Clouds of Witness

By: Sayers, Dorothy L.

Clouds of Witness, published by Dorothy L. Sayers in 1926, is the second of her novels starring Lord Peter Wimsey, a wealthy aristocrat who enjoys detective work as a hobby.In this book Wimsey's skills have an immediate and personal interest when his brother Gerald, the Duke of Denver, is arrested on a charge of murder. He is accused of shooting his sister's fianc , Denis Cathcart, in a fit of rage after discovering that Cathcart was a man who made a living by cheating at cards. The Duke has no credible alibi for the time of Cathcart's death and refuses to clarify where he was. Wimsey promptly sets to work to solve the case and exonerate his brother.One interesting feature of the story is that the Duke, as a peer of the realm, must be tried before his other peers in the House of Lords. Another is the flight across the Atlantic undertaken by Wimsey to obtain vital evidence-a year before Charles Lindbergh first made this voyage in reality.Clouds of Witness was made into a television mini-series for the BBC in 1972.Clouds of Witness, published by Dorothy L. Sayers in 1926, is the second of her novels starring Lord Peter Wimsey, a wealthy aristocrat who enjoys detective work as a hobby.In this book Wimsey's skills have an immediate and personal interest when his brother Gerald, the Duke of Denver, is arrested on a charge of murder. He is accused of shooting his sister's fianc , Denis Cathcart, in a fit of rage after discovering that Cathcart was a man who made a living by cheating at cards. The Duke has no credible alibi for the time of Cathcart's death and refuses to clarify where he was. Wimsey promptly sets to work to solve the case and exonerate his brother.One interesting feature of the story is that the Duke, as a peer of the realm, must be tried before his other peers in the House of Lords. Another is the flight across the Atlantic undertaken by Wimsey to obtain vital evidence-a year before Charles Lindbergh first made this voyage in reality.Clouds of Witness was made into a television mini-series for the BBC in 1972.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: B0GTRTK61B
• ISBN13: 9791043133947
• Release Date: February 2026
• Publisher: Les Prairies Numeriques
• Length: 326 Pages
• Weight: 0.96 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 6.0" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

More than just a mystery, this is England.

Dorothy L. Sayers writes many non-fiction books; however, among her best works of fiction is the Lord Peter Wimsey series. I came to this series sort of through the back door. My first taste was the BBC productions with Petherbridge as Lord Peter, which can now be found on DVD. So, I read all of Dorothy’s books containing the relationship of Lord Peter Wimsey and Harriet Vane. Now it is time to go through the whole series. In the second of eleven Lord Peter books, Lord Peter returns from Corsica. To find his older brother, the Duke of Denver was practically accused of murder. What is worse is that his brother is not talking. So, it is up to Peter to find out what happened and clear his brother of the accusation. In the process, he puts his foot in it and practically gets all his relatives and friends accused. As with all Sayers’ stories, nothing is simple; there are overlapping plots and foolish deeds, as if Peter cannot figure them out. On the side, we learn a little about English society and ballistics.