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Shedunnit

Dorothy L Sayers Solves Her Mystery

Shedunnit

Caroline Crampton

Arts, Books

4.9 • 1.4K Ratings

🗓️ 24 November 2021

⏱️ 28 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Why did she stop writing detective fiction as WW2 approached? This is the sixth and final episode of Queens of Crime at War, a six part series looking at what the best writers from the golden age of detective fiction did once that period came to an end with the start of the Second World War. There are very minor spoilers in this episode for the eventual outcome of the Harriet Vane-Peter Wimsey plot line. Books referenced: — Busman's Honeymoon by Dorothy L Sayers — The Nine Tailors by Dorothy L Sayers — The Floating Admiral by Members of the Detection Club — The Documents in the Case by Dorothy L Sayers and Robert Eustace — Murder Must Advertise by Dorothy L Sayers — Gaudy Night by Dorothy L Sayers — The Zeal of Thy House by Dorothy L Sayers — Dorothy L. Sayers: Her Life and Soul by Barbara Reynolds — He That Should Come by Dorothy L Sayers — Begin Here: A Wartime Essay by Dorothy L Sayers — Whose Body? by Dorothy L Sayers —Thrones, Dominations by Dorothy L Sayers and Jill Paton Walsh — Striding Folly by Dorothy L Sayers — "The Haunted Policeman" and "Talboys" in Lord Peter Wimsey Investigates by Dorothy L Sayers — The Wimsey Papers by Dorothy L Sayers — The Man Born to Be King by Dorothy L Sayers — The Mind of the Maker by Dorothy L Sayers — Clouds of Witness by Dorothy L Sayers — Strong Poison by Dorothy L Sayers — Have His Carcase by Dorothy L Sayers — A Presumption of Death by Dorothy L Sayers and Jill Paton Walsh — Women's Fiction of the Second World War: Gender, Power, Resistance by Gill Plain To be the first to know about future developments with the podcast, sign up for the newsletter at shedunnitshow.com/newsletter. Find a full transcript of this episode at shedunnitshow.com/dorothylsayerssolveshermysterytranscript. The podcast is on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram as @ShedunnitShow, and you can find it in all major podcast apps. Make sure you’re subscribed so you don’t miss the next episode. Click here to do that now in your app of choice. The original music for this series, "The Case Of The Black Stormcloud", was created by Martin Zaltz Austwick. Find out more about his work at martinzaltzaustwick.wordpress.com. Links to Blackwell’s are affiliate links, meaning that the podcast receives a small commission when you purchase a book there (the price remains the same for you). Blackwell’s is a UK bookselling chain that ships internationally at no extra charge. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

This is the sixth and final episode of Queens of Crime at War, a series looking at what

0:26.9

the best writers from the Golden Age of Detective Viction did once that period came to an end

0:31.9

with the start of the Second World War. If this is the first time that you're hearing

0:36.7

it, you might want to go back and catch up once you finish with this episode. I've covered

0:41.8

Agatha Christie, ECR Lorac, Marjorie Allingham, Josephine Tay and Nioh Marsh. We're finishing

0:49.4

the series with an author very dear to my heart, but someone who doesn't quite fit the pattern

0:54.7

set by her fellow Queens of Crime. Whereas other crime writers molded their who-done

1:00.7

its to fit the changing times as War broke out, she allowed herself to be pulled into different

1:05.9

kinds of work, and left mysteries behind her in that interwar period we now know as the

1:11.2

Golden Age of Detective Viction. The Second World War saw her become more famous than

1:17.0

ever, but it wasn't for her sleuthing stories. She is, of course, Dorothy L. Sayers.

1:25.5

I'm delighted to say that the She-Dunet Pledge Drive has now met its goal, so it'll be

1:39.1

another year before you have to hear me talking about it again. As a thank you to everyone

1:44.0

who joined the She-Dunet Book Club during this series to help me fund another 12 months

1:48.1

of the podcast, I'm doing a festive livestream just for my members and paying supporters

1:53.9

on the 15th of December at 6 p.m. UK time. So if you'd like to come to that, make sure

1:59.5

you join before then at she-Dunetbookclub.com slash join.

2:06.7

Even a quick glance at Dorothy L. Sayers' list of publications will leave you with questions

2:11.9

about why I'm including her in a series about the development of mystery writing during

2:16.7

World War II. Her last full-length detective novel, Bussman's Honeymoon, was published

2:23.1

in 1937. Aside from a few short stories here and there after that, and the contribution

2:29.8

to a round-robin novel in 1939, that was her last proper detective fiction to be published.

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