Lord Peter Wimsey arranged a quiet country honeymoon with Harriet Vane, but what should have been an idyllic holiday in an ancient farmhouse takes on a new and unwelcome aspect with the discovery of the previous owner's body in the cellar

In this classic mystery, murder strikes close to home. Lord Peter Wimsey's brother is accused of murdering the man who is about to marry their sister. The body has been found at Riddlesdale Lodge, the Wimsey family retreat. Lord Peter must solve the case and clear the family name. The Los Angeles Times called Sayers “one of the greatest mystery writers of the 20th century.” “First-rate… [A] marvelous reading.” – Chicago Sun-Times

Morgens um drei Uhr wird Captain Cathcart tot aufgefunden. Für den ebenso eleganten wie scharfsinnigen Amateurdetektiv Lord Peter Wimsey ein besonders heikler Fall. Denn des Mordes verdächtigt wird der Herzog von Denver - sein eigener Bruder. Und die überaus diskreten Zeugen tragen mehr zur Vernebelung als zur Aufklärung der merkwürdigen Affäre bei. In neuer Übersetzung liegt hiermit endlich ein großer Kriminalroman der Weltliteratur ungekürzt vor - der Roman wurde auch als Fernsehserie ein Welterfolg. Zu diesem Buch Dorothy Leigh Sayers, geboren am 13. Juni 1893 als Tochter eines Pfarrers und Schuldirektors aus altem englischem Landadel, war eine der ersten Frauen, die an der Universität ihres Geburtsortes Oxford Examen machte. Sie wurde Lehrerin in Hull, wechselte dann aber für zehn Jahre zu einer Werbeagentur über. 1926 heiratete sie den Kapitän Oswald Atherton Fleming. Als Schriftstellerin begann sie mit religiösen Gedichten und Geschichten. Auch ihre späteren Kriminalromane schrieb sie in der christlichen Grundanschauung von Schuld und Sühne. Schon in ihrem 1926 erschienenen Erstling »Der Tote in der Badewanne« führte sie die Figur ihres eleganten, finanziell unabhängigen und vor allem äußerst scharfsinnigen Amateurdetektivs Lord Peter Wimsey ein, der aus moralischen Motiven Verbrechen aufklärt. Ihre über zwanzig Detektivromane, die sich durch psychologische Grundierungen, eine Fülle bestechender Charakterstudien und eine ethische Haltung auszeichnen, sind inzwischen in die Literaturgeschichte eingegangen. Dorothy L. Sayers gehört mit Agatha Christie und P. D. James zur Trias der großen englischen Kriminalautorinnen. 1950 erhielt sie in Anerkennung ihrer literarischen Verdienste um den Kriminalroman den Ehrendoktortitel der Universität Durham. Dorothy L. Sayers starb am 17. Dezember 1957 in Witham/Essex. Von Dorothy L. Sayers erschienen als rororo-Taschenbücher außerdem: »Der Glocken Schlag« (Nr. 4547), »Fünf falsche Fährten« (Nr. 4614), »Keines natürlichen Todes« (Nr. 4703), »Mord braucht Reklame« (Nr. 4895), »Starkes Gift« (Nr. 4962), »Zur fraglichen Stunde« (Nr. 5077), »Ärger im Bellona-Club« (Nr. 5179), »Aufruhr in Oxford« (Nr. 5271), »Die Akte Harrison« (Nr. 5418) und »Ein Toter zuwenig« (Nr. 5496). Die englische Originalausgabe erschien 1926 unter dem Titel »Clouds of Witness« im Verlag Victor Gollancz Ltd. London. Die deutsche Erstausgabe erschien 1961 unter dem Titel »Lord Peters schwerster Fall« im Scherz Verlag, Bern/München. 1979 erschien der Band in neuer Übersetzung unter dem Titel »Diskrete Zeugen« im Rainer Wunderlich Verlag. Umschlagentwurf Manfred Waller (Foto aus der Fernsehverfilmung der BBC mit Ian Carmichael als Lord Peter Wimsey/BBC Copyright photographs)

a book to remember... In this book you will investigate crime with such Famous Detectives as Perry Mason Nero Wolfe Ellery Queen and read stories of detection and suspense by such Famous Mystery Writers as Agatha Christie John Dickson Carr George Harmon Coxe Charlotte Armstrong Hugh Pentecost and be surprised at tales of mystery and crime by such Famous Literary Figures as W. Somerset Maugham Ben Hecht, John Van Druten A book to remember, a book to read and reread — a book to treasure and keep permanently in your library

Lord Peter Wimsey could imagine the artist stepping back, the stagger, the fall, down to where the pointed rocks grinned like teeth. But was it an accident? Or murder? Six people did not regret Campbell's death… five were red herrings. Set in the unusual background of an artists' colony in Galloway, in the south of Scotland, the book is one of the best of Dorothy Sayers' murder-mystery novels which made her the leading writer in the detective fiction field

Obscene graffiti, poison pen letters and a disgusting effigy greeted Harriet Vane on her return to Oxford. A graduate of ten years before and now a successful novelist, this should have been a pleasant, nostalgic visit for her. She asks her lover, Lord Peter Wimsey, for help

A young woman falls asleep on a deserted beach and wakes to discover the body of a man whose throat has been slashed from ear to ear…The young woman is the celebrated detective novelist Harriet Vane, once again drawn against her will into a murder investigation in which she herself could be a suspect. Lord Peter Wimsey is only too eager to help her clear her name. Murder brings Lord Peter and Harriet together again: when walking on a Dorset beach, Harriet discovers a corpse, the throat cut from ear to ear. Lord Peter comes to her assistance, and their inquiries lead from a distinctive razor blade to the salons of London's fashionable Jermyn Street, from a Russian émigré and professional dance-partner to a mysterious man with one shoulder higher than the other. As they investigate the trail of coded messages and secret agents, Harriet and Lord Peter's relationship becomes as tangled as the cat's-cradle of hints and clues that they are trying to unravel

Zbiór opowiadań

La noche de fin de año, Peter Wimsey sufre un accidente de coche y se ve obligado a pernoctar en Fenchurch St. Paul, donde el párroco de la aldea le ofrece alojamiento. Muchos de los aldeanos han enfermado a causa de una fuerte gripe, entre ellos el campanero, de modo que Wimsey se ofrece a cubrir su puesto esa noche. Meses después, fallece el marido de una de las víctimas de la epidemia. Durante el entierro, descubren un cadáver sin identificar y Wimsey se verá implicado en la investigación de este desconcertante hallazgo, que oculta mucho más de lo que en principio aparenta. Las historias de lord Wimsey se publicaron entre 1920 y 1940 y relatan las aventuras del hermano menor del duque de Denver, Peter Wimsey. En algún momento previo a las primeras novelas, Wimsey empezó a investigar crímenes como aficionado; ahora, la policía (especialmente el inspector Parker) valora su colaboración y lo considera un competente sabueso. Los nueve sastres es uno de los libros más conocidos de la serie de lord Peter

Cuando Harriet Vane regresa a la Universidad de Oxford, encuentra a los profesores y alumnos de su college nerviosos por los extraños mensajes de un lunático. Con la ayuda de lord Peter Wimsey, Harriet empieza una investigación para desenmascarar al autor de las amenazas. Una novela de misterio, e incluso de terror, Los secretos de Oxford es también una obra sobre el papel de las mujeres en la sociedad contemporánea, una reflexión sobre la educación y una historia de amor entre dos mentes privilegiadas. Una de las mejores novelas de misterio del siglo XX y la obra maestra de Sayers, precursora de Patricia Highsmith, Iris Murdoch o A.S. Byatt

Victor Dean falls to his death on the stairs of Pym's Advertising Agency, and no one is sorry. That is until Lord Peter Wimsey joins the firm and asks some awkward questions. Finding himself involved in a web of blackmail and drugs, more must die before the sinister plot can be unravelled

Lord Peter Wimsey becomes fascinated when bohemian Harriet Vane is accused of murdering her lover. He investigates further and finds himself falling in love with her as he visits her in prison and watches her in court. But can he save her from the gallows?

The only one of Sayers' twelve major crime novels not to feature Lord Peter Wimsey, her most famous detective character, written in collaboration with Robert Eustace. This is an epistolary novel, told primarily in the form of letters between some of the characters. This collection of documents — hence the novel's title — is explained as a dossier of evidence collected by the victim's son as part of his campaign to obtain justice for his father

Nine teller strokes from the belfry of an ancient country church toll the death of an unknown man and call the famous Lord Peter Wimsey to one of his most brilliant cases, set in the atmosphere of a quiet parish in the strange, flat, fen-country of East Anglia

90-year-old General Fentiman was definitely dead, but no one knew exactly when he had died — and the time of death was the determining factor in a half-million-pound inheritance.Lord Peter Wimsey would need every bit of his amazing skills to unravel the mysteries of why the General's lapel was without a red poppy on Armistice Day, how the club's telephone was fixed without a repairman, and, most puzzling of all, why the great man's knee swung freely when the rest of him was stiff with rigor mortis

Dorothy L. Sayers published "The Wimsey Papers" in The Spectator in 1939 and 1940, purporting to be between characters from the Wimsey novels. Aside from their interest to fans of Sayers, who would like to know more about her characters and about her views on the war, they're also interesting pieces of social history — these must be one of the last few pieces of writing where the word 'propaganda' is used in a neutral meaning, for example

"No sign of foul play". So concludes Dr Carr's post-mortem on Agatha Dawson, and the case is closed. But Lord Peter Wimsey is not satisfied and, with no clues to work on, begins his own investigation. No clues, that is, until the sudden and senseless murder of Agatha's maid

The stark naked body was lying in the tub. Not unsual for a proper bath, but highly irregular for murder — especially with a pair of gold pince-nez deliberately perched before the sightless eyes. What's more, the face appeared to have been shaved after death. The police assumed that the victim was a prominent financier, but Lord Peter Wimsey, who dabbled in mystery detection as a hobby, knew better. In this, his first murder case, Lord Peter untangles the ghastly mystery of the corpse in the bath