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And the times he lived in were far different than those of today’s CSI-oriented practices – both here and in England. The fact that he is best friends with Inspector Parker and has influential friends in high places doesn’t hurt him either.

We talked at length about how his boredom was the main factor that led him to trying to solve crimes, and how given his rank, his intellect, and his history with successful crime solving, he was able to insert himself into the case of the body in the tub without a fuss being made by the police. As a younger son, he is free from the demands of conventional noble life and is able to indulge his passions for book collecting, music, travel – and crime-solving. This, together with the circle of friends and writers she had known, would have made some of the more esoteric points she makes about Lord Peter and his friends perfectly believable, and even necessary to both his aristocratic position and the educational level he had available to him as a member of the upper class. We particularly got a kick out of the fact that in a later Wimsey novel he and his true love express their feelings for each other – in Latin! We talked about the fact that Sayers was an Oxford educated scholar, and both a literary and liturgical writer who was highly respected for her work in both areas. We talked about how the fact that this was written in a different age, also contributed to a slower paced, more detailed style of narration than many of today’s readers have patience for. Here the “how” is more focused on how will the criminal be caught, or how will the hero escape.

The most popular trend is in more the “how-dunit” vein of fast-paced thrillers. This included such things as having a point in the story where the chief sleuth (here, Lord Peter) mulls over a list of events or things they have learned and say something to the effect of “By Jove! Now I have it!” while the poor reader is saying “Noooo – what do you mean you have it? How could you possibly have figured it out from that list?” We don’t see many mysteries using this today, but then we talked a bit about how puzzle-solving mysteries of the classic “whodunit” type are less in favor right now. Sayers and the very first Lord Peter Wimsey novel, Whose Body? We shared some background on the author and the Golden Age mystery writing period that she was such an integral part of, and how it established many of the mystery writing “conventions” – particularly in the traditional mystery genre. Crime school was in session last Thursday night when Murder Among Friends (MAF) met to discuss this year’s Lion of the Genre: Dorothy L.