of the Wimsey novels and had read all of the books in the series--some twice--except for this one. I had been putting it off because 1) the subject of change-ringing sounded dull and unduly esoteric; and 2) I had heard that none of the usual characters appeared. I must admit that I am still unclear on exactly what change-ringing is. Regardless, I loved this book, even though there was very little Bunter and no Parker, Biggs, or Vane. The writing is outstanding, and I found the mystery aspect of the novel deeply satisfying. Even though I guessed one asepct of the mystery early on (the identity of the man in the grave), the rest of it was a nice twist.
Rating:
Summary: Great Sayers novel even without "the gang"
Review: I'm a huge fan of the Wimsey novels and had read all of the books in the series--some twice--except for this one. I had been putting it off because 1) the subject of change-ringing sounded dull and unduly esoteric; and 2) I had heard that none of the usual characters appeared. I must admit that I am still unclear on exactly what change-ringing is. Regardless, I loved this book, even though there was very little Bunter and no Parker, Biggs, or Vane. The writing is outstanding, and I found the mystery aspect of the novel deeply satisfying. Even though I guessed one asepct of the mystery early on (the identity of the man in the grave), the rest of it was a nice twist.
Rating: 
Summary: The Bells Toll
Review: Lord Peter Wimsey, sleuth extrordinaire, assists the Police Superintendent of Fenchurch St. Paul to identify the body of a man buried in the recently deceased Lady Thorpe's grave. The grave was meant to be shared by Lady Thorpe's husband, who recently died during an influenza epidemic. Wimsey and the Superintendent also endeavor to find out who so sadistically defaced the grave's temporary occupant and why, and hope to uncover secrets related to the theft of a valuable emerald necklace and its connection, if any, to the unidentified body. On the way to the resolution of these misdeeds, I endured an endlessly tedious analysis of the crimes and possible perpetrators' motives. The introduction of a cryptogram allegedly sent by the unidentified victim is an over-elaborate plot device that I found more than a bit trite. What gives this book a big boost, though, is Ms. Sayers' scintillating presentation of synchronized ringing of the Fenchurch St. Paul's bells by rope. Ms. Sayers creates imagery of sheer beauty and magnificence. I almost felt as if I were there experiencing such overwhelming loveliness. The names of two of the bells, Batty Thomas and Tailor Paul are colorful and also figure strongly in the plot. The actions of the heroic Mr. Venables, the church Rector, who assists the towns people and helps to pull them together during a horrific flood is very memorable. I also enjoyed reading various quotations from the Psalms and other parts of the Bible that were peppered throughout the book and gave it the poignance that it might not otherwise have had.
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Summary: An authoritative dramatic-reading of a difficult mystery
Review: The 1934 Dorothy L. Sayers mystery titled "The Nine Tailors" is not about the garment industry. Instead it centers on the venerable tradition of "change ringing" still practiced in England in which a given number of church bells or "tellers" are rung in every possible combination. So nine of them would have to be rung in (what we call in math class) "9 factorial" or 362,880 different combinations. You can figure out how long that would take at one peal per second. Well the combinations do play a part in the solution of a particularly involved plot concerning jewelry stolen considerably in the past, a freshly dug grave with the wrong body in it, a flood, a snowstorm, and a villageful of really interesting characters, one of whom might be a thief, another a murderer, and so on. However, I am not reviewing the book itself but a marvelously effective complete reading of it by Lord Peter Wimsey himself, which is to say character actor Ian Carmichael who played Wimsey so well on the television series (now available on both VHS and DVD from Acorn Media). Here is the novel, complete on 6 cassettes, from Audio Partners, which is increasing their catalogue of complete mystery recordings very quickly indeed. Of course, Carmichael is the perfect Wimsey; but he is also very good at every other voice needed to make this an excellent reading. Some books-on-tape readers merely use their own voices throughout; and success depends on how interesting and appropriate that single voice is. Like David Suchet on the companion Poirot readings, Carmichael makes his reading into a full dramatization. Highly recommended for those who love a really intricate mystery read by a terrific actor.
Rating: 
Summary: Well-Written, But Not Very Mysterious
Review: The Nine Tailors is a well-written story; unfortunately the crafting of the mystery has not held up over the years. Many of Sayers' plot devices have become routine, if not clichéd, so it's little wonder modern readers leap to conclusions ahead of Lord Peter Wimsey. The plot revolves around a rural community in England and certain misdeeds past and present. Central to the community is its church, and it is here that Lord Peter spends most of his time, either in the Rectory, the cemetery, or the church building itself. The story is told through the metaphor of "change ringing." If you know nothing of this English tradition it is possible to soldier through - the text does provide some clues - but it's rough going. A website with some particularly helpful information is www.nagcr.org/pamphlet.html. An online Java application that enables you to ring your own bells is www.cs.ubc.ca/spider/kvdoel/bells/bells.html. Googling for "change ringing" will provide additional examples, but these two cover many of the points Sayers includes in the novel. While the mystery is not the most challenging (outside of a cryptogram, which is almost as unsolvable as the code in Have His Carcase), this is still an extremely good novel. Sayers' small church characters are written spot on, and her inclusion of church and governmental politics feels authentic. Other Lord Peter novels have held up better over time; that this one hasn't serves as a testimony to the effect Dorothy Sayers has had on the mystery writers that came after her. I enjoyed this book and heartily recommend it with the minor caveats listed above.
Rating:
Summary: Well-Written, But Not Very Mysterious
Review: The Nine Tailors is a well-written story; unfortunately the crafting of the mystery has not held up over the years. Many of Sayers' plot devices have become routine, if not clichéd, so it's little wonder modern readers leap to conclusions ahead of Lord Peter Wimsey. The plot revolves around a rural community in England and certain misdeeds past and present. Central to the community is its church, and it is here that Lord Peter spends most of his time, either in the Rectory, the cemetery, or the church building itself. The story is told through the metaphor of "change ringing." If you know nothing of this English tradition it is possible to soldier through - the text does provide some clues - but it's rough going. A website with some particularly helpful information is www.nagcr.org/pamphlet.html. An online Java application that enables you to ring your own bells is www.cs.ubc.ca/spider/kvdoel/bells/bells.html. Googling for "change ringing" will provide additional examples, but these two cover many of the points Sayers includes in the novel. While the mystery is not the most challenging (outside of a cryptogram, which is almost as unsolvable as the code in Have His Carcase), this is still an extremely good novel. Sayers' small church characters are written spot on, and her inclusion of church and governmental politics feels authentic. Other Lord Peter novels have held up better over time; that this one hasn't serves as a testimony to the effect Dorothy Sayers has had on the mystery writers that came after her. I enjoyed this book and heartily recommend it with the minor caveats listed above.
Rating:
Summary: One of her best
Review: This is certainly one of Sayers' best novels. The plot is detailed and realistic and the characters equally so. Lord Peter is at his most charming and observant. The book centers around a church and it's bell ringers. The chapters begin with quotes about bell ringing, which give it a wonderful flavor. If you only read one Lord Peter novel, make it this one!
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