Dorothy L. Sayers (1893-1957) was an English author of crime fiction novels, poetry, plays, essays, translations and Christian humanism. Sayers is considered part of the Golden Age of Detective Fiction. She is best known for her mystery novels featuring Peter Wimsey, an amateur sleuth. Sayers has influenced many different major authors, including Stieg Larsson and Diana Gabaldon.

Dorothy L. Sayers made her debut as a novelist in 1923 with Whose Body?, the beginning of her Peter Wimsey detective series. Below is a list of Dorothy L. Sayers’ books in order of when they were originally released:

Publication Order of Lord Peter Wimsey Books

Whose Body? (1923)Description / Buy at Amazon.com
Clouds of Witness (1926)Description / Buy at Amazon.com
Unnatural Death (1927)Description / Buy at Amazon.com
Lord Peter Views the Body (1928)Description / Buy at Amazon.com
The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club (1928)Description / Buy at Amazon.com
Strong Poison (1930)Description / Buy at Amazon.com
Five Red Herrings (1931)Description / Buy at Amazon.com
Have His Carcase (1932)Description / Buy at Amazon.com
Hangman's Holiday (1933)Description / Buy at Amazon.com
Murder Must Advertise (1933)Description / Buy at Amazon.com
The Nine Tailors (1934)Description / Buy at Amazon.com
Gaudy Night (1935)Description / Buy at Amazon.com
Busman's Honeymoon (1937)Description / Buy at Amazon.com
In the Teeth of the Evidence (1939)Description / Buy at Amazon.com
Striding Folly (1973)Description / Buy at Amazon.com

Publication Order of Lord Peter Wimsey & Harriet Vane Books

(with Jill Paton Walsh)

Thrones, Dominations (1998)Description / Buy at Amazon.com
A Presumption of Death (2002)Description / Buy at Amazon.com
The Attenbury Emeralds (2010)Description / Buy at Amazon.com
The Late Scholar (2013)Description / Buy at Amazon.com

Publication Order of Standalone Novels

The Documents In The Case (1930)Description / Buy at Amazon.com

Publication Order of Short Stories/Novellas

The Wimsey Papers (1939)Description / Buy at Amazon.com
The Lost Tools of Learning (1947)Description / Buy at Amazon.com

Publication Order of Short Story Collections

A Treasury of Sayers Stories (1958)Description / Buy at Amazon.com
Two Plays about God and Man (1985)Description / Buy at Amazon.com
Dorothy L. Sayers: The Complete Stories (2002)Description / Buy at Amazon.com

Publication Order of Chapbooks

The Emperor Constantine (1951)Description / Buy at Amazon.com

Publication Order of Standalone Plays

The Man Born to Be King (1943)Description / Buy at Amazon.com

Publication Order of Non-Fiction Books

The Mind of the Maker (1941)Description / Buy at Amazon.com
Unpopular Opinions (1946)Description / Buy at Amazon.com
Creed or Chaos? (1947)Description / Buy at Amazon.com
Further Papers on Dante (With: Barbara Reynolds) (1957)Description / Buy at Amazon.com
Are Women Human? (1959)Description / Buy at Amazon.com
The Days of Christ's Coming (1960)Description / Buy at Amazon.com
Wilkie Collins a Critical and Biographical Study (1977)Description / Buy at Amazon.com
The Whimsical Christian (1987)Description / Buy at Amazon.com
Spiritual Writings (1993)Description / Buy at Amazon.com
The Letters of Dorothy L. Sayers. Vol. 1, 1899-1936 (1996)Description / Buy at Amazon.com
The Letters of Dorothy L. Sayers. Vol. 2, 1937-1943 (1998)Description / Buy at Amazon.com
The letters of Dorothy L. Sayers. Vol. 3, 1944-1950 (1999)Description / Buy at Amazon.com
The Letters of Dorothy L. Sayers: 1951-1957 (2000)Description / Buy at Amazon.com
The Letters of Dorothy L. Sayers: Child and Woman of Her Time (2002)Description / Buy at Amazon.com

Publication Order of Anthologies

Great Short Stories of Detection, Mystery and Horror(1931)Description / Buy at Amazon.com
The Floating Admiral(1931)Description / Buy at Amazon.com
Ask a Policeman(1933)Description / Buy at Amazon.com
More Anatomy of Murder(1936)Description / Buy at Amazon.com
Fifty Famous Detectives of Fiction(1948)Description / Buy at Amazon.com
Human And Inhuman Stories(1963)Description / Buy at Amazon.com
Nine Detective Stories(1964)Description / Buy at Amazon.com
The Scoop and Behind the Screen(1983)Description / Buy at Amazon.com
Double Death(1985)Description / Buy at Amazon.com
English Country House Murders(1988)Description / Buy at Amazon.com
Crime Never Pays(2001)Description / Buy at Amazon.com
The Best Crime Stories Ever Told(2002)Description / Buy at Amazon.com
Murder On The Railways(2003)Description / Buy at Amazon.com
The Longman Anthology of Detective Fiction(2004)Description / Buy at Amazon.com
The Philosophy of Sherlock Holmes(2012)Description / Buy at Amazon.com
Murder in Midsummer: Classic Mysteries for the Holidays(2019)Description / Buy at Amazon.com

Notes: Peter Wimsey and Harriet Vane is co-authored by Jill Paton Walsh. Ask a Policeman is co-authored by Anthony Berkeley and Milward Kennedy.

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Order of Books » Authors » Order of Dorothy L. Sayers Books

One Response to “Order of Dorothy L. Sayers Books”

  1. Lajeanne Leveton: 5 years ago

    Also, if you like Dorothy Sayers, be sure to see the four books written by Jill Paton Walsh that continue the Peter Wimsey story and do it in the same vein as Sayers.

    Reply

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