The Nine Tailors: Chapter Summaries

[name] Professor [name] [class] 11 October 2024 Prompt #2 The Nine Tailors: Crime and Campanology in the Fens Thus far in [class], the class has covered four books: Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie, Died in the Wool by Ngaio Marsh, The Nine Tailors by Dorothy L. Sayers, and The Mike Hammer Collection Volume 1 by Mickey Spillane. Of these, the novel I would most recommend is The Nine Tailors by Dorothy L. Sayers. The novel features an engaging investigation with vivid characters and settings; successfully balances the darker tone of the mystery with lighter, more amusing moments; and effectively uses the unique inclusion of bell ringing to add depth to the story and create a rewarding ending. The novel starts on New Year’s Eve,

In change ringing, a team of ringers assembles to ring a set of bells in set patterns. Rather than producing a traditional musical melody, the aim of change ringing is to ring through a set of variations dictated by the oscillatory periods of the bells. Typically, these peals are rung using large church bells, which are unique in that English church bells are hung from a wheel and begun with their mouths up, such that pulling a bell’s rope produces a full 360 degree rotation. As a result of this method of ringing, each bell can move no more than one place in the sequence between patterns, as moving multiple places would require too great a momentum change. As a pastime, change ringing involves calculating the sequences a given set of bells can ring through and practicing these sequences, with the ultimate achievement being an extended peal such as the one rung at the beginning of the novel. In addition, these bells are used as a means of communication for the towns in which they reside as well as the surrounding areas: the title of the novel, The Nine Tailors, is derived from the pattern rung to announce the death of a man in the

Godfrey discusses the bell Batty Thomas, saying “.she’s a bell that has her fancies.Her and me know one another and she’s no quarrel with me nor with her. But she’s queer-tempered,” (Sayers 77-78). As pseudo-characters, the bells influence other characters and take an active role in the story. For some characters, notably longtime ringer Hezekiah Lavender, the bells are an integral part of their way of life, and serve as the embodiment of the history of their town. In these cases, the relationships between the characters and the bells are intrinsic to building the vivid personalities that inhibit the town. In the case of Hezekiah Lavender, this relationship is demonstrated during the ringing of the New Year’s peal, where he receives the following description: “Most unperturbed of all was the aged Hezekiah, working grandly as though he were part and parcel of his rope, and calling his bobs without a tremor in his clear old voice,” (Sayers 41). The bells herald deaths and weddings, ring in holidays, and regulate the mundane tasks of everyday life: Mr. Venables even sets his grandfather clock weekly as the bells are