So, before we begin, I apologize for missing last week’s update. I dislike giving excuses unless something was legitimately unavoidable, so I’ll just summarize as “I forgot”. And that’s it. Now, onward!
Quiz time! How many classic masters of mystery do you know? I’m guessing most know only two: Arthur Conan Doyle and Agatha Christie. When compared to the list of classic novelists, this list seems rather… sparse. Personally, I can understand. First of all, the birth of mystery as a distinct genre is relatively recent, most often credited to Edgar Allen Poe (that’s mid 1800s, by the way). Furthermore, the very genre is most often built around the question “who did it”, and once that question is answered, the story often loses some of its appeal. My prime example is The Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux, but I’m sure you readers of mystery can think of a few yourselves. For the most part, mystery seems like an expendable genre. And that’s coming from someone who loves mysteries.
Fortunately, however, there are exceptions. One such exception is Robert Louis Stevenson’s Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, which is so well written in such elements as atmosphere and foreshadowing that the story pulls the reader in even after the mystery is solved. Another exceptional example, and the topic of this weeks post, is Dorothy Sayer’s Lord Peter Mystery Series.
Dorothy Sayers lived in the early to mid 1900s and was a friend of C. S. Lewis, who admired her work, and his fellow Inklings. Her most mentioned works, to my knowledge, are her article “The Lost Tools of Learning” and her book The Mind of the Maker, both excellent reads. However, of what I’ve read, the works of hers I like best are her mysteries starring debonair amateur detective, Lord Peter Wimsey.
My first praise for this series is the beauty of the writing. Sayers knows how to write good prose. The sentences flow together, hiccups are few if any, and there are so many clever, quotable lines. Sayers, in her book The Mind of the Maker and in more than one of her fictions, emphasizes the importance of vocation. She holds that if someone is called to a work, then that person should strive for excellence in his or her craft. Sayers lives that out with her writing.
More of her skill can be seen in how Sayers constructs her mysteries. Sayers knows how to pace a mystery, how to instill a good frustration in the reader to mirror the characters’, when to include red herrings, when to slip in clues, and how to bring about the resolution. And when I say “slip in clues”, I mean it. In every Lord Peter mystery I’ve read, Sayers has always made her cases solvable, sometimes even outright stating the key clue. Sometimes this key is near the end, sometimes at the beginning, sometimes the full implication of that clue might need some more obscure knowledge, sometimes it stares in the face of the audience right till the end, but it’s always been there in every novel I’ve read, hidden in plain sight. Another nice aspect of her mysteries is how they are chronological and pass in real time. The full benefit of this I will describe in a bit. In addition to Sayer’s skillful insertion of clues, she also manages to make her mysteries believable. I’ve read some mysteries where the solution is logical on paper but sounds ridiculous when you think about it (really, final death in And Then There Were None? Really?). Sayers mysteries are grounded. Every solution makes sense. That simple logic in her mysteries is very much appreciated.
And now, onto my favorite ingredient in Sayer’s mystery recipe: the characters.
First, a dash of Wimsey. Lord Peter Wimsey is an aristocrat, the second son to a noble family, with too much time on his hands and a talent for sniffing out trouble. In fact, he runs towards it. Though his proud and rather vain at times, the witty optimist Wimsey is just fun to follow. Furthermore, his impulsive actions do not go without consequence. Reading his reactions when they happen and then in future books is… not a delight, as often the consequences are terrible, but the closest to delight as can be reached under the circumstances. The manner in which he changes is also quite refreshing. If you compare the Wimsey of Whose Body? with that of Gaudy Night, you can feel the difference.
The reason for this change, I think, is mainly due to his relationships. Surrounding Wimsey is a great supporting cast, of which I will mention three: the police officer and designated “dasher of Wimsey’s theories”, Charles Parker, the faithful friend and butler, Bunter, and the intelligent and blunt, Harriet Vane. I love these characters. And I adore the interactions between these characters and Wimsey. Parker helps keep Peter grounded with his no-nonsense attitude, Harriet is a fellow intellectual who is not afraid to critique Wimsey and encourage him to change and grown, and Bunter… oh, Bunter! He’s my favorite! Without Bunter, Wimsey would get nowhere. It is Bunter who gathers much of the information, who does the forensic work, and is really the detective’s rock. If Peter is the forerunner to Batman (yes, the first Batman comic was published after the first Lord Peter Wimsey mystery), then Bunter would be Alfred. Except he’s, I can’t believe I’m saying this, better than Alfred! At from what I’ve seen, as not only does Bunter keep Peter standing, but he also acts as an indispensable aid to Peter’s detective work. His first name is also Mervyn, so he gets extra points. I love Bunter.
And there you have it. A spoiler-free gushing about Dorothy Sayer’s mystery series. A few words of caution in closing, though: although there’s nothing explicit, there are occasional instances of sexual immorality. There’s also some cursing, though, again, nothing beyond a PG to PG-13 type rating. Just don’t read it to the tykes.
So, yeah, if you like mystery, check this series out. If you like novels, check this series out, for it holds much more appeal than mere mystery. These are fictions in which Sayers lived out the theology she held and the demands she made of other artists. To put it shortly: they are written with excellence.
All works mentioned here (c) their respective owners... which in this case is all Dorothy Sayers
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