The Aardvark Blog

Dorothy l Sayers and the impossible man
26/11/2013

A day off from the bookery today after a very busy weekend. Saturday was our winter warmer with music from the wonderful Dave Luke and John Hymas. Listening to the World at One my attention started to wonder , and I retuned to Radio 4 Extra, just in time to catch the wonderful clipped tones of the late ian Carmichael playing Lord Peter Wimsey.

Recently I read a piece on Sayers that said that her detective stories were marred by her school girlish crush for her own creation. No man was ever like Wimsey, and no crime story with such a hero could ever be plausible. Such poppycock. For who has ever whilled away an afternoon reading The Nine Tailors or Gaudy night without feeling the same admiration. The man collects rare books - and which booklover wouldn't if time and money were no object. He is loved by those who have seen him at his worst. He speaks fluent French, and is at ease with people from all strata of society ( no small feat when the books were written, and still a minefield in 21st century Britain). He can punt like a god, as Arthur Aardvark once aspired to in far off days . But best off all he never solves a case without it costing him a small part of his soul. Sayers villains are not the heartless sociopaths of much modern crime fiction. They are tortured souls, whom fate and bad judgment have conspired to corrupt. There are no easy victories here, and like Holmes seven percent solution brings with it the blackest of dogs.