Clouds of Witness: A Lord Peter Wimsey Mystery

By Dorothy L. Sayers

The grouse season has begun, and Lord Peter Wimsey’s brother, the Duke of Denver, has descended upon the Wimsey family retreat in rustic Riddlesdale village with a small hunting party. Captain Denis Cathcart, Wimsey’s soon-to-be brother-in-law, is found shot dead at the door of the lodge’s conservatory, and the accused murderer is Gerald, the Duke of Denver. Faced with a multiplicity of clues, suspects, and scandalous behavior, Lord Wimsey and Chief Inspector Parker of Scotland Yard work together to solve this cozy atmospheric and suspenseful whodunit.
 
Ranked with Agatha Christie as a master of the English crime fiction and mystery genres, Dorothy L. Sayers (1893–1957) wrote eleven novels featuring the aristocratic gentleman detective, Lord Peter Wimsey.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Dover Publications
• Release date: Feb 15, 2023
• ISBN: 9780486851976

Dorothy L. Sayers

Dorothy L. Sayers (1893-1957) was an English writer best known for her crime novels, poems and short stories. She grew up in a small village and attended boarding school before receiving a scholarship to Somerville College, Oxford. Sayers graduated in 1915 and published her first collection of poetry OP. I in 1916. Years later, she began working on the crime story Whose Body?, which would become her most celebrated work. It features the introduction of amateur detective, Lord Peter Wimsey, who appears in more than 10 of her novels.

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Dover Mystery classics

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Dover Publications

Garden City, New York

Bibliographical Note

This Dover edition, first published in 2023, is an unabridged republication of the work originally published by T. Fisher Unwin, London, in 1926, and first published as Clouds of Witnesses in the United States by Lincoln MacVeagh–The Dial Press, New York, in 1927.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Sayers, Dorothy L. (Dorothy Leigh), 1893–1957, author.

Title: Clouds of witness: a Lord Peter Wimsey mystery / Dorothy Leigh Sayers.

Description: Garden City, New York: Dover Publications, 2023. | This Dover edition, first published in 2023, is an unabridged republication of the work originally published by T. Fisher Unwin, London, in 1926, and first published as Clouds of witnesses in the United States by Lincoln MacVeagh–The Dial Press, New York, in 1927.—Title page verso. | Summary: The grouse season has begun, and Lord Peter Wimsey’s brother, the Duke of Denver, has descended upon the Wimsey family retreat in rustic Riddlesdale village with a small hunting party. Captain Denis Cathcart, Wimsey’s soon-to-be brother-in-law, is found shot dead at the door of the lodge’s conservatory, and the accused murderer is Gerald, the Duke of Denver. Faced with a multiplicity of clues, suspects, and scandalous behavior, Lord Wimsey and Chief Inspector Parker of Scotland Yard work together to solve this cozy atmospheric and suspenseful whodunit. Ranked with Agatha Christie as a master of the English crime fiction and mystery genres, Dorothy L. Sayers (1893–1957) wrote eleven novels featuring the aristocratic gentleman detective, Lord Peter Wimsey—Provided by publisher.

Identifiers: LCCN 2022043182 | ISBN 9780486850382 (paperback) | ISBN 0486850382 (paperback)

Subjects: LCSH: Wimsey, Peter, Lord (Fictitious character), 1890—Fiction. | Private investigators—England—Fiction. | London (England) —Fiction. | BISAC: FICTION / Mystery & Detective / General | FICTION / Mystery & Detective / Traditional | LCGFT: Detective and mystery fiction. | Novels.

Classification: LCC PR6037.A95 C5 2022 | DDC 823/.912—dc23/eng/20220909

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2022043182

Manufactured in the United States of America

www.doverpublications.com

Contents

I. Of His Malice Aforethought

II. The Green-Eyed Cat

III. Mudstains and Bloodstains

IV. —And His Daughter Much-Afraid

V. The Rue St. Honoré and the Rue de la Paix

VI. Mary Quite Contrary

VII. The Club and the Bullet

VIII. Mr. Parker Takes Notes

IX. Goyles

X. Nothing Abides at the Noon

XI. Meribah

XII. The Alibi

XIII. Manon

XIV. The Edge of the Axe Towards Him

XV. Bar Falling

XVI. The Second String

XVII. The Eloquent Dead

XVIII. The Speech for the Defense

XIX. Who Goes Home?

The Solution of

The Riddlesdale Mystery

with

a Report

of the Trial of

The Duke of Denver

Before the House of Lords

for

Murder

The inimitable stories of Tong-king never have any real ending, and this one, being in his most elevated style, has even less end than most of them. But the whole narrative is permeated with the odour of joss-sticks and honourable high-mindedness, and the two characters are both of noble birth.

The Wallet of Kai-Lung

I

Of His Malice Aforethought

O, who hath done this deed?

Othello

Lord Peter Wimsey stretched himself luxuriously between the sheets provided by the HÔtel Meurice. After his exertions in the unraveling of the Battersea Mystery, he had followed Sir Julian Freke’s advice and taken a holiday. He had felt suddenly weary of breakfasting every morning before his view over the Green Park; he had realized that the picking up of first editions at sales afforded insufficient exercise for a man of thirty-three; the very crimes of London were over-­sophisticated. He had abandoned his flat and his friends and fled to the wilds of ­Corsica. For the last three months he had forsworn letters, newspapers, and telegrams. He had tramped about the mountains, admiring from a ­cautious distance the wild beauty of Corsican peasant-women, and studying the vendetta in its natural haunt. In such conditions murder seemed not only reasonable, but lovable. Bunter, his confidential man and assistant sleuth, had nobly sacrificed his civilized habits, had let his master go dirty and even unshaven, and had turned his faithful camera from the recording of fingerprints to that of craggy scenery. It had been very refreshing.

Now, however, the call of the blood was upon Lord Peter. They had returned late last night in a vile train to Paris, and had picked up their luggage. The autumn light, filtering through the curtains, touched caressingly the silver-topped bottles on the dressing-table, outlined an electric lamp-shade and the shape of the telephone. A noise of running water near by proclaimed that Bunter had turned on the bath (h. & c.) and was laying out scented soap, bath-salts, the huge bath-sponge, for which there had been no scope in Corsica, and the delightful flesh-brush with the long handle, which rasped you so agreeably all down the spine. Contrast, philosophized Lord Peter sleepily, is life. Corsica—Paris—then London. . . . Good morning, Bunter.

Good morning, my lord. Fine morning, my lord. Your lordship’s bath-water is ready.

Thanks, said Lord Peter. He blinked at the sunlight.

It was a glorious bath. He wondered, as he soaked in it, how he could have existed in Corsica. He wallowed happily and sang a few bars of a song. In a soporific interval he heard the valet de chambre bringing in coffee and rolls. Coffee and rolls! He heaved himself out with a splash, toweled himself luxuriously, enveloped his long-mortified body in a silken bath-robe, and wandered back.

To his immense surprise he perceived Mr. Bunter calmly replacing all the fittings in his dressing-case. Another astonished glance showed him the bags—scarcely opened the previous night—repacked, relabeled, and standing ready for a journey.

I say, Bunter, what’s up? said his lordship. We’re stayin’ here a fortnight y’know.

Excuse me, my lord, said Mr. Bunter, deferentially, "but, having seen The Times (delivered here every morning by air, my lord; and very expeditious I’m sure, all things considered), I made no doubt your lordship would be wishing to go to Riddlesdale at once."

Riddlesdale! exclaimed Peter. What’s the matter? Anything wrong with my brother?

For answer Mr. Bunter handed him the paper, folded open at the heading:

RIDDLESDALE INQUEST.

DUKE OF DENVER ARRESTED

ON MURDER CHARGE.

Lord Peter stared as if hypnotized.

I thought your lordship wouldn’t wish to miss anything, said Mr. Bunter, so I took the liberty—

Lord Peter pulled himself together.

When’s the next train? he asked.

"I beg your lordship’s pardon—I thought your lordship would wish to take the quickest route. I took it on myself to book two seats in the airplane Victoria. She starts at 11:30."

Lord Peter looked at his watch.

Ten o’clock, he said. Very well. You did quite right. Dear me! Poor old Gerald arrested for murder. Uncommonly worryin’ for him, poor chap. Always hated my bein’ mixed up with police-courts. Now he’s there himself. Lord Peter Wimsey in the witness-box—very distressin’ to feelin’s of a brother. Duke of Denver in the dock—worse still. Dear me! Well, I suppose one must have breakfast.

Yes, my lord. Full account of the inquest in the paper, my lord.

Yes. Who’s on the case, by the way?

Mr. Parker, my lord.

Parker? That’s good. Splendid old Parker! Wonder how he managed to get put on to it. How do things look, Bunter?

If I may say so, my lord, I fancy the investigations will prove very interesting. There are several extremely suggestive points in the evidence, my lord.

From a criminological point of view I daresay it is interesting, replied his lordship, sitting down cheerfully to his café au lait, but it’s deuced awkward for my brother, all the same, havin’ no turn for criminology, what?

Ah, well! said Mr. Bunter, they say, my lord, there’s nothing like having a personal interest.

The inquest was held today at Riddlesdale, in the North Riding of Yorkshire, on the body of Captain Denis Cathcart, which was found at three o’clock on Thursday morning lying just outside the conservatory door of the Duke of Denver’s shooting-box, Riddlesdale Lodge. Evidence was given to show that deceased had quarreled with the Duke of Denver on the preceding evening, and was subsequently shot in a small thicket adjoining the house. A pistol belonging to the Duke was found near the scene of the crime. A verdict of murder was returned against the Duke of Denver. Lady Mary Wimsey, sister of the Duke, who was engaged to be married to the deceased, collapsed after giving evidence, and is now lying seriously ill at the Lodge. The Duchess of Denver hastened from town yesterday and was present at the inquest. Full report on p. 12.

Poor old Gerald! thought Lord Peter, as he turned to page 12; and poor old Mary! I wonder if she really was fond of the fellow. Mother always said not, but Mary never would let on about herself.

The full report began by describing the little village of Riddlesdale, where the Duke of Denver had recently taken a small shooting-box for the season. When the tragedy occurred the Duke had been staying there with a party of guests. In the Duchess’s absence Lady Mary Wimsey had acted as hostess. The other guests were Colonel and Mrs. Marchbanks, the Hon. Frederick Arbuthnot, Mr. and Mrs. Pettigrew-Robinson, and the dead man, Denis Cathcart.

The first witness was the Duke of Denver, who claimed to have discovered the body. He gave evidence that he was coming into the house by the conservatory door at three o’clock in the morning of Thursday, October 14th, when his foot struck against something. He had switched on his electric torch and seen the body of Denis Cathcart at his feet. He had at once turned it over, and seen that Cathcart had been shot in the chest. He was quite dead. As Denver was bending over the body, he heard a cry in the conservatory, and, looking up, saw Lady Mary Wimsey gazing out horror-struck. She came out by the conservatory door, and exclaimed at once, O God, Gerald, you’ve killed him! (Sensation.) ¹

T

HE

C

ORNER

: Were you surprised by that remark?

D

UKE OF

D: Well, I was so shocked and surprised at the whole thing. I think I said to her, ‘Don’t look,’ and she said, ‘Oh, it’s Denis! Whatever can have happened? Has there been an accident?’ I stayed with the body, and sent her up to rouse the house.

T

HE

C

ORONER:

Did you expect to see Lady Mary Wimsey in the conservatory?

D

UKE OF

D: Really, as I say, I was so astonished all round, don’t you know, I didn’t think about it.

T

HE

C

ORONER:

Do you remember how she was dressed?

D

UKE OF

D: I don’t think she was in her pajamas. (Laughter.) I think she had a coat on.

T

HE

C

ORONER:

I understand that Lady Mary Wimsey was engaged to be married to the deceased?

D

UKE OF

D: Yes.

T

HE

C

ORONER:

He was well known to you?

D

UKE OF

D: He was the son of an old friend of my father’s; his parents are dead. I believe he lived chiefly abroad. I ran across him during the war, and in 1919 he came to stay at Denver. He became engaged to my sister at the beginning of this year.

T

HE

C

ORONER:

With your consent, and with that of the family?

D

UKE OF

D: Oh, yes, certainly.

T

HE

C

ORONER:

What kind of man was Captain Cathcart?

D

UKE OF

D: Well—he was a Sahib and all that. I don’t know what he did before he joined in 1914. I think he lived on his income; his father was well off. Crack shot, good at games, and so on. I never heard anything against him—till that evening.

T

HE

C

ORONER:

What was that?

D

UKE OF

D: Well—the fact is—it was deuced queer. He—If anybody but Tommy Freeborn had said it I should never have believed it. (Sensation.)

T

HE

C

ORONER:

I’m afraid I must ask your grace of what exactly you had to accuse the deceased.

D

UKE OF

D: Well, I didn’t—I don’t—exactly accuse him. An old friend of mine made a suggestion. Of course I thought it must be all a mistake, so I went to Cathcart, and, to my amazement, he practically admitted it! Then we both got angry, and he told me to go to the devil, and rushed out of the house. (Renewed sensation.)

T

HE

C

ORONER:

When did this quarrel occur?

D

UKE OF

D: On Wednesday night. That was the last I saw of him. (Unparalleled sensation.)

T

HE

C

ORONER:

Please, please, we cannot have this disturbance. Now, will your grace kindly give me, as far as you can remember it, the exact history of this quarrel?

D

UKE OF

D: Well, it was like this. We’d had a long day on the moors and had dinner early, and about half-past nine we began to feel like turning in. My sister and Mrs. Pettigrew-Robinson toddled on up, and we were havin’ a last peg in the billiard-room when Fleming—that’s my man—came in with the letters. They come rather any old time in the evening, you know, we being two and a half miles from the village. No—I wasn’t in the billiard-room at the time—I was lockin’ up the gunroom. The letter was from an old friend of mine I hadn’t seen for years—Tom Freeborn—used to know him at the House——

T

HE

C

ORONER:

Whose house?

D

UKE OF

D: Oh, Christ Church, Oxford. He wrote to say he’d seen the announcement of my sister’s engagement in Egypt.

T

HE

C

ORONER:

In Egypt?

D

UKE OF

D: "I mean, he was in Egypt—Tom Freeborn, you see—that’s why he hadn’t written before. He engineers. He went out there after the war was over, you see, and, bein’ somewhere up near the sources of the Nile, he doesn’t get the papers regularly. He said, would I ’scuse him for interferin’ in a very delicate matter, and all that, but did I know who Cathcart was? Said he’d met him in Paris during the war, and he lived by cheatin’ at cards—said he could swear to it, with details of a row there’d been in some French place or other. Said he knew I’d want to chaw his head off—Freeborn’s, I mean—for buttin’ in, but he’d seen the man’s photo in the paper, an’ he thought I ought to know."

T

HE

C

ORONER:

Did this letter surprise you?

D

UKE OF

D: Couldn’t believe it at first. If it hadn’t been old Tom Freeborn I’d have put the thing in the fire straight off, and, even as it was, I didn’t quite know what to think. I mean, it wasn’t as if it had happened in England, you know. I mean to say, Frenchmen get so excited about nothing. Only there was Freeborn, and he isn’t the kind of man that makes mistakes.

T

HE

C

ORONER:

What did you do?

D

UKE OF

D: "Well, the more I looked at it the less I liked it, you know. Still, I couldn’t quite leave it like that, so I thought the best way was to go straight to Cathcart. They’d all gone up while I was sittin’ thinkin’ about it, so I went up and knocked at Cathcart’s door. He said, ‘What’s that?’ or ‘Who the devil’s that?’ or somethin’ of the sort, and I went in. ‘Look here,’ I said, ‘can I just have a word with you?’ ‘Well, cut it short, then,’ he said. I was surprised—he wasn’t usually rude. ‘Well,’ I said, ‘fact is, I’ve had a letter I don’t much like the look of, and I thought the best thing to do was to bring it straight away to you an’ have the whole thing cleared up. It’s from a man—a very decent sort—old college friend, who says he’s met you in Paris.’ ‘Paris!’ he said, in a most uncommonly unpleasant way. ‘Paris! What the hell do you want to come talkin’ to me about Paris for?’ ‘Well,’ I said, ‘don’t talk like that, because it’s misleadin’ under the circumstances.’ ‘What are you drivin’ at?’ says Cathcart. ‘Spit it out and go to bed, for God’s sake.’ I said, ‘Right oh! I will. It’s a man called Freeborn, who says he knew you in Paris and that you made money cheatin’ at cards.’ I thought he’d break out at that, but all he said was, ‘What about it?’ ‘What about it?’ I said. ‘Well, of course, it’s not the sort of thing I’m goin’ to believe like that, right bang-slap off, without any proofs.’ Then he said a funny thing. He said, ‘Beliefs don’t matter—it’s what one knows about people.’ ‘Do you mean to say you don’t deny it?’ I said. ‘It’s no good my denying it,’ he said; ‘you must make up your own mind. Nobody could disprove it.’ And then he suddenly jumped up, nearly knocking the table over, and said, ‘I don’t care what you think or what you do, if you’ll only get out. For God’s sake leave me alone!’ ‘Look here,’ I said, ‘you needn’t take it that way. I don’t say I do believe it—in fact,’ I said, ‘I’m sure there must be some mistake; only, you bein’ engaged to Mary,’ I said, ‘I couldn’t just let it go at that without looking into it, could I?’ ‘Oh!’ says Cathcart, ‘if that’s what’s worrying you, it needn’t. That’s off.’ I said, ‘What?’ He said, ‘Our engagement.’ ‘Off?’ I said. ‘But I was talking to Mary about it only yesterday.’ ‘I haven’t told her yet,’ he said. ‘Well,’ I said, ‘I think that’s damned cool. Who the hell do you think you are, to come here and jilt my sister?’ Well, I said quite a lot, first and last. ‘You can get out,’ I said; ‘I’ve no use for swine like you.’ ‘I will,’ he said, and he pushed past me an’ slammed downstairs and out of the front door, an’ banged it after him."

T

HE

C

ORONER:

What did you do?

D

UKE OF

D: I ran into my bedroom, which has a window over the conservatory, and shouted out to him not to be a silly fool. It was pourin’ with rain and beastly cold. He didn’t come back, so I told Fleming to leave the conservatory door open—in case he thought better of it—and went to bed.

T

HE

C

ORONER:

What explanation can you suggest for Cathcart’s behavior?

D

UKE OF

D: None. I was simply staggered. But I think he must somehow have got wind of the letter, and knew the game was up.

T

HE

C

ORONER:

Did you mention the matter to anybody else?

D

UKE OF

D: No. It wasn’t pleasant, and I thought I’d better leave it till the morning.

T

HE

C

ORONER:

So you did nothing further in the matter?

D

UKE OF

D: No. I didn’t want to go out huntin’ for the fellow. I was too angry. Besides, I thought he’d change his mind before long—it was a brute of a night and he’d only a dinnerjacket.

T

HE

C

ORONER:

Then you just went quietly to bed and never saw deceased again?

D

UKE OF

D: Not till I fell over him outside the conservatory at three in the morning.

T

HE

C

ORONER:

Ah yes. Now can you tell us how you came to be out of doors at that time?

D

UKE OF

D: (hesitating): I didn’t sleep well. I went out for a stroll.

T

HE

C

ORONER:

At three o’clock in the morning?

D

UKE OF

D: Yes. With sudden inspiration: You see, my wife’s away. (Laughter and some remarks from the back of the room.)

T

HE

C

ORONER:

Silence, please. . . . You mean to say that you got up at that hour of an October night to take a walk in the garden in the pouring rain?

D

UKE OF

D: Yes, just a stroll. (Laughter.)

T

HE

C

ORONER:

At what time did you leave your bedroom?

D

UKE OF

D: Oh—oh, about half-past two, I should think.

T

HE

C

ORONER:

Which way did you go out?

D

UKE OF

D: By the conservatory door.

T

HE

C

ORONER:

The body was not there when you went out?

D

UKE OF

D: Oh, no!

T

HE

C

ORONER:

Or you would have seen it?

D

UKE OF

D: Lord, yes! I’d have had to walk over it.

T

HE

C

ORONER:

Exactly where did you go?

D

UKE OF

D: (vaguely): Oh, just round about.

T

HE

C

ORONER:

You heard no shot?

D

UKE OF

D: No.

T

HE

C

ORONER:

Did you go far away from the conservatory door and the shrubbery?

D

UKE OF

D: Well—I was some way away. Perhaps that’s why I didn’t hear anything. It must have been.

T

HE

C

ORONER:

Were you as much as a quarter of a mile away?

D

UKE OF

D: I should think I was—oh, yes, quite!

T

HE

C

ORONER:

More than a quarter of a mile away?

D

UKE OF

D: Possibly. I walked about briskly because it was cold.

T

HE

C

ORONER:

In which direction?

D

UKE OF

D: (with visible hesitation): Round at the back of the house. Towards the bowling-green.

T

HE

C

ORONER:

The bowling-green?

D

UKE OF

D: (more confidently): Yes.

T

HE

C

ORONER:

But if you were more than a quarter of a mile away, you must have left the grounds?

D

UKE OF

D: I—oh, yes—I think I did. Yes, I walked about on the moor a bit, you know.

T

HE

C

ORONER:

Can you show us the letter you had from Mr. Freeborn?

D

UKE OF

D: Oh, certainly—if I can find it. I thought I put it in my pocket, but I couldn’t find it for that Scotland Yard fellow.

T

HE

C

ORONER:

Can you have accidentally destroyed it?

D

UKE OF

D: No—I’m sure I remember putting it——Oh—here the witness paused in very patent confusion, and grew red—I remember now. I destroyed it.

T

HE

C

ORONER:

That is unfortunate. How was that?

D

UKE OF

D: I had forgotten; it has come back to me now. I’m afraid it has gone for good.

T

HE

C

ORONER:

Perhaps you kept the envelope? Witness shook his head.

T

HE

C

ORONER:

Then you can show the jury no proof of having received it?

D

UKE OF

D: Not unless Fleming remembers it.

T

HE

C

ORONER:

Ah, yes! No doubt we can check it that way. Thank you, your grace. Call Lady Mary Wimsey.

The noble lady, who was, until the tragic morning of October 14th, the fiancée of the deceased, aroused a murmur of sympathy on her appearance. Fair and slender, her naturally rose-pink cheeks ashy pale, she seemed overwhelmed with grief. She was dressed entirely in black, and gave her evidence in a very low tone which was at times almost inaudible. ²

After expressing his sympathy, the coroner asked, How long had you been engaged to the deceased?

W

ITNESS:

About eight months.

T

HE

C

ORONER:

Where did you first meet him?

W

ITNESS:

At my sister-in-law’s house in London.

T

HE

C

ORONER:

When was that?

W

ITNESS:

I think it was June last year.

T

HE

C

ORONER:

You were quite happy in your engagement?

W

ITNESS:

Quite.

T

HE

C

ORONER:

You naturally saw a good deal of Captain Cathcart. Did he tell you much about his previous life?

W

ITNESS:

Not very much. We were not given to mutual confidences. We usually discussed subjects of common interest.

T

HE

C

ORONER:

You had many such subjects?

W

ITNESS:

Oh, yes.

T

HE

C

ORONER:

You never gathered at any time that Captain Cathcart had anything on his mind?

W

ITNESS:

Not particularly. He had seemed a little anxious the last few days.

T

HE

C

ORONER:

Did he speak of his life in Paris?

W

ITNESS:

He spoke of theaters and amusements there. He knew Paris very well. I was staying in Paris with some friends last February, when he was there, and he took us about. That was shortly after our engagement.

T

HE

C

ORONER:

Did he ever speak of playing cards in Paris?

W

ITNESS:

I don’t remember.

T

HE

C

ORONER:

With regard to your marriage—had any money settlements been gone into?

W

ITNESS:

I don’t think so. The date of the marriage was not in any way fixed.

T

HE

Reviews for Clouds of Witness

[phoenixcomet · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Lord Peter Wimsey sets about to clear his brother's name, the Duke of Denver when he is accused of murdering his future brother-in-law. A bit easier to follow than Whose Body?

[cecilturtle · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Wimsey is set to save his brother accused of murder. A series of coincidences - and bad behaviour - intermingle as the accused refuses to speak up. Sayers is witty and fun; she also has a real knack for accents. Her characters are lively and the plot is entertaining.A lovely read to relax

[jennybeast · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Red herring after red herring, and I have to admit that I wasn't really 100% convinced that the Duke didn't do it in the end, for all of Sir Impy Biggs' impressive summing up.

[astonishingchristina · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I'd forgotten how much fun this was.

[tomdonaghey · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Clouds Of Witness (1927) (Wimsey #2) by Dorothy L. Sayers. The Duke of Denver has been caught up as the chief suspect in the murder of his sister’s soon to be husband. The Duke happens to be Lord Peter’s brother so Wimsey hurries home from the Continent to assist in the investigation. It at first appears that the Duke must be guilty as he has been accused of the crime by his own sister. The scene was 3 A.M. and the body was outside the conservatory. The Duke was kneeling over the man when Lady Mary came across them and stated that the Duke had killed her soon to be husband.You know that isn’t the whole tale. Slowly the stories of the other house guests come out, contradictions about the time of the shot being heard rise up, and even far a right-wing political agitators enters the scene. There is a mysterious motorcyclist roaming the countryside and a very nasty farmer and his too beautiful wife who become part of the problem.Whimsy and Parker turn over the information as it comes to them and try to decide what is true testimony and what is just smoke.A nice little country estate novel that is fascinating and well thought. As usual, Ms. Sayers plays fair with the reader. You might guess the whys and wherefores along the way, but this is a delight to read.

[themulhern · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Much better than Sayers' previous and first detective novel, "Whose Body". Her cleverness with different means of narrative, for example the many transcript-like depictions of inquests and trials, is evident. In humour, Sayers far outdid her two "rivals", Marsh and Christie. Whimsey is less irritating than previously, although his doggerel at the end of the trial is still pretty tough to get through.Ian Carmichael's narration was excellent. I would enjoy the novel less without the Yorkshire accents.

[jbd1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Another highly entertaining Wimsey mystery. Just the ticket after a(nother) crazy week in 2020 ... While I've read a few of the Wimsey tales out of order, I've now started to try and read them in order so I can get a better sense of the character development.

[eurohackie · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

This one started out so promisingly but ended up being a hot mess.Lord Peter's brother, the Duke of Denver, has been arrested, charged with the murder of his prospective brother in law, Captain Denis Cathcart. Denver found the body outside his lodgings at 3 am, but steadfastly refuses to give any reason why he himself is out so late at night, and why his weapon was used to fire the fatal shot. Of course, the arrest and trial of a peer of the realm is Big News, and though Peter has never been especially close to his elder brother, he does take it upon himself to investigate the matter with his BFF Charles Parker and his handy valet Bunter.Basically, everyone in this story is a complete idiot, up to and including the entire Wimsey family, save the Dowager Duchess. (Even Peter himself acts like a twat in the bizarre final scene of the novel.) Because of their stupidity and obstinacy, a very simple situation spiraled out of control. To make matters worse, we are given cruelly minute detail of every scrap of evidence during the trial near the end of the book, even though its already obvious that Denver didn't commit the crime. This was such a long, boring, and completely useless couple of chapters. And then there's the end, where Peter & co are drunken idiots in the middle of London. What was the point of that, exactly??This is a terrible follow-up to the amusing Whose Body?. I think you can definitely give it a miss and nothing of value will be lost.

[figgles_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The second Lord Peter Wimsey book. Lord Peter returns from Corsica to find his brother, the Duke of Denver, charged with the murder of his sister's fiance. There are numerous sub plots and the denouement, the trial of the Duke in the House of Lords (his peers) gets a little bogged down in procedure and legal argument. However, though not the best Dorothy Sayers outing, it's still a very enjoyable read and gives more insight into Peter's family background.

[alanwpowers · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Sayers brings real comedy, history, and her Oxford training in languages to her inevitable detective stories. Dickensian names: Lord Peter Wimsey, lawyer Sir Impey Biggs (a handsome, big imp), opposing attorney general Lord Wigmore (in full wig). Mr Murbles, the senior lawyer, says " ‘Brilliant man, Sir Impey. He is defending Truth.’ Lord Peter, ‘Astonishin’ position for a lawyer, what?’ Mr Murbles acknowledged the pleasantry…’”(164).First heard this book aloud decades ago, by my wife, so I had not grasped all the wit, though I knew the plot was multiple, at least three affairs with three different couples all converging to one crime, of which the detective’s older brother, the Duke of Denver, stands accused. The Duke reserves his alibi which would compromise a married woman—perfect gentlemanly act which increases the difficulties of his defenders, including his detective brother (whose interests the Duke disapproves—incunabula and crime rather than football). Sayers gives us an intricate plot, with its culmination a long letter in French written by the victim the day of his murder. Lord Peter Wimsey has to go to the US by steamship to find it, and when he does, he flies back in a 1920’s plane, flimsy, the famous pilot’s jacket covered in rain. Flying through ravaging storm and fog, Wimsey’s arrival in doubt, his butler Bunter resolves to set a fire in his bedroom, hopeful.From our yearly visits to England, but perhaps more from watching TV mysteries like Midsommer and Father Brown, we have personal experience of much in this novel. Further, I have a coat that my British-resident friend asked if a Burberry. No, a wax-coated LL Bean, but… We “musn’t rest upon our oars” takes me back to college freshman crew on the Connecticut River (169). Also, my wife and I have had one cup of hot chocolate, with a jigger of brandy, every evening for over a decade. Our preferred brandy is Portuguese, not the priceless 1800 Napoleon served in Lord Peter’s house near Piccadilly.Many characters here are witty, including butler Bunter’s mother, who says, “facts are like cows. You look them in the face hard enough, they generally run away”(79). Lord Peter later informs his butler, “Well-bred English people never have imagination, Bunter.” “Certainly not, my lord. I meant nothing disparaging.”(175)Scotland Yard, headed by a Scot, and a crossword solution in Scottish, never spelled out for me. Broad Yorkshire dialect as well, as in the Yorkshire “national” anthem, “On Ilkley Moor Bat’ at,” quoted in, “Then doocks will coom an’ ate pop worms/ On Ilkla Moor…” (196).Be prepared for many un-American, British words: “widdershins” “gaiters”, and words like “loofah” which I had to search, evidently an organic sponge grown from a gourd—even in California.The real title should be “Cloud of Witnesses,” which appears late in the novel (258), but Sayers must have preferred the sound of both -s endings.Sayers considered her Divina Commedia translation to be her best work, in Dante's prosody,hendecasyllabic terza rima.

[cbl_tn · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A vacationing Lord Peter Wimsey races to join his family at Riddlesdale Lodge in Yorkshire as soon as he learns of a family crisis. Wimsey’s elder brother, Gerald, the Duke of Denver, stands accused of the murder of their sister Mary’s fiance. Both Gerald and Mary appear to be hiding something. Wimsey’s friend, Detective-Inspector Charles Parker, is on the case and he looks forward to Wimsey’s assistance. With the aid of Wimsey’s man, Bunter, Parker and Wimsey race against the looming trial deadline to uncover the truth of what happened on that fateful night.The best parts of the book are in Wimsey’s voice, which sparkles with wit. However, the book loses momentum in long information dumps. I look forward to seeing more of Wimsey’s mother, the dowager duchess. If Sayers were writing today instead of nearly 100 years ago, the dowager duchess might have been the detective instead of her son.

[thornton37814 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

My comments from 2011 serve as a decent summary of the book: Lord Peter Wimsey's brother Gerald, the Duke of Denver, is arrested for the murder of Mr. Cathcart whose body was found at Riddlesdale Lodge on a night when the Duke had gone out. His brother refuses to talk. His sister is not telling the truth. Wimsey's adventure takes him to England, France, and America as he tries to clear his brother of the charges. There are a few almost comical moments in the book.I will add that Ian Carmichael's narration was excellent.My rating remains the same. I commented in 2011 that I was distracted when I read the book. I wondered if my rating would change or not when listening to a narration. It did not. Lord Peter is not my favorite detective, and I doubt he ever will be. I find myself wondering if one must possess a certain fascination with lords, earls, and dukes to enjoy these.

[fuzzi_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Members of Lord Peter Wimsey's family become suspect when a dead body is found at a hunting lodge in Yorkshire, and a charge of murder is quickly brought against Peter's brother, the Duke of Denver. Lots of humor and an intriguing mystery all in one book. Recommended.

[leslie398 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

2020 reread via audiobook narrated by Ian Carmichael:I can understand why this 2nd Lord Peter Wimsey book isn't a 5* for others - my love for it stems partly from the fact that this is the book that introduced me to Lord Peter and Sayers. Even without that sentimental reason, there are several aspects of this book which appeal to me - the involvement of Lord Peter's family, the brief look at English socialism/communism in the 1920s, the excitement of the Lord Peter's near escape from death in a bog, etc.Ian Carmichael gives a great narration.

[kmartin802_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

In this episode, Peter and Bunter rush home from Corsica when they receive news the Peter's elder brother the Duke of Denver has been arrested for the murder of Peter's sister Mary's fiance Denis Cathcart.Peter finds the situation very complicated. The duke has no alibi for the time of the murder that he is willing to share. His sister Mary is lying about something. And there are mysterious footprints around the scene of the crime that don't belong to any of the people staying at the house when the murder was committed. Peter, Bunter, and Peter's friend Parker need to find out the truth about Denis Cathcart's death before the duke can be tried in front of a jury of his peers. As the busily try to track down the owner of the mysterious footprints, unravel Mary's series of lies, and investigate Cathcart's path they discover a number of secrets that all of them hold. The story was fast-paced and filled with interesting characters. I am becoming a huge fan of Bunter who manages to save Peter's life in this one. I'm also curious to know if Parker's relationship with Lady Mary has any sort of future. Peter, as always, is an entertaining and intriguing character.

[cpg_7 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I was thinking I'd give this book 5 stars. It's much less confusing than many of Sayers' other novels: not a lot of poorly differentiated characters to keep track of, not ridiculously complicated timetables to have to absorb.But I ended up finding the ending just too disturbing. In America, a lawyer can get in big trouble for knowingly allowing his client to perjure himself on the witness stand. Apparently, however, it's just fine to do that in England. Arthur Schlesinger, who in defense of President Clinton testified that "Gentleman always lie about their sex lives", would be proud.

[antiquary_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This is probably my second favorite of the Wimsey novels, after Murder Must Advertise, particularly for the trial before the House of Lords --a tradition now ended by later legal reform.

[laytonwoman3rd · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The second in Sayers' Lord Peter Wimsey series. He's still clever, yet Woosterish at times, and he comes to the wrong conclusion more than once before hitting on the solution. To begin, Lord Peter's future brother-in-law is found dead of a gunshot wound to the chest on the family premises; Peter's brother, the Duke, is suspected and arrested, but will say nothing in his own defense. Their sister, the dead man's fiance, begins acting very strangely, shuts herself in her room, and refuses all attentions. There is evidence at the scene that another person, identity unknown, was present on the night in question. Theoretically, this being a Golden Age mystery and Sayers being very particular about the fairness doctrine, the reader should be able to pick up all the necessary clues to solve the case. I quibble. When Lord Peter takes off for Paris, and then for America, to follow up his brainstorm (which is NOT totally shared with the reader), I could certainly see how he came to his deduction, but I could not make the deduction myself. Maybe I just need more practice. I enjoyed this one very much up to a point, and then I got a bit impatient for the reveal. I think there was one too many red herrings in the pot.

[cathyskye · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I continue to stumble my way through Golden Age mysteries in an attempt to understand what so many other readers enjoy in them. So far, my only real success has been with Gladys Mitchell's Mrs. Bradley, but I am determined to emerge triumphant with Dorothy L. Sayers' Lord Peter Wimsey. I have to admit that it's been a bit of a hard slog. Perhaps I should just jump ahead to the book in which Harriet Vane makes her appearance?The largest part of Lord Peter's investigation in Clouds of Witness seemed to be crawling around on the floor staring at the carpet, and I was about ready to admit defeat when Wimsey's sister finally decided to tell the truth. Then the mystery really began to get somewhere. I am glad that I soldiered on to the end because I do see glimmers of what this series will be in snippets of conversation between characters, and that "lost in the fog in the bog" scene is marvelous. I do enjoy historical mysteries, but I am most definitely a 21st-century reader, so I do sometimes doubt the wisdom behind my dabbling into these fabled waters... but it is for the very reason that these mysteries are fabled that I can't leave them alone!

[kaitanya64 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I'd read some of Sayers' lit. crit, but this was my first of her mysteries. I just felt it was too easy to see where this was going. The one really effective red herring falls apart half way through and then it's just a gradual unravel. I wasn't even convinced that the resolution was clearly inevitable from the clues provided. At one point there is a physical implausibility that seems to be sheer carelessness by the author. I'll read more by Sayers and hope they are better.

[kaethe_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

The plot is absurdly complicated, amusingly so. There are no end of intrigues in the country house where the murder takes place.

But that's not the joy of reading a Sayers' novel: the pleasure is all in the humor. Wimsey acting a fool, Bunter's magical ability to produce anything needed, Mary's good heart, and the Dowager's formidable control of everything. It's Downton Abbey written by Oscar Wilde.

Personal copy

[brokentune · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

‘Does it occur to you that what’s the matter with this case is that there are too many clues? Dozens of people with secrets and elopements bargin’ about all over the place—’‘I hate you, Peter,’ said Lady Mary.The Duke of Denver, Lord Peter's brother, has been accused of the murder of a house guest. He has no alibi and his statements are so contradictory that it really looks like he is in danger of being found guilty.Luckily for him, Mr. Bunter, Lord Peter's valet, has managed to find a current edition of the Times while with Peter in Corsica and promptly arranges for Peter's return to the family home. All I can say is that this book is even better on the second read. On the first read, I was so involved in the solving the mystery of who killed Cathcart, that I didn't appreciate the all of the snippets of humour and wit that are strewn throughout this novel. Well, I did appreciate them, but not as much as I should have.This book is a hoot. But it is not just fun that makes me love the Wimsey clan. I also love the interaction between the characters - whether it is Bunter looking after Wimsey, Lady Mary stropping with Wimsey, Wimsey egging on poor love-sick Parker, or the Duchess calling them all to order. And best of all, there is such a lovely spirit of the hopefulness and modernism of the 1920s in this. I really like this book and am so glad that I didn't stop reading this series after the disappointment that was Whose Body?.‘I think we may say we have made some progress,’ said Parker.‘If only negatively,’ added Peter.‘Exactly,’ said Sir Impey, turning on him with staggering abruptness. ‘Very negatively indeed. And, having seriously hampered the case for the defence, what are you going to do next?’‘That’s a nice thing to say,’ cried Peter indignantly, ‘when we’ve cleared up such a lot of points for you!’‘I daresay,’ said the barrister, ‘but they’re the sort of points which are much better left muffled up.’‘Damn it all, we want to get at the truth!’‘Do you?’ said Sir Impey drily. ‘I don’t. I don’t care twopence about the truth. I want a case. It doesn’t matter to me who killed Cathcart, provided I can prove it wasn’t Denver. It’s really enough if I can throw reasonable doubt on its being Denver. Here’s a client comes to me with a story of a quarrel, a suspicious revolver, a refusal to produce evidence of his statements, and a totally inadequate and idiotic alibi. I arrange to obfuscate the jury with mysterious footprints, a discrepancy as to time, a young woman with a secret, and a general vague suggestion of something between a burglary and a crime passionel. And here you come explaining the footprints, exculpating the unknown man, abolishing the discrepancies, clearing up the motives of the young woman, and most carefully throwing back suspicion to where it rested in the first place. What do you expect?’‘I’ve always said,’ growled Peter, ‘that the professional advocate was the most immoral fellow on the face of the earth, and now I know for certain.’

[ctpress_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Lord Peter Wimsey’s brother Gerald is arrested and accused of the murder of his sisters boyfriend. Wimsey hurries home from his vacation on Corsica and goes to work - with his “partner”, detective Palmer and his manservant Bunter. Mary, Peter’s sister, is also under suspicion as her story doesn’t hold water - a lot is at stake here for Peter - and there’s more action in this one - Wimsey is shot at (twice), are in severe danger in a swamp and have to endure a lot before the case is closed.

[mstrust · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Lord Peter Wimsey's older brother has just been arrested for murdering his sister's fiancee, whose body was found in the family ancestral home. Lord Peter shows up to find that his brother isn't cooperating with the police and his sister's version of the night doesn't hold up under scrutiny. With little help from his family, Lord Peter, manservant Bunter and police friend Parker have to piece together the dead man's past and childish Lady Mary's movements on the night he died.This is my second Lord Peter book, the first being Lord Peter Views the Body a few years ago. It's interesting and often funny, and the clues and red herrings abound. I know there was a time when the upper class English thought it hip to drop their "g"s to sound like hillbillies, I guess, but Lord Peter can barely get a complete word out, and it's kind of annoying to read a sentences filled with apostrophes. But a good mystery that went on slightly too long.

[helenliz_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A re-read, probably several times over. In this, Peter is called upon to investigate another murder, although this one involves his brother as suspect. The body of Lady Mary's fiance is found in the conservatory of the shooting lodge, with the duke bending over him, Mary leaps to the obvious (and wrong) conclusion, that Gerald did it. From there, it all goes downhill fast for Gerald, who refuses to say what he was doing. It all falls on Peter and Charles Parker to unravel the various mysteries that have enmeshed themselves around the 3 am discovery. Some fabulous side characters in this, although the level of co-incidence is markedly high. Peter discovers who did what and how, as usual, but it's a close run thing.

[pgchuis · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The second in the series, with a much better paced plot and clues. Lord Peter's brother, Gerald, is charged with the murder of Denis Cathcart, who is engaged to marry Lady Mary, sister to Gerald and Peter. Gerald and Mary appear to have discovered the body at the same moment in the middle of the night, but each seems to have something to hide which prevents them from telling the truth. More of a detective story, with less humour and sadly less of Bunter than the first, but a satisfactory ending.

[booksfordinner · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Another great one. Beautiful language!

[druidgirl_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I love Lord Peter Wimsey, he has an incredible sense of wrong and right, of honor and love of family. He finds that his brother has been accused of murder and jailed. Lord Peter drops everything and rushes to investigate. His brother refuses to talk,so he does it his way. This is a true British mystery which I love.***I received this book in exchange for an honest review***

[lahochstetler · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Lord Peter's family is thrown into suspicion when his brother is accused of murder. The Duke of Denver is obstinate in his refusal to defend himself. Lord Peter tries to unravel the case. He finds multiple infidelities and secret affairs. Much of this book shows Wimsey interacting with his family. The book takes place at the family estate. Wimsey is delightfully snarky when dealing with his relations. Several of the chapters of this book are written as transcripts of newspaper articles or courtroom testimony, and I found that format to be somewhat tedious. I definitely prefer straight narrative. This is not my favorite Wimsey book, but lesser Sayers is still greater than many other options.

[emanate28 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I enjoyed this more than 'Whose Body', maybe because I liked Lord Peter Wimsey better here (he was too flippant and silly in the other one for my taste). The characters were intriguing and one felt interested in their fates; the unfolding of the story and clues were good and I enjoyed much of the book. Unfortunately, I personally didn't feel very satisfied at the conclusion/solution--there were so many threads and possibilities, that what turned out to be the truth seemed anticlimactic.