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Welcome to our 2016 group challenge! Our first group challenge features the Lord Peter Wimsey mysteries by Dorothy L. Sayers.

This challenge will open on January 2016 and the first book featured will be, "Whose Body?"

Susan, thanks so much for all your work putting this together - it looks great! I just can't wait to get started. :)

Thanks Judy - I did my best!

Ha! Fantastic! Well, I look forward to re-reading some works and making some new discoveries.

Great news, Roisin :)

Really looking forward to this. Thanks for setting it up.

Excellent! Thank you for doing this and I look forward to it!

Looks good, Susan.

Thanks, everyone. Look forward to reading along with you all - good books and good company, what could be better?

I am in for this!

I know we are not covering the Jill Paton Walsh novels in our challenge, but the second she wrote, "A Presumption of Death," is kindle deal of the day on the UK Amazon site today (25th Nov). I do hope to read them after our challenge so thought it worth mentioning here.

Oh and "Clouds of Witness" is also 99p at the moment!

Excellent, Hilary. I actually liked the look of ALL the kindle deals of the day today and that hasn't happened in a while!

Susan wrote: "I know we are not covering the Jill Paton Walsh novels in our challenge, but the second she wrote, "A Presumption of Death," is kindle deal of the day on the UK Amazon site today (25th Nov). I do h..."

I've read two of Jill Paton Walsh's Lord Peter novels and really enjoyed them. I particularly liked A Presumption of Death.

I plan to read them, but I will try to wait until after I have read all the original books and, I confess, I have not read them all yet...

Great idea guys. I have just joined with thanks to Damaskcat for the invite. I have read a lot of Agatha Christie and loved them but no Dorothy L Sayers so really looking forward to this.

Welcome to the group, Michelle :)

Susan wrote: "Welcome to the group, Michelle :)"

Thank you!

The first two Lord Peter Wimsey books are currently 99p in the Amazon UK Christmas Kindle sale. If you want to join in with the challenge (and I hope you do!) then this is a great time to download the first couple of reads for less than the price of a packet of mince pies :)

Susan wrote: "The first two Lord Peter Wimsey books are currently 99p in the Amazon UK Christmas Kindle sale. If you want to join in with the challenge (and I hope you do!) then this is a great time to download ..."

Thanks Susan.

Susan wrote: "The first two Lord Peter Wimsey books are currently 99p in the Amazon UK Christmas Kindle sale. If you want to join in with the challenge (and I hope you do!) then this is a great time to download ..."

Also true in US - thanks

Great news, Susan - I've just downloaded them both! Thanks, and Merry Christmas/Happy Holidays to all!

I can get Whose Body from a different branch of my library. I'm trying to decide whether to do that or get it on my Kindle (roughly the same cost) :)

Good to hear they are on sale in the US too. Hope we all have a happy holiday, no matter where we are and that 2016 brings lots of great reads and good company.

The first book is in the public domain in the U.S. so the ebook is available for free from various sources. One website is

Is everybody aware that in addition to writing the Lord Peter mysteries, Dorothy Sayers was a legitimate scholar whose work included a translation of Dante in which she sought to replicate the complex rhyme scheme of Dante. She was also a playwright and a Christian writer.

Everyman, I did know a bit about Sayers' other work but would like to know more about her life - is there a biography of her you'd recommend? I'd like to fit one in alongside the challenge.

I did read one some years ago (don't remember the title) but I remember being a bit disappointed by it, so would like to find a better one.

I did try to find one for the challenge, Judy, but there does not seem to be a good one in print that would be easy for everyone to get. I would also like to read her biography, if anyone has any good suggestions?

Thanks, Susan. I just had a quick search for one and I certainly see what you mean - they all seem to be out of print and published a long time ago.

I can't recommend any biogs sadly, however you might want to have a look at this bibliography, it lists her letters. Sometimes it is better to go to the source.: )

Found this on the UK's The Guardian website:



It recommends two old biographies.

Season greetings by the way to everyone. : )

Judy wrote: "Everyman, I did know a bit about Sayers' other work but would like to know more about her life - is there a biography of her you'd recommend? I'd like to fit one in alongside the challenge. ."

I'm afraid I don't know of any biographies of her. There are a few listed on Amazon, but I have no idea whether any of them are any good.

I have not read the ones that I was referring to on the link so I have no idea either. I might try and locate a library copy of one of these.

Both of those links are great! Thanks Roisin.

Is there a set date to discuss this or do we post whenever we have read some/all? I haven't started yet....

Michelle, the challenge will open up on 1st January and members will be able to sign up then to take part.

Susan has drawn up a schedule with one book a month and a couple of extras - here is a link:

/challenges/...

As it says on the schedule, whether you read all the books, or just pick and choose the ones which interest you, everyone is welcome!

Roisin, thanks for the great links. I will hope to read one of the two biographies recommended in the Guardian article, Dorothy L. Sayers: A Biography by James Brabazon or Dorothy L. Sayers: Her Life and Soul by Barbara Reynolds.

I would like to join the challenge. Is it ok to re-read the books?

Martha, that's absolutely fine - I think it will be a reread for quite a few of us.

Welcome and glad you can join us!

Re-reading books can be interesting, especially if you read them many years ago. I think I've only read five of her books so there will be new discoveries.

Judy wrote: "Michelle, the challenge will open up on 1st January and members will be able to sign up then to take part.

Susan has drawn up a schedule with one book a month and a couple of extras - here is a l..."

Hi Judy, thanks. I was just wondering though if there was a specific day to read the book by so there is a discussion on a day or days, or do we post thoughts as and when we finish it or want to comment?

We will just have a discussion thread so everyone can comment. Just read along at your leisure and join in when you want, Michelle. It will start in January, but there is no pressure to read by a particular time - it is up to you.

Martha wrote: "I would like to join the challenge. Is it ok to re-read the books?"

I sure hope so, since I've read them all at least twice and some more than that.

Roisin wrote: "Re-reading books can be interesting, especially if you read them many years ago."

Any book worth reading is worth re-reading. A motto I largely live by.

And you're right, a great book is a very different thing at sixty than it was at twenty. At both ages it will say valuable things to you, but they will be very different things those forty years difference.

I totally agree about re-reading. With Dorothy L. Sayers though, I have read the first few and not the last, so I am looking forward to finally reading all her Wimsey novels.

Susan wrote: "We will just have a discussion thread so everyone can comment. Just read along at your leisure and join in when you want, Michelle. It will start in January, but there is no pressure to read by a p..."

Ok thanks, sounds good

If I have set the challenge up correctly (and it's the first time I have tried to do so) it should open on New Year's Day. We will see if it works :)

Susan wrote: "I totally agree about re-reading. With Dorothy L. Sayers though, I have read the first few and not the last, so I am looking forward to finally reading all her Wimsey novels."

I have read quite a few of them but not in order and I'm not convinced that I have actually read them all! I'll be interested to see how the characters develop, particularly Lord Peter.

Ruth, it is no wonder we all get confused, when you think how many series we all read! I am also looking forward to this challenge, it should be great fun.

Judy wrote: "Thanks, Susan. I just had a quick search for one and I certainly see what you mean - they all seem to be out of print and published a long time ago."

Yes, the Reynolds biography came out in the 1990s (I got it when it was new, so not such a long time ago, compared to when Whose Body? was published, for example); Barbara Reynolds also edited the Sayers letters. However, the two volumes of letters and the biography are readily available from reputable second-hand sellers. Here's a search that I did on one site that links to sellers worldwide, a lot of the results are under US $20:



On sites like AbeBooks and Amazon, I'd counsel that you avoid the bulk-reseller types (which I won't name here but should be obvious if you look at the listings for a moment) if you care about condition (as I do, very much); their grading is occasionally good, but more often slapdash and lazy, in my experience. You can usually spot those sorts of sellers because they offer free shipping, which may seem like a bargain, but most small independents can't afford to do the same. If you care about the survival of independent booksellers, that's worth taking into account.

Alternately, if you've got a favourite local second-hand bookshop, go to them and ask them to search for the book. Take ALL of the information when you do: Title, Author, Publisher, ISBN (if applicable), and Publication Date - write it down (I worked in bookshops for years, and there's nothing more aggravating than someone coming in and saying "I'm looking for a book. It's green, and it's about farms... or maybe about hedgehogs. Do you have it?"). In the old days (pre-internet), searches were made through placing adverts in trade mags, contacting fellow sellers who specialised, and other methods. Now, many just use the same sites as we would, like AbeBooks, Powells, Half Price Books, et cetera.

Be sure to consider the security of your personal information and credit card data when you shop: I've never heard of a breach at any of the sites that I use (and I've used AbeBooks, Amazon, and the like for over 15 years), but I would ALWAYS consider the advantages of using a pre-paid throwaway credit card, or a pre-paid gift card, if available. Read the site's policies thoroughly if you're in any doubt.

Apologies for running on a bit. Just thought I'd pop my head up to say that there's no reason to avoid a book just because its out-of-print.