The Nine Tailors: Analysis of Major Characters
"The Nine Tailors" is a detective novel featuring an intricate analysis of its major characters, primarily revolving around the eccentric and resourceful amateur sleuth, Lord Peter Wimsey. A wealthy gentleman with an insatiable curiosity, Wimsey finds himself embroiled in a mystery involving a corpse in a grave and the enigmatic theft of emeralds from 1914. His loyal valet, Mervyn Bunter, plays a critical role in supporting Wimsey's investigation, showcasing a blend of properness and skill. The storyline also introduces Reverend Theodore Venables, whose kindness and love of bell-ringing draw Wimsey into the village's complex affairs.
The narrative is enriched by various supporting characters, including the suspicious William Thoday, his wife Mary, and the crafty jewel thief Nobby Cranton, who all contribute to the unfolding mystery. Each character is intricately connected to the events surrounding the emerald theft and the subsequent investigation, highlighting themes of loyalty, deception, and community ties. Alongside the backdrop of rural England, the novel explores the impact of past transgressions on present lives, making it a compelling read for those interested in character-driven mysteries.
The Nine Tailors: Analysis of Major Characters
Author: Dorothy L. Sayers
First published: 1934
Genre: Novel
Locale: Fenchurch, St. Paul, and the surrounding fen country of East Anglia, England
Plot: Detective and mystery
Time: 1930
Lord Peter Death Bredon Wimsey, a brilliant, irrepressible, and wealthy amateur sleuth. Wimsey's main faults are his insatiable curiosity and his willingness to help almost anyone in trouble. These traits lead Wimsey into the mystery of an unknown corpse buried in another's grave, a mysterious stranger in a small village, and a set of valuable emeralds, missing since 1914. Wimsey is a linguistic and historical scholar, a brilliant musician, a natural aristocrat and gentleman, and, by the time of this case, an experienced detective who takes on cases out of a sense of social responsibility as well as curiosity. Once interested in a problem, Wimsey never gives up. Still a gifted athlete although nearing forty, Wimsey makes up for his relative lack of height (five feet, eight inches) through skill and determination. He is irresistible to many women.
Mervyn Bunter, Wimsey's sergeant during World War I, now his extremely proper valet, crime photographer, and valued assistant. Like his slightly younger master, Bunter is skilled in many trades, and he provides Wimsey's somewhat bohemian lifestyle with organization. Tall and handsome, Bunter has an eye for maids and other working-class women.
The Reverend Theodore Venables, the elderly and absentminded rector of the Anglican Church in Fenchurch, St. Paul. His kindness and love of bell-ringing allow him to make friends with Wimsey on New Year's Eve, when Wimsey and Bunter are stranded in his village by an auto wreck. When a mysterious corpse later appears in his graveyard, it is Venables who calls Wimsey in for help.
Agnes Venables, his wife. She is the organized member of the pair and remembers all the important facts her husband often forgets.
Superintendent Blundell, the officer in charge of the case and one of the original officers who investigated the 1914 robbery, which provides the motive for the 1930 mystery. A kindhearted, likable, and intelligent officer, Blundell, with Bunter, does most of the groundwork under Wimsey's direction, allowing Wimsey to make the inspired connections that solve the complicated case.
Geoffrey Deacon, the Thorpe family butler in 1914 and the ruthless original thief of the Wilbraham emeralds. He supposedly died while escaping from prison, yet there is a trail from his brutal prison escape in 1918 through the final World War I battlefields in France to the mutilated corpse in the graveyard in 1930.
William Thoday, a brawny tenant farmer. He acted suspiciously both before and after New Year's Eve but could not have buried the mysterious corpse, because he was seriously ill when it was buried. In fact, it is William's place that Wimsey takes among the Fenchurch bell-ringers, allowing them to ring their nine-hour peal. William hides at least one guilty secret and is jealously devoted to his wife. Few villagers dare to mention Mary's first husband when he is around.
Mary Thoday, William's wife and Geoffrey Deacon's widow. A once-pretty maid of the Thorpes, she was originally suspected of helping her first husband steal the emeralds. Some people suspect that she might know something about their hiding place.
James Thoday, William's hefty brother. He was an officer on a tramp freighter, home on leave for Christmas and New Year's Day, who stayed and helped tend to his sick brother. He also took an extra, unexplained, day getting from his brother's house back to his ship. It was James who gave his brother a parrot that gives Wimsey important information.
Horace “Potty” Peake, a retarded pig keeper and the pumper of the church's old-fashioned pump-organ. Although he was an important witness to the events leading up to the mysterious death, it is almost impossible for Wimsey and Blundell to understand exactly what he saw.
Sir Henry Thorpe, a crippled war veteran and local squire. It was at his 1914 wedding that the Wilbraham emeralds were stolen by Deacon. His death the Easter after his wife's death helped set up the cause of the investigation.
Lady Thorpe, Sir Henry's wife, who died on New Year's Day. Her grave, when reopened to receive her husband's body, reveals the mutilated corpse that launches Wimsey's investigation into the village's affairs.
Hilary Thorpe, Sir Henry's intelligent teenage daughter. She finds important evidence in the bell-tower and provides Wimsey with important information about some of the local characters. After the death of her great aunt, Mrs. Wilbraham, Wimsey becomes the administrator of the Wilbraham estate, as well as of the stolen jewels, which Wimsey recovers before identifying the corpse.
Nobby Cranton, an experienced and crafty jewel thief. He was set up by Deacon to be caught for the original jewel robbery in 1914. He returned to Fenchurch, St. Paul, on New Year's Day of 1930 to look for the jewels, and so is suspected either of being the corpse in the graveyard or of putting it there.