Simpson, Helen, 180, 182
Simpson, Wallis, 195
Sir John Magill’s Last Journey (Crofts), 128
Soviet Club (London), 54, 161
Soviet Union, aid to Franco’s opponents, 196
Spain, and spread of fascism, 196
Spectator, Wimsey short stories in, 201
Spiritualism, 95–97
Sport: values of, 28; in Wimsey novels, 25, 52–53
Stereotypes, in Wimsey novels, 30–31, 68–69
Stravinsky, Igor, 102
Stream of consciousness, Sayers’s rejection of, 35
Strong Poison: Bunter’s role in, 152; in chronology of stories, 86; Cremorna Garden in, 67; finances in, 82–83; importance of emotional reactions in, 132; lesbian relationship in, 69; Lord Peter’s relationship with Harriet Vane in, 105–6; mentions of other authors in, 126; mystery writing incorporated into, 122–23; Peter’s relationship with Harriet in, 173; reactions to modernism in, 5; Sayers’s focus on method of crime in, 204; Sayers’s love for John Cournos reflected in, 7; Sayers’s neglect of, 94; Sayers’s plans for Wimsey in, 87–88; woven together with The Five Red Herrings and The Nine Tailors, 91–92
Submarines, in WWI, 15
Suffrage, in England, 18–19, 41
Sugg, Police Inspector, 21, 29, 37
Swaffams, Lady, 34
“Talboys” (unpublished short story), 202, 209
Tales of Detection (anthology of mystery stories), 200
Tallboy, Mr., 150
Technology: at beginning of WWII, 196; and belief in speedy resolution to war, 13–15; effects in Sayers’s stories, 205; and German modernism, 5; Lord Peter’s familiarity with, 113; in postwar England, 30; in Wimsey novels, 6; in WWI, 16, 27
Templeton, Robert, 135–36, 139
Thoday, James, 115, 156
Thoday, Mary, 115–16
Thoday, William, 107, 115–16, 156
Thorndyke, Doctor, 124
Thorpe, Hilary, 93–94, 115–16
Thorpe, Sir Henry, 93
Thorpe family, in The Nine Tailors, 111–12
“Thrones, Dominations” (unfinished novel), 197–99, 201
Time: and attempts to form chronology of Sherlock Holmes stories, 85–86; Sayers weaving novels together with, 91; Sayers’s manipulation of Wimsey chronology, 85–87; and Sayers’s use of alibis, 128
Totalitarianism: in Gaudy Night, 162, 165; rise of, 158–61; Sayers’s opposition to, 163, 201; spread of, 207. See also Fascism
Trenches, as characteristic of WWI, 14–15, 27–28
Trent’s Last Case (Bentley), 123–24
Tristan in Brittany, 90
“Undignified Melodrama of the Bone of Contention, The” (Wimsey short story), 85
United States, 5; stock market crash, 81–82; Wimsey novels in, 40, 47–48; in WWI, 15, 16
Unnatural Death, 5, 58–66, 69, 86, 124, 189, 204
Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club, The, 70, 125, 204; in chronology of stories, 86; compared to Whose Body? 74; effects of WWI in, 70–73; Lady Felicity Dormer in, 66–67; as transitional work, 78–79, 80
Unwin, T. Fisher, publishers, 40, 48
Urquhart, Norman, 82–83, 94–95
Vacations: Harriet’s, 135–36; Peter’s, 91–93, 106, 129–30; Sayers’s, 90, 126
Values: and definition of one’s job, 170; effects of war on, 28, 71–72; Sayers’s espousal of, 207–8; science’s lack of, 32; survival of English, 206–7
Vane, Harriet, 4, 164, 166; character of, 141, 171–72, 75–76, 207; children of, 200, 202; friends of, 69, 104; and importance of jobs, 166–72; as investi-gative partner, 134–35, 138–40, 171, 188; marriage of, 184–87; as mystery writer, 122–23, 135–37, 203; relation-ship with Peter, 97–98, 105–8, 162–63, 172–75, 177–79, 208–9; similarity to Sayers, 98–99; as strong woman character, 158, 206; trial of, 91–93, 101, 105; as unappreciated genius, 104–5
Vaughan, Ryland, 101
Venables, Theodore and Agnes, 109–10, 113
Veterans, WWI: avoidance of discussing war, 17, 28; Lord Peter Wimsey as, 70–72; understanding of war poets, 103
Victorian era, 5, 23, 33; end of, 1–2; gender roles in, 62, 205–6; gender roles of, 62–68
“Vindictive Story of the Footsteps that Ran, The” (Wimsey short story), 84
Viscount St. George (Peter’s nephew), 85
Von Moltke, Helmuthe, 13
Von Schlieffen, Alfred, 13–14
Vonderaa, Simone, 56
Voting. See Suffrage
Wallace, Edgar, 125–26, 135
War, as ideal Victorian adventure, 65
War memorials and services, 17–18, 52, 71
Watson, Doctor, importance to Holmes stories, 120
Weldon, Flora, 139, 141–42, 206
Weldon, Henry, 139–42, 155–56
Whelpton, Eric, 19–20, 21
White, Bill, 46
White, James, 81–82
Whittaker, Clara, 66, 69
Whittaker, Mary, 59–61, 68, 69
Whose Body? 4–5, 29, 34, 46, 204; introduction of Lord Peter Wimsey in, 10, 23–25; Jewish stereotypes in, 30–31; narrative perspectives in, 33–35; other Wimsey novels compared to, 48, 74, 95; references to Sherlock Holmes in, 22, 123; Sayers’s writing style in, 33–34; significance of, 22, 36; Wimsey character in, 26, 189; writing of, 22, 40
Wilson, Annie, 168–70
Wimsey, Gerald. See Denver, Duke of (Wimsey’s brother Gerald)
Wimsey, Lady Harriet Vane. See Vane, Harriet
Wimsey, Lady Mary (Peter’s sister), 49, 60; and Parker, 56–57, 100, 151–52
Wimsey, Lord Peter, 165; changing relationship with Parker, 78–79; character of, 23–26, 35–36, 55–56, 60–61, 71, 113, 132–33, 162, 191, 207; character shaped by era, 202, 209; children of, 200, 202; chronology of stories, 85–86; compared to Sherlock Holmes, 22–23; creation of, 1, 10; as Death Bredon, 145–46, 149–50; descriptions of, 20–21; directions for series, 180–81; effects of relationship with Harriet on, 99–100, 177–79; as embodiment of England, 184, 194–95; epitaph for, 201; family and friends of, 37–40, 49–50, 78–79, 181–82, 198–99; growth of character, 2–3, 21, 74, 80, 106, 117, 144, 176–77; Harriet as investigative partner for, 138–40, 171, 188; as intrepid, 84, 144–45, 148–49; introduced in Sayers’s Sexton Blake novel, 10, 20–21; introduction of, 23–25, 29; investigations of, 6, 79–80, 167; and marriage, 106–7, 184–87; play about, 21–22, 182–83; relationship with Harriet, 92–93, 97–98, 105–8, 138, 162–63, 172–75, 208–9; relationships with women, 56, 76–78, 80, 117, 181, 200; response to different settings, 54, 129–30, 151; responsibility for results of investigations, 25–26, 78, 115, 127, 131, 189–91; Sayers’s relationship with, 94, 138; Sayers’s weariness of, 87–88, 126, 193–94; in short stories, 83–87, 200; supporting characters for, 67–68, 78–79, 95, 138, 151; vulnerabilities of, 95, 141, 177–78, 189–91; as war veteran, 18, 70–73, 165; working alone, 78–79, 108, 113–14, 129
Wimsey Family, The (Scott-Giles), 182
Wimsey industry, 180–81, 184, 190, 192
“Wimsey Papers, The,” 201
Women, 166; among Bohemians, 101–4; education for, 11, 164–65, 167; effects of WWI on, 16–17; Harriet Vane as ideal, 97–98; jobs for, 168–71; rights for, 18–19, 41, 151–52, 157–59; roles in Wimsey stories, 4, 48–52, 59–61, 74–77, 117, 164–65, 205–6; Sayers’s characterizations of strong, 65–67, 108–10; as sleuths, 128; struggle for equality, 162, 173–75, 179–80; in Victorian era, 38, 62–68. See also Gender roles
Woolf, Virginia, 35, 102, 104
Wordsworth, William, 35
Working class, 3, 19
World War I, 9, 27, 73, 96; armistice, 16; casualties of, 11, 14–15, 17; causes of, 11–12; dismal morale during, 27–28; effects in Sayers’s stories, 4, 70–75, 204; effects of, 11, 16–17, 22, 89–90, 102–4; effects on Wimsey, 22, 191; and German modernism, 5; Peter’s shell shock in, 10, 26–27; strategies in, 27–28; technology of, 13–15;
Wimsey in, 3, 26–27, 181; Wimsey’s flashback to, 26, 34
World War II, 194–95, 201–2
Wright, Willard Huntington, 125
Yeats, William Butler, 102, 103
Yorkshire, 47, 52–53
Zeal of thy House, The (play), 193
Conundrums for the Long Week-End Page 34
