Clouds of Witness

'D. L. Sayers is one of the best detective story writers' Daily Telegraph The Duke of Denver, accused of murder, stands trial for his life in the House of Lords. The victim? His future brother-in-law. When Captain Denis Cathcart is found shot dead outside the conservatory of Riddlesdale Lodge in North Yorkshire, the evidence points overwhelmingly to the estate's owner: Gerald Wimsey, the Duke of Denver. Discovered standing over the blood-stained body at three in the morning, the Duke stubbornly refuses to explain his movements or defend his timeline. It falls to his younger brother, the brilliant aristocratic sleuth Lord Peter Wimsey, to launch a frantic private investigation to save Gerald from the gallows. Aided by his meticulous valet Bunter and Scotland Yard's Inspector Charles Parker, Lord Peter must untangle a dangerous web of family secrets that stretches from the bleak moorlands to the financial underworld of Paris. With the family honour on the line and the trial looming, Wimsey must decipher the mechanical truths hidden beneath aristocratic pride before it is too late. Clouds of Witness is the second entry in Dorothy L. Sayers's iconic mystery series. It is an essential read for fans of Agatha Christie's Hercule Poirot, Margery Allingham's Albert Campion, and quintessential Golden Age country house whodunits. "She combined literary prose with powerful suspense, and it takes a rare talent to achieve that. A truly great storyteller." - Minette Walters

'D. L. Sayers is one of the best detective story writers' Daily Telegraph The Duke of Denver, accused of murder, stands trial for his life in the House of Lords. The victim? His future brother-in-law. When Captain Denis Cathcart is found shot dead outside the conservatory of Riddlesdale Lodge in North Yorkshire, the evidence points overwhelmingly to the estate's owner: Gerald Wimsey, the Duke of Denver. Discovered standing over the blood-stained body at three in the morning, the Duke stubbornly refuses to explain his movements or defend his timeline. It falls to his younger brother, the brilliant aristocratic sleuth Lord Peter Wimsey, to launch a frantic private investigation to save Gerald from the gallows. Aided by his meticulous valet Bunter and Scotland Yard's Inspector Charles Parker, Lord Peter must untangle a dangerous web of family secrets that stretches from the bleak moorlands to the financial underworld of Paris. With the family honour on the line and the trial looming, Wimsey must decipher the mechanical truths hidden beneath aristocratic pride before it is too late. Clouds of Witness is the second entry in Dorothy L. Sayers's iconic mystery series. It is an essential read for fans of Agatha Christie's Hercule Poirot, Margery Allingham's Albert Campion, and quintessential Golden Age country house whodunits. "She combined literary prose with powerful suspense, and it takes a rare talent to achieve that. A truly great storyteller." - Minette Walters

This delightful mystery is the second featuring Lord Peter Wimsey. When his brother, the Duke of Denver, is accused of murder then it is Lord Peter's job to clear his name. The Duke is found standing over the body of his sister's fianc , who he has recently argued with about claims that the victim, Captain Denis Cathcart, was a card sharp. However, when questioned, he refuses to give a reasonable account of why he was wandering around outside, in the middle of the night. Why is he being so secretive and what is their sister, Mary, hiding? This is a wonderful, Golden Age mystery, with Lord Peter Wimsey and Charles Parker truly collaborating. There are some great, atmospheric scenes, most notably when Wimsey and Bunter are lost on the moors. The scenes in the House of Lords, where the Duke of Denver is tried, are also very interesting. Much of the fun in these books is in Wimsey himself and his light-hearted banter and eccentric behaviour. He is one of the greatest fictional amateur detectives and this is one of his best cases.

This delightful mystery is the second featuring Lord Peter Wimsey. When his brother, the Duke of Denver, is accused of murder then it is Lord Peter's job to clear his name. The Duke is found standing over the body of his sister's fianc , who he has recently argued with about claims that the victim, Captain Denis Cathcart, was a card sharp. However, when questioned, he refuses to give a reasonable account of why he was wandering around outside, in the middle of the night. Why is he being so secretive and what is their sister, Mary, hiding? This is a wonderful, Golden Age mystery, with Lord Peter Wimsey and Charles Parker truly collaborating. There are some great, atmospheric scenes, most notably when Wimsey and Bunter are lost on the moors. The scenes in the House of Lords, where the Duke of Denver is tried, are also very interesting. Much of the fun in these books is in Wimsey himself and his light-hearted banter and eccentric behaviour. He is one of the greatest fictional amateur detectives and this is one of his best cases.

Clouds of Witness is a 1926 mystery novel by Dorothy L. Sayers, the second in her series featuring Lord Peter Wimsey. In the United States the novel was first published in 1927 under the title Clouds of Witnesses. The book's title derives from Hebrews, Chapter 12 verse 1: "Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us." In his 2017 overview of the classic crime genre, Martin Edwards suggests that Clouds of Witness is the work of a novelist learning her craft, but that it displays the storytelling qualities that soon made Sayers famous. While this early portrayal of Wimsey verges on a caricature, Sayers sought to characterise him in greater depth in later novels. Edwards notes that in this novel Wimsey is portrayed not only as a great detective but also as a man of action, and he quotes part of the defence counsel's speech to the House of Lords, explaining Wimsey's transatlantic dash to attend the trial: "My lords, at this moment this all-important witness is cleaving the air high above the wide Atlantic. In this wintry weather he is braving a peril which would appal any heart but his own and that of the world-famous aviator whose help he has enlisted, so that no moment may be lost in freeing his noble brother from this terrible charge. My lords, the barometer is falling." This fictional flight was written in 1926, a year before Charles Lindbergh achieved the same feat in reality (although Alcock and Brown, flying together, had crossed the Atlantic non-stop in 1919). A copy of Clouds of Witness was one of the volumes modified by Joe Orton and Kenneth Halliwell in their adulterations of library books from the Islington and Hampstead libraries in the early 1960s. In 1972 the novel was the subject of a BBC TV mini-series starring Ian Carmichael as Wimsey and Glyn Houston as Bunter. (wikipedia.org) About the author: Dorothy Leigh Sayers (13 June 1893 - 17 December 1957) was an English crime writer and poet. She was also a student of classical and modern languages. She is best known for her mysteries, a series of novels and short stories set between the First and Second World Wars that feature English aristocrat and amateur sleuth Lord Peter Wimsey. As a crime writer during the "Golden Age of Detective Fiction", Sayers was considered one of its four "Queens of Crime", alongside Agatha Christie, Margery Allingham and Ngaio Marsh. Sayers is also known for her plays, literary criticism, and essays. She considered her translation of Dante's Divine Comedy to be her best work. Sayers's obituarist, writing in The New York Times in 1957, noted that many critics at the time regarded her mystery The Nine Tailors as her finest literary achievement. (wikipedia.org)

Clouds of Witness is a 1926 mystery novel by Dorothy L. Sayers, the second in her series featuring Lord Peter Wimsey. In the United States the novel was first published in 1927 under the title Clouds of Witnesses. The book's title derives from Hebrews, Chapter 12 verse 1: "Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us." In his 2017 overview of the classic crime genre, Martin Edwards suggests that Clouds of Witness is the work of a novelist learning her craft, but that it displays the storytelling qualities that soon made Sayers famous. While this early portrayal of Wimsey verges on a caricature, Sayers sought to characterise him in greater depth in later novels. Edwards notes that in this novel Wimsey is portrayed not only as a great detective but also as a man of action, and he quotes part of the defence counsel's speech to the House of Lords, explaining Wimsey's transatlantic dash to attend the trial: "My lords, at this moment this all-important witness is cleaving the air high above the wide Atlantic. In this wintry weather he is braving a peril which would appal any heart but his own and that of the world-famous aviator whose help he has enlisted, so that no moment may be lost in freeing his noble brother from this terrible charge. My lords, the barometer is falling." This fictional flight was written in 1926, a year before Charles Lindbergh achieved the same feat in reality (although Alcock and Brown, flying together, had crossed the Atlantic non-stop in 1919). A copy of Clouds of Witness was one of the volumes modified by Joe Orton and Kenneth Halliwell in their adulterations of library books from the Islington and Hampstead libraries in the early 1960s. In 1972 the novel was the subject of a BBC TV mini-series starring Ian Carmichael as Wimsey and Glyn Houston as Bunter. (wikipedia.org) About the author: Dorothy Leigh Sayers (13 June 1893 - 17 December 1957) was an English crime writer and poet. She was also a student of classical and modern languages. She is best known for her mysteries, a series of novels and short stories set between the First and Second World Wars that feature English aristocrat and amateur sleuth Lord Peter Wimsey. As a crime writer during the "Golden Age of Detective Fiction", Sayers was considered one of its four "Queens of Crime", alongside Agatha Christie, Margery Allingham and Ngaio Marsh. Sayers is also known for her plays, literary criticism, and essays. She considered her translation of Dante's Divine Comedy to be her best work. Sayers's obituarist, writing in The New York Times in 1957, noted that many critics at the time regarded her mystery The Nine Tailors as her finest literary achievement. (wikipedia.org)