Belgium, 13–14
Bell, H. W., 85
Bellona Club. See Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club, The
Benn, Ernest, 69, 90
Benson’s, S. H.: in Murder Must Advertise, 143, 147; Sayers quitting, 90; Sayers writing around job at, 84, 88–89; Sayers’s job at, 9, 19–20
Bentley, E. C., 123–24, 129
Biggs, Impey, 37, 57, 190
Blake, Sexton. See Sexton Blake stories
Bloomsbury, 101–4, 129. See also Bohemians
Boer War, 12
Bohemians, Bloomsbury, 76, 77–78, 98, 109
Bolshevism, 158, 161
Boni and Liveright publishers, 40
Boyes, Philip, 101; Harriet’s relationship with, 98–99, 172, 175; modeled on John Cournos, 7, 99, 104; murder of, 91–92, 94
Bright, William, 140, 156–57
Britain. See England
British Expeditionary Force, 14, 27
Bunter, Mervyn, 4, 92; character development of, 152–54; relationship with Peter, 26, 38–40, 190–91; role in investigations, 95, 152–53
Busman’s Honeymoon (novel), 204; as last Wimsey novel, 183–91, 193; study of marriage in, 85–87
Busman’s Honeymoon (play), 182–84, 192, 204
Byrne, Muriel St. Clare, 180, 182–83
Campbell, Sandy, 106–7, 130–32
Cathcart, Dennis, 49, 52, 54, 70
Cenotaph, by Luytens, 18
Chamberlain, Neville, 196
Character development: humanity of, 204; increase of in future detective stories, 134; other authors’ lack of, 120, 124; psychological profiles of, 74;; Sayers’s attention to, 2, 23, 136; Wimsey’s understanding of psychology and motivation, 79
Chesterton, Gilbert Keith, 124, 127
Church of England, 17–18, 195
Class, social: and Sayers’s style in crime literature, 32–33; of Sherlock Holmes vs. Lord Peter Wimsey, 22; and Wimsey’s relationship with Bunter, 38–39. See also Aristocracy; Working class
Classics, influence on Wimsey novels, 35
Climpson, Alexandra “Kitty,” 59; development of character, 95–96; and Peter, 91–92, 95; as strong woman, 67–68, 206
Clouds of Witness, 18, 123; compared to Whose Body? 48; Lady Mary Wimsey in, 49–50; Sayers’s difficulty writing, 45, 47; sexual relationships in, 56–57; Wimsey character in, 55–56, 144; writing of, 57
Cole, G. D. H., and Margaret, 128
Collins, Wilkie, 35; contributions of, 119–21; Sayers’s literary biography of, 118; Sayers’s respect for, 58, 129
Colonialism, 11–12, 18
Communities, in Wimsey novels, 5–6
Connington, J. J., 128
Consequences, of investigations. See Investigations, consequences of
Constitutional crisis of 1936, 194–95, 199
Cournos, John: Philip Boyes modeled on, 7, 99, 104; Sayers’s correspondence with, 46–48, 58; Sayers’s relationship with, 9, 45–47, 64
Cranton, 109, 114–15
Crime fiction, 118; appeal of, 2, 20; future of, 134; puzzle mysteries in, 131–34, 141; rules of, 33; Sayers as writer of, 87, 202–3; Sayers on other mystery authors, 58, 127–28, 203; Sayers’s analyses of, 58, 118–21, 123–25, 134; Sayers’s initiation into, 9–10, 20; Sayers’s role in, 32–34, 58; in Sayers’s stories, 122–23; Sayers’s success in, 154, 202–3
Crofts, Freeman Wills, 58, 127–28
Crutchley, Frank, 188–91
Culture: changes in English, 2, 41, 202; effects of war on, 16–17, 33–34, 73–75; English, 3–4, 5, 22–23, 102–4, 201; English postwar, 29–31; evolution of Victorian, 63; transformation of Germany’s, 159–60
Dante, influence on Wimsey novels, 35–36
Dawson, Agatha, 69, 122; character of, 68–69; in Unnatural Death, 61–62; as Victorian woman, 65–66
Dawson, Hallelujah, 66, 69
Dawson Pedigree, The. See Unnatural Death
De Momerie, Dian, 147–50
De Vine, Miss, 166–67, 170
Deacon, Jeff, 107, 112, 114–15
Deacon, Mary Russell, 112
Dean, Pamela, 147–48
Dean, Victor, 145, 147
Delagardie, Paul Austin (Peter’s uncle), 181
Democracy, increase of, 41
Denver, Duke of (Wimsey’s brother Gerald), 24–25, 37, 51; in Clouds of Witness, 47, 49, 54–55; relationship with Peter, 198–99
Depression, 81–82, 156. See also Economies
Detective stories. See Crime fiction
Documents in the Case, The, 87–88, 94, 118
Donne, John, 35
Dorland, Ann, 75–79, 98
Dormer, Felicity, 62, 66–67, 75–77
Dowager Duchess (Peter’s mother), 24, 37–38, 49, 62
Doyle, Arthur Conan: and chronology of Holmes stories, 85–86; Sayers’s opinion of, 58, 128–29; Sherlock Holmes as standard for detectives, 22, 120–21; as spokesman for spiritualism, 96
East Anglia, Peter in, 91–93, 108–11
Economies: England’s after WWI, 9, 18, 42–43; England’s problems, 42, 81–82, 206–7; Germany’s, 16, 159–60; lack of business ethics, 81–82; Russia’s, 158
Education: Peter’s, 25; Sayers’s, 10–11
Edward Albert, Prince of Wales, 195, 199, 202
Eliot, T. S., 33, 35, 102, 103
England: and beginning of WWII, 195, 196; changes in culture, 1–2, 41; Lord Peter fitting into postwar mood of, 194–95; portrayed in Wimsey stories, 3–4; problems of, 42–43, 155; supremacy of, 5, 12; and totalitarianism, 160, 161–62, 207; in Victorian era, 1–2, 5; and WWI, 9, 11–12, 14–17
“Entertaining Episode of the Article in Question, The” (Wimsey short story), 84
Europe, 12, 165–66; colonialism as cause of WWI, 11–12; effects of reparations from Germany, 42; long week-end between wars in, 194–95; problems in mid-1930s, 155
Farren, Gilda, 7, 106–7, 133
Farren, Hugh, 106–7, 130, 133
Fascism: in England, 161–62; in Italy, 158–59; spread of, 195–96; threat of, 165–66. See also Totalitarianism
Fentiman, George, 71–72, 74–75
Fentiman, Robert, 71–72, 77
Fentiman, Sheila, 74–75, 98
Ferdinand, Archduke, and beginning of WWI, 12
Financial current events, in novels, 82–83
Findlater, Vera, 69
Five Red Herrings, The, 132, 152; discussions of marriage in, 7, 93–94; interwoven with other stories, 91–92; as purely puzzle mystery, 126–27, 131–34; uniqueness of, 129, 133–34
Fleming, Atherton “Mac” (Sayers’s husband), 47, 89; difficulty of marriage, 89–90, 174–75, 180–81; Sayers’s happiness with, 58
Ford, Christine, 31–32
France, 195; British prejudice against, 68; in dynamics within Europe, 12, 42; in WWI, 13–14, 15–16, 28
Franco, Francisco, 196
Frayle, Mrs. Tommy, 34
Freeman, Austin, 58, 124–25
Freke, Sir Julian, 26, 30–32, 35–36, 123–24
Garden, Cremorna, 62, 67, 95–96
Gaudy Night, 5, 164; as book of manners mixed with mystery, 162, 204; Bus-man’s Honeymoon as sequel to, 184; discussion of one’s proper job in, 166–72; explanation of Harriet in, 92–93; Great War portrayed in, 4; as love-story/mystery, 162–63; Peter’s response to end of investigations, 189–90; reception of, 172; study of morality in, 207–8; totalitarian threat in, 162
“Gaudy Night” (essay), 87, 176, 200
Gender roles: among Bohemians, 101–5; changes in, 3, 76; effects of war on, 16–17, 75; in Gaudy Night, 162, 169; Sayers’s desire to escape, 1; in Sayers’s stories, 205–6; Victorian influence on, 62–68, 76
General strike, 43–45
George, Lloyd, 9
George V, King, 194–95; novel around death of, 196–98, 202
George VI, King, 195
Germany: after WWI, 9, 42; culture of, 5, 102; in dynamics within Europe, 12; and spread of fascism, 159–60, 195, 1
96; in WWI, 13–15, 15–16
Godolphin Boarding School, 10–11
Gollancz, Victor: and Left Book Club, 160; publishing mystery anthologies, 83, 134; publishing Wimsey novels, 69–70, 106, 134, 143, 163; reissuing first four Wimsey novels, 181; and Wimsey short stories, 83–84
Goody-bye to All That (Graves), 73
Goyles, George, 49–50
Graham, Jock, 130–31, 133
Graves, Robert, 102
Great Short Stories of Detection, Mystery, and Horror (Sayers), 83, 118; second series, 134
Great War. See World War I
Grimethorpe, Mrs., 50–52, 56
Guilt, effects of, 79–80
Hall, Anmer, 183
“Harlequin of the night,” as Wimsey undercover role, 145, 148–49
Harwell, Lawrence and Rosamund, 197–98
Hatry, Clarence, 82
“Haunted Policeman, The” (short story), 200
Have His Carcase, 106, 143; characters of, 141–42, 153; England’s decline mentioned in, 155–57; Harriet as investigative partner in, 134–35, 138–40; Harriet’s writing process in, 135–37; Peter and Harriet’s relationship in, 173–75; Sayers’s techniques in, 128, 204
Hindenberg, Paul von, 159–60
Hitler, Adolf, 159–60, 195–96
Holmes, Sherlock: attempts to form chronology of stories, 85–86; as ideal Victorian man, 65; influence on Lord Peter Wimsey, 22–23; references to in Sayers’s stories, 123; as standard for detectives, 120–21
Homosexuality, in Wimsey novels, 69
Horrocks, Gladys, 34
Hull High School for Girls, 14
“Image in the Mirror, The” (short story), 200
In the Teeth of the Evidence (anthology of Sayers’s stories), 200–201
Industrialization, effects on gender roles, 62–63
Intelligence service, Wimsey in, 26, 28–29, 181
International finance, in Wimsey novels, 30
Investigations: Bunter’s role in, 152–53; consequences of, 25–26, 78, 115, 127, 131, 189–91; Mary Wimsey working on, 151–52; Peter and Harriet collaborating on, 171, 188; Peter leaving to Harriet, 179; and Peter’s intelligence service, 28–29, 181; reasons for Wimsey’s, 21, 25; to save Harriet, 99–100; by Scotland Yard vs. locals, 53–54; in small Fenchurch St. Paul, 112–15
Ireland, 18
Italy, 12; and spread of fascism, 9, 158–59, 195, 196
Jews. See Anti–Semitism
Jobs: importance to individuality, 166–72; lack of pride in, 188; and unemployment, 156, 159–61; for women, 157–58, 160, 168–71
Joyce, James, 33, 35, 102
Labor, 42–44, 156. See also Jobs
Labour party, 43, 82, 160
Law, Bonar, 9
Lawrence, D. H., 102, 104
Le Fanu, Sheridan, 119
League of Nations, 195
“Learned Affair of the Dragon’s Head, The” (Wimsey short story), 85
L’Ecole Des Roches, 19–20
Left Book Club, 160
Leigh, Mabel (aunt), 67, 88–89
Leigh, Maud (aunt), 180
Levy, Sir Reuben, 30–31, 36
London, 18, 54, 151, 177
Lord Peter Views the Body (collection of short stories), 83–87
Love stories. See Romance
Luytens, Edwin, 18
MacDonald, Ramsey, 43, 82
Mackenzie, Andrew, 54
Manservants, Wimsey’s. See Bunter, Mervyn
MacPherson, Inspector, 131, 133
Marchbanks, Colonel, 72–73
Marriage: conversation in The Five Red Herrings on, 93–94, 106–7; necessary ingredients for, 97, 175; of Peter and Harriet, 180, 184–86, 185–87, 194; as prison, 50–52; rockiness of Sayers’s, 89–90, 174–75, 180–81; Sayers exploring, 75, 185, 197–98, 208–9; of Venables as Sayers’s parents, 109
“Master Key, The” (short story), 200–201
McGregor, Helen, 133
Medical science, 11, 84; in Sayers’s stories, 31–32, 73–74, 205
Megatherium Trust, 82–83
Men: Lord Peter Wimsey as ideal, 176–77; relations among, 130–32; women’s hatred for, 104–5. See also Gender roles
Milton, John, 35
Miners strike, 43–44
Modernism, 161; effects on English culture, 5, 102–4; in postwar literature, 33–35
Modernization, 2, 204–5
Moonstone, The (Collins), 58, 120, 129
Morality, 61; of advertising, 146–47; and choosing one’s actions, 170–71; lack of business ethics, 81–83; Miss Climpson’s struggles with, 95, 97; science’s lack of, 31–32, 74, 205
Morecambe, Alfred, 140, 142, 157
Mosely, Oswald, 161
Motivation, in detective stories, 79, 134
Mousehole: A Detective Fantasia in Three Flats, The (Sayers), 21–22
Murbles, Mr., 57–58
Murchison, Miss, 83, 95
Murder Must Advertise, 107, 143, 157, 174; as adventure story, 144–45, 148–49, 152; as book of manners mixed with mystery, 143, 151; Sayers’s dissatisfaction with, 143
Mussolini, Benito, 158–59, 195–96
Names, Sayers’s use of ludicrous, 121–22
Narrators, in Whose Body? 33–35
Nazis, and rise of totalitarianism, 159–60
“New woman,” 133; backlashes against, 59, 62; exploration of potential of, 205–6; qualities of, 66; Sayers as, 1, 4; in Wimsey novels, 76–78, 184
Newspapers, and effects of publicity, 80
Nine Tailors, The, 106, 204; Bunter’s role in, 153–54; interwoven together with other stories, 91–92; research and planning for, 106–7; significance of, 153; writing of, 108–9, 116–17, 143
Noakes, murder of, 185–88
Normandy, Sayers’s stay in, 1
Novels, Wimsey, 35, 161: book of manners mixed with mystery, 143, 151, 162, 204; compared to short stories, 2, 23; consistency and change in, 203–4; descriptions of communities in, 5–6; effects of war in, 70–75; end of, 191, 193; focus on method of crime in, 204; historical immediacy in, 82–83, 196; ideas for future, 192, 200; oddness of Sayers’s self–analysis through, 7; stereotypes in, 68–69; supporting characters in, 36–40, 57–58, 129, 151, 202–3; women characters as anachronisms in, 62; WWI in, 14, 73. See also Wimsey, Lord Peter; specific titles
Ostrander, Isabel, 125
Owen, Wilfred, 102–3
Oxford, as Harriet’s home, 177
Oxford University; in Gaudy Night, 163–64; granting degrees to women, 11; Sayers at, 1, 7, 11
“Papers Relating to the Family of Wimsey” (pamphlet series), 182
Parker, Police Inspector Charles, 54, 129; character of, 60, 207; collaboration with Peter, 95, 150; and Mary Wimsey, 50, 56–57, 151–52; Peter’s relationship with, 29, 36–37, 78–79, 100; on Wimsey’s character, 25–26
Parliament, 18–19, 41–42, 44
Parliamentary Reform Act (1918), 18–19
Penberthy, Doctor, 73–74, 78–79
Perspective, in postwar literature, 33–35
Pettigrew-Robinson, Mrs., 49
Phelps, Marjorie, 77–78, 95, 98, 101
Photography, Bunter’s skill at, 39
Picasso, 102
Piggott, Mr., 23–24, 35
Plays, Sayers’s, 21–22, 182–84, 192
Poe, Edgar Allen, 119, 121
Poetry: imagist, 34; of postwar era, 34; Sayers’s, 19; war poets, 102–4
Police work, 29, 188. See also Investigations; Parker, Police Inspector Charles
Politics, 43, 82
Potts, Ginger Joe, 144–45, 147
Poverty, in England, 42–43. See also Economies
Price, Eiluned, 104–5
Publicity, effects of, 80
Publishing: of Sayers’s books, 40, 69; Sayers’s jobs in, 9, 19. See also Gollancz, Victor
Rainbow, The (Lawrence), 102
Read, Herbert, 102
Religion: Sayers’s aloofness from, 208; Sayers’
s new focus on, 192–93; in Wimsey novels, 6, 117
Research, by Sayers, 47–48, 87–88, 106
Robinson, Arthur, 169–70
Romance: in detective stories, 124–25; Peter’s relationship with Harriet, 162–63
Russell, Mary, 107
Russia, 9, 12, 158; in WWI, 13, 15
Sassoon, Siegfried, 102
Sayers, Dorothy L., 200; abandoning Wimsey novels, 192, 199, 201; as anthology editor, 83, 134, 200; background and family of, 6–7, 10–11, 88–89; collaborations of, 87–88, 90, 182–83; creation of Lord Peter Wimsey, 1, 181–82; and crime fiction, 118–21, 203–4; goals for Gaudy Night, 162–63; marriage of, 69, 80, 89–90, 174–75; opinions of own work, 29, 40, 143–44, 172; opposition to totalitarianism, 163, 201, 207; other jobs of, 9, 14, 19–20; and other mystery authors, 58, 123–28; personal life of, 57–59, 83, 180; poetry by, 19; recurring themes of, 74, 204–6; relationship with Lord Peter Wimsey, 2, 83, 87–88, 94, 126, 137, 176–77, 193–94; relationship with readers, 120–23, 188; relationships of, 45–47, 208–9; research for novels, 47–48, 87–88, 106–7; self–analysis through novels, 7; self–portrayal in characters, 94, 98–99, 109, 135–36, 203; success as author, 41, 69, 81, 83, 89–90, 118, 154; techniques of, 85–87, 116–17, 188; use of current events, 44–45, 82–83, 196; values of, 96–97, 166, 207–9; as writer, 9–10, 40, 98–99, 135–36, 143; as writer of mysteries, 58, 126–27, 202–4; writing process of, 83–87, 126, 162–63; writing style of, 7, 32–34, 120, 122
Sayers, Gertrude (aunt), 67
Sayers, Helen Leigh (mother), 48; decline and death of, 88–89; as model for Sayers’s characters, 67, 108–10
Sayers, Henry (father), 48; decline and death of, 88–89; Theodore Venable modeled on, 108–10
Sayers, John Anthony (son), 46–47, 89–90
Science: in Sayers’s stories, 31–32, 73–74, 205; in Sherlock Holmes stories, 120
Scotland Yard, vs. locals, 53–54
Scott-Giles, Wilfrid, 182
Servants, 38–39. See also Bunter, Mervyn
Sex Qualification Removal Act (1919), 19
Sexton Blake stories, 20; effects on Sayers, 55–56, 135; Murder Must Advertise modeled on, 144–45, 149; Sayers writing, 10, 20–21
Sexual relations: and gender roles, 63–64; of Parker, 56–57; of Peter, 56; of Peter and Harriet, 187; Victorian attitudes toward, 64–65
Shakespeare, William, 35
Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson: The Chronology of their Adventures (Bell), 85
Short stories: after last Wimsey novel, 192, 200, 202; anthologies of Sayers’s, 200–201; edited by Sayers, 83, 134, 200; Sherlock Holmes suitable for, 23; of Wimsey, 2, 83–87
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