The Nine Tailors is a 1934 mystery novel by British writer Dorothy L. Sayers, her ninth featuring sleuth Lord Peter Wimsey. Stranded in the Fenland village of Fenchurch St. Paul on New Year's Eve after a car accident, Wimsey helps ring a nine-hour peal of bells overnight after Will Thoday, one of the ringers, is stricken by influenza. Lady Thorpe, wife of Sir Henry Thorpe, the local squire, dies next morning and Wimsey hears how the Thorpe family has been blighted for 20 years by the unsolved theft of jewels from a house-guest by the butler, Deacon, and an accomplice, Cranton. Both men were... imprisoned, but the jewels were never recovered. At Easter, Sir Henry himself dies and his wife's grave is opened for his burial. A body is found hidden in the grave, mutilated beyond recognition. It is first thought to be the body of a tramp labourer calling himself "Driver" who arrived and then vanished just after the New Year. An odd document found in the bell chamber by Hilary Thorpe, Sir Henry's daughter, proves to be a cipher. Acting on a hunch, Lord Peter enquires at the Post Office for any uncollected letters addressed to "Driver".
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| Author: | Dorothy L. Sayers |
| Genre: | Fiction, Mystery, Suspense |
| Year published: | 1934 |
| Number of editions: | 19 |