Dorothy L. Sayers Reading Order

19 books (1931–2025)

Dorothy L. Sayers edited 19 anthology volumes spanning from 1931 to 2025, collecting mystery and detective fiction from various authors. This ongoing series should be read in publication order, beginning with Great Short Stories of Detection, Mystery and Horror. The collections range from themed volumes like Murder On The Railways and English Country House Murders to broader selections such as The Best Crime Stories Ever Told and The Longman Anthology of Detective Fiction. These anthologies showcase the breadth of mystery and thriller writing across nearly a century of literature.

Start with Great Short Stories of Detection, Mystery and Horror, the first of 19 books in the Anthologies series.

#	Title
1	Great Short Stories of Detection, Mystery and Horror 1931Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
2	The Floating Admiral 1931Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
3	Ask a Policeman 1933Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
4	More Anatomy of Murder 1936Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
5	Fifty Famous Detectives of Fiction 1948Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
6	Human And Inhuman Stories 1963Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
7	Nine Detective Stories 1964Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
8	The Scoop and Behind the Screen 1983Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
9	Double Death 1985Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
10	English Country House Murders 1988Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
11	Crime Never Pays 2001Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
12	The Best Crime Stories Ever Told 2002Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
13	Murder On The Railways 2003Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
14	The Longman Anthology of Detective Fiction 2004Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
15	The Philosophy of Sherlock Holmes 2012Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
16	Plough Quarterly No. 18 - The Art of Community 2018Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
17	Bodies from the Library 2 2019Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
18	Murder in Midsummer: Classic Mysteries for the Holidays 2019Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
19	Metropolitan Mysteries: A Casebook of London's Detectives 2025Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible

1 book (1951–1951)

#	Title
1	The Emperor Constantine 1951Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible

15 books (1923–1973)

Dorothy L. Sayers wrote 15 Lord Peter Wimsey mystery novels between 1923 and 1973, completing the series with Striding Folly. These books should be read in publication order, beginning with Whose Body?, to follow the detective's character development across the complete story arc. The series is now finished and fully available for readers seeking a classic detective mystery collection.

Start with Whose Body?, the first of 15 books in the Lord Peter Wimsey series.

#	Title
1	Whose Body? 1923Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
2	Clouds of Witness 1926Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
3	Unnatural Death 1927Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
4	Lord Peter Views the Body 1928Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
5	The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club 1928Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
6	Strong Poison 1930Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
7	Five Red Herrings 1931Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
8	Have His Carcase 1932Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
9	Hangman's Holiday 1933Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
10	Murder Must Advertise 1933Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
11	The Nine Tailors 1934Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
12	Gaudy Night 1935Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
13	Busman's Honeymoon 1937Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
14	In the Teeth of the Evidence 1939Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
15	Striding Folly 1973Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible

4 books (1998–2013)

The Lord Peter Wimsey and Harriet Vane series comprises four mysteries featuring the aristocratic detective and mystery novelist, published between 1998 and 2013. These books should be read in publication order, beginning with Thrones, Dominations. The series is complete and blends classic detective fiction with the evolving relationship between its two protagonists.

Start with Thrones, Dominations, the first of 4 books in the Lord Peter Wimsey & Harriet Vane series.

#	Title
1	Thrones, Dominations 1998Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
2	A Presumption of Death 2002Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
3	The Attenbury Emeralds 2010Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
4	The Late Scholar 2013Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible

1 book (1993–1993)

17 books (1941–2024)

This fifteen-book non-fiction series by Dorothy L. Sayers spans from 1941 to 2024 and remains ongoing. The collection includes essays, theological writings, literary criticism, and a comprehensive multi-volume edition of Sayers' personal letters, which should be read in publication order to trace the development of her thought across decades. Beginning with The Mind of the Maker, the series encompasses her reflections on Christianity, creativity, gender, and literature alongside the chronological record of her correspondence.

Start with The Mind of the Maker, the first of 15 books in the Non-Fiction series.

#	Title
1	The Mind of the Maker 1941Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
2	Unpopular Opinions 1946Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
3	Creed or Chaos? 1947Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
4	Further Papers on Dante(With: Barbara Reynolds) 1957Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
5	Are Women Human? 1959Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
6	The Days of Christ's Coming 1960Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
7	A Matter of Eternity 1973Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
8	Wilkie Collins a Critical and Biographical Study 1977Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
9	The Whimsical Christian 1987Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
10	Spiritual Writings 1993Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
11	The Letters of Dorothy L. Sayers. Vol. 1, 1899-1936 1996Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
12	The Letters of Dorothy L. Sayers. Vol. 2, 1937-1943 1998Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
13	The letters of Dorothy L. Sayers. Vol. 3, 1944-1950 1999Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
14	The Letters of Dorothy L. Sayers: 1951-1957 2000Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
15	The Letters of Dorothy L. Sayers: Child and Woman of Her Time 2002Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
16	Letters to a Diminished Church 2004Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
17	Education's Not the Point(With: John Taylor Gatto,Elizabeth Y Hanson) 2024Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible

2 books (1939–1947)

Dorothy L. Sayers published two short works between 1939 and 1947 that should be read in publication order. The Wimsey Papers, her first entry, is followed by The Lost Tools of Learning. This complete series combines mystery fiction with essays, showcasing Sayers' distinctive voice across both genres.

Start with The Wimsey Papers and read in order.

3 books (1958–2002)

Dorothy L. Sayers' three short story and drama collections span from 1958 to 2002, presenting a complete series best read in publication order. Begin with A Treasury of Sayers Stories, followed by Two Plays about God and Man, and conclude with Dorothy L. Sayers: The Complete Stories. These collections gather the mystery, thriller, and non-fiction works of this celebrated author in chronological compilation.

Start with A Treasury of Sayers Stories and read in order.

#	Title
1	A Treasury of Sayers Stories 1958Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
2	Two Plays about God and Man 1985Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
3	Dorothy L. Sayers: The Complete Stories 2002Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible

1 book (1930–1930)

#	Title
1	The Documents In The Case 1930Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible

1 book (1943–1943)

#	Title
1	The Man Born to Be King 1943Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible

28 books (2005–2021)

The Philosophy of Popular Culture is a 28-book non-fiction series that examines philosophical themes within film, television, sports, and popular entertainment. Published between 2005 and 2021, the series appears to be complete and should be read in publication order, beginning with The Philosophy of Film Noir. Each installment explores the philosophical dimensions of a specific filmmaker, genre, sport, or cultural phenomenon, ranging from Stanley Kubrick and David Lynch to basketball, golf, and horror cinema.

Start with The Philosophy of Film Noir, the first of 28 books in the The Philosophy of Popular Culture series.

#	Title
1	The Philosophy of Film Noir 2005Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
2	Basketball and Philosophy 2007Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
3	Basketball and Philosophy: Thinking Outside the Paint 2007Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
4	The Philosophy of Martin Scorsese 2007Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
5	The Philosophy of Neo-Noir 2007Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
6	The Philosophy of Science Fiction Film 2007Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
7	The Philosophy of Stanley Kubrick 2007Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
8	Football and Philosophy: Going Deep 2008Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
9	Steven Spielberg and Philosophy: We're Gonna Need a Bigger Book 2008Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
10	The Philosophy of The X-Files 2008Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
11	Golf and Philosophy: Lessons from the Links 2010Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
12	The Philosophy of Horror 2010Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
13	The Philosophy of the Western 2010Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
14	The Philosophy of Charlie Kaufman 2011Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
15	The Philosophy of David Lynch 2011Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
16	The Philosophy of Joss Whedon 2011Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
17	The Philosophy of Spike Lee 2011Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
18	The Philosophy of Steven Soderbergh 2011Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
19	The Olympics and Philosophy 2012Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
20	The Philosophy of David Cronenberg 2012Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
21	The Philosophy of Sherlock Holmes 2012Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
22	The Philosophy of Ang Lee 2013Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
23	The Philosophy of Clint Eastwood 2014Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
24	The Philosophy of J.J. Abrams 2014Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
25	The Philosophy of Michael Mann 2014Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
26	The Philosophy of Tim Burton 2014Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
27	The Philosophy of War Films 2015Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible
28	Tennis and Philosophy: What the Racket is All About 2021Buy 🇺🇸🎧 Audible