Word: wimsey
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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...that Dorothy Sayers wrote well," remarked Edmund Wilson in "Who Cares Who Killed Roger Ackroyd?" "But, really, she does not write very well: it is simply that she is more consciously literary than most of the other detective story writers . . ." Despite Wilson's judgment, Sayers and Lord Peter Wimsey, her witty sleuth, have become two of the most beloved figures in detective fiction. An engaging mix of upper-class sang-froid and Sherlockian intellect, Wimsey set new standards in highbrow snooping. As viewers of the PBS series can testify, only Wimsey would drive a Daimler to the scene...
...husband's-is clear, serviceable prose, less careless than Agatha Christie's and less precious than Dorothy Sayers'. It must be said, though, that Mr. Campion began life in The Black Dudley Murder (1928) in unblushing imitation of Sayers' rococo creation, Lord Peter Wimsey. Both were lean, languid young noblemen who spoke in the high whine that Waugh classified as the British upper class baying for broken glass. Both concealed great skill and cunning behind a facade of graceful, gratuitous vagueness...