The Nine Tailors Paperback – Illustrated, September 28, 1966

I love the Lord Peter Mysteries, and to me this is one of the finest. I've read it several times over the years and have always found it entertaining, scary, and moving.Dorothy Sayers was an incredible writer, and The Nine Tailors is one of her great triumphs, offering readers a poignant mystery scenario when Lord Peter is stranded in a small parish on a winter's night, and somehow finds himself joining in with a bout of change-ringing. Sayers' knowledge of this ancient art goes beyond the musical and into the mathematical, yet it is never dull, and the writing is so good you can almost hear the different bells of Fenchurch St. Paul ringing across the mournful countryside.As always, the genius of Sayers lies in the rich characters, led by the always-fascinating Lord Peter, who is at his best here -- approachable, kind, human and interested in all those around him. The faithful Bunter adds a dash of humor and steadfast loyalty, as do the townspeople they meet, from the gentle rector and his wife, to a likeable thief, to the young teenaged girl who becomes Lord Peter's surprising partner in sleuthing.Meanwhile: While I've read other reviews here calling Lord Peter 'stuffy' or arrogant, I just can't agree. Is Lord Peter the very picture of the British Lord? Of course, in some ways. But the character's genius is that he may look like one thing yet be quite another. Lord Peter has the ability not only to appear either charming or foolish as needed, but even more importantly, he's a genius able to be at home -- and to make others at home -- wherever he goes, from a small parish church, to a 1930s ad agency, whether in a gathering of reformed street criminals -- or a dissolute socialite's drug den."The Nine Tailors" is a superb book, and an excellent introduction to Lord Peter (although I do hope if you like this, you'll go back and start it all properly with "Whose Body?" and continue along in order from there)! It's a book that goes beyond satisfying as a mystery, to satisfying the soul as an excellent novel. You may think of the rolling bells more than once after reading it, and the haunting line that "Nine Tailors make a man." I found it unforgettable.

An atmospheric mystery set on the fens among small villages with big churches that are home to a panoply of bells. The bells are perhaps the main focus of the story, which spends a lot of time explaining the tradition of bell ringing in England in all its mathematical complexity. I can't say that I understood it much better by the end of the book, but the amount of care and thought that goes into it was abundantly clear. The next focus of the story is the characters, from the forgetful pastor who takes good care of his flock to the keeper of the locks nearby who has told all the authorities they are in need of replacement, yet none of them will take responsibility. There is a wealthy, landed family, some of whom are liked in the village, some not, and an assortment of farmers and maids and storekeepers. Into this milieu, Lord Peter arrives with his manservant, just in time to help at an important bell ringing event and to be on hand when a body is discovered.The mystery itself, with its layers and layers of discovery, seemed almost secondary to the place and the people. In fact, the resolution to it comes late and is a matter of some happenstance. I also found myself a bit distracted by the amount of time Lord Peter spent with the rector, and what he did in the interim, but the upper class was always free to come and go I suppose. At any rate, these are minor quibbles in an otherwise enjoyable and engrossing book.

What a great read and mystery. The best by Sayers so far in my reading of all of her Lord Peter Wimsey books and stories.

As a homeschooling family, we've heard a lot about Dorothy Sayers through the years. I was really surprised to discover that she was the same Dorothy Sayers who wrote all the Peter Wimsey mysteries. Like I imagined her writing would be, this book is fun and educational.The Nine Tailors is a detective story along the lines of Sherlock Holmes or Hercule Peroit. Her Lord Peter Wimsey is a smart, finicky, very British aristocrat who doesn't seem to have much else to do except try to find a "bit of fun" by being a detective. He reminds me a bit of the American Columbo (but before Columbo), asking questions that seem so innocent that it gets people talking and gets them caught on their own stories.Mrs. Sayers makes the English village come alive with all kinds of interesting characters and great dialogue. One of my favorite passages in the book is a dialogue between the town's rector and an older woman of the town. When he tells her that we shouldn't question the ways of Providence, the woman replies, "Don't yew talk to me about Providence. I've had enough o' Providence. First he took my husband, and then he took my `taters, but there's One above as'll teach him to mend his manners, if he don't look out."The story behind the mystery is a story about the English method of church-bell ringing, which is really more mathematical than musical according to the participants, though of course, music and math are always closely related. But the men work out the patterns using permutations of the numbers of the bells, not thinking so much about the actual notes of the bells themselves. Each man also takes his bell very seriously, learning through the generations about the personalities of the various bells. All the bells have names, and regardless of the name itself, all the bells are women. The town in the story is Fenchurch St. Paul (a fictional place) with a 130 foot church steeple and eight bells. The biggest bell is named Tailor Paul, and when someone dies, they ring Tailor Paul nine times, hence the name of the book. Because what would a good mystery be without an unexplained death or two?I enjoyed very much learning about the patterns for the church bells, but I also very much enjoyed the mystery. I hate mysteries where I have figured it out before the detective, so I was very pleased with myself that I figured out the murderer at exactly the same time as Lord Peter. The book was very well-written, fast-paced, with a healthy dose of British wit. I enthusiastically recommend this book to anyone, and I'm looking forward to my next Lord Peter Wimsey mystery.