Female : Novelist & detective writer. Creator of Lord Peter Wimsey. Married Oswald Arthur Fleming in 1926. In 1947 she stopped writing detective novels and concentrated on translating Dante and lecturing on philosophy, medieval literature and religion. In 1922 she worked for Benson's Advertising Agency and coined the phrase "My Goodness, My Guinness". Lived at Witham in Essex from 1929

Nationality : English Place of Birth : Oxford

Date of Birth : 1893 Date of Death : 1957 Age : 64

Pseudonyms : Mrs Atherton Fleming

Other Work : Edited Oxford Poetry 1917-19

Education : Somerville College, Oxford

All Gollancz unless stated
1916-1930
Opus 1 (1916 Basil Blackwell)
Catholic Tales and Christian Songs (1918 Blackwell)
Whose Body (1923 Boni & Liveright) (1923 T Fisher Unwin)
[Her first detective novel]
Clouds of Witness (1926 TFU) (1928 Lincoln McVeagh, NY)
Unnatural Death (1927 Ernest Benn) (in US as "The Dawson Pedigree" 1928 Lincoln McVeagh, NY)
The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club (1928 Ernest Benn) (1928 Payson & Clarke, NY)
Lord Peter Views the Body (1928) (1929 Payson & Clarke, NY) - ss
(Intro by) Great Short Stories of Detection, Mystery & Horror (1928 Gollancz)
The Omnibus of Crime (1929 Payson & Clarke, NY) - [same as above]
(Trans) Tristan in Britanny (1929 Benn) (1929 Payson & Clarke, NY)
The Documents in the Case (1930 Ernest Benn) (1930 Brewer & Warren NY) - with Robert Eustace
Strong Poison (1930) (1930 Brewer & Warren NY)

1931-1935
The Five Red Herrings (1931) (in US as "Suspicious Characters" 1931 Harcourt)
(Intro by) Great Short Stories of Detection, Mystery & Horror : Second Series
(1931 Gollancz) (1932 Coward-McCann)
The Floating Admiral (1931 Hodder & Stoughton) (9132 Doubleday Doran) - et al
[This was collectively written by members of the Detection Club. Sayers provided the
introduction and the solution]
Have His Carcase (1932) (1932 Brewer, Warren & Putnam)
Murder Must Advertise (1933) (1933 Harcourt Brace)
Hangman's Holiday (1933) (1933 Harcourt) - ss
Ask a Policeman (1933 Arthur Barker) - et al
The Nine Tailors (1934) (1934 Harcourt)
(Intro by) Great Short Stories of Detection, Mystery & Horror : Third Series
(1934 Gollancz) (1935 Coward-McCann)
Gaudy Night (1935) (1936 Harcourt)

1936-1940
Six Against the Yard (1936 Selwyn & Blount) - et al
(Intro) Tales of Detection (1936 Dent, Everyman)
Busman's Honeymoon (1937) (1937 Harcourt)
Busman's Honeymoon : A Detective Comedy in 3 Acts (1937) - with Muriel St Clair Byrne
(1939 Dramatists Play Service, NY)
The Zeal of Thy House : A Play for Canterbury Cathedral (1937 Gollancz) (1937 Harcourt)
The Devil to Pay : A Play for Canterbury Cathedral (1939) (1939 Harcourt)
Double Death (1939 Gollancz) - et al
[Another detective novel collectively written by members of the Detection Club]
He that Should Come : A Nativity Play for Radio (1939)
In the Teeth of the Evidence & Other Stories (1939) (1940 Harcourt)
Begin Here : An Essay in Time of War (1940) (1941 Harcourt)

1941-1950
The Mind of the Maker : A Theological Essay (1941 Methuen) (1941 Harcourt)
The Man Born to Be King : A Series of Radio Plays on the Life of Jesus Christ (1943 Gollancz 10/6)
(1949 Harper NY)
The Other Six Deadly Sins : An Address to the Public Morality Council (1943 Methuen)
Even the Parrot : Exemplary Conversations for Enlightened Children (1944 Methuen)
Aeneas at the Court of Dido (1945 PP)
The Just Vengeance : A Play for the Lichfield Festival (1946)
Unpopular Opinions : A Collection of Articles and Addresses (1946 Gollancz)
A Cat's Christmas Tale (1947 PP)
Creed or Chaos & Other Essays (1947 Methuen) (1949 Harcourt)
Four Sacred Plays (1948)
(Trans) The Comedy of Dante Alighieri the Florentine : Cantica I - Hell (1940 Penguin Classics)

After 1951
The Emperor Constantine : A Play for Chichester Festival (1951) (1951 Harper)
Introductory Papers on Dante (1954 Methuen 21/-) (1955 Harper)
(Trans) The Comedy of Dante Alighieri the Florentine : Cantica II - Purgatory (1955 Penguin Classics)
Further Papers on Dante (1957 Methuen) (1957 Harper)
(Trans) The Song of Roland (1957 Penguin Classics)
A Treasury of Sayers Stories (1958)
(Trans) The Comedy of Dante Alighieri the Florentine : Cantica III - Paradise (1962 Penguin Classics)
[Completed by Barbara Reynolds]
The Poetry of Search and the Poetry of Statement (1963)
Christian Letters to a Post-Christian World (1969 William Eerdmans, US)
Lord Peter : A Collection of the Lord Peter Stories (1972 Harper & Row)
Talboys (1972 Harper NY)
[A short story originally written in 1942]
Striding Folly : Three Wimsey short stories including 'Talboys' (1973 NEL)
A Matter of Eternity (1973 William Eerdmans, US)
Wilkie Collins : A Critical and Biographical Study (1977 Friends of University of Toledo Libraries)
[An unfinished biography]
Thrones, Dominations (1998 Hodder & Stoughton £14.99)

READING
[Much of her archive material is lodged at the Marion E Wade Center in Wheaton College, Illinois]
Janet Hitchman : Such a Strange Lady (1975 NEL)
C W Scott-Giles : The Wimsey Family (1977 Gollancz)
Robert B Harmon : An Annotated Guide to the Works of Dorothy L Sayers (1977 Garland US)
Colleen B Gilbert : A Bibliography of the Works of Dorothy L Sayers (1978 Shoe String Press, US)
(Ed) Margaret Hannay : As Her Wimsey Took Her (1979 Kent State UP)
Trevor H Hall : Dorothy L Sayers - Nine Literary Studies (1980 Duckworth)
James Brabazon : Dorothy L Sayers - The Life of a Courageous Woman (1981 Gollancz)
Ruth Tanis Youngberg : Dorothy L Sayers - A reference Guide (1982 Hall US)
The Lord Peter Wimsey Companion (1985 Mysterious Press NY)
David Coomes : Dorothy L Sayers - A Careless Rage for Life : A New Biography (1992 Lion £14.99)
Barbara Reynolds : Dorothy L Sayers - Her Life & Soul (1993 Hodder & Stoughton £25)
(Ed) Barbara Reynolds : The Letters of Dorothy L Sayers 1899-1936 (1995 Hodder & Stoughton)
(Ed) Barbara Reynolds : The Letters of Dorothy L Sayers 1937 - 1943 (1998 Hodder & Stoughton £20)