In the Teeth of the Evidence

by Dorothy Sayers
New York, Harcourt, Brace and Company [c1940]

I admit, I have never read a Lord Peter Wimsey novel. But since I have heard about them so much on LibraryThing lately, when I saw this collection of short stories on the library sale's "fill a bag for a dollar" day, I thought it would be worth a try.

The first two stories involve Wimsey. Having, as I said, not read any of the rest, I couldn't tell you where they fit into the chronology of the novels. Even with this lack of knowledge, I didn't find them hard to follow. Mostly, I enjoyed the humor and am even more curious to see how her mysteries are fleshed out in a longer story. The rest of the short stories in this collection are mostly mysteries; one is a creepy, almost Gothic sort of story. In some ways they remind me of O. Henry stories, having a similar plot arc, but with different characters and circumstances, each with an unexpected revelation or twist. I enjoyed trying to guess where she was going with the stories and was nearly equally delighted when I'd figured it out as when I was surprised. Though it may have been an unconventional introduction to Sayers, In the Teeth of the Evidence made me impatient to try her Lord Peter Wimsey stories.