“The rest were nondescript, as yet undifferentiated—yet nondescripts, thought Harriet, were the most difficult of all human beings to analyze. You scarcely knew they were there, until—bang! Something quite unexpected blew up like a depth charge and left you marveling, to collect strange floating debris.”

English crime novelist, playwright, translator and critic

Dorothy Leigh Sayers was an English crime novelist, playwright, translator and critic. She is best known for her Lord Peter Wimsey detective novels, which helped shape the golden age of British detective fiction. Beyond her mysteries, Sayers wrote plays, translated works, and produced criticism with a sharp, exacting style. Her writing moved across popular fiction and literary argument, and her reputation rests on both her storytelling and her clear, disciplined prose.