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Dorothy Sayers

(1893-1957), Writer

Dorothy Leigh Sayers

Sitter in 9 portraits
Most of Sayer's novels were produced while she worked as a copywriter for an advertising agency. Committed to developing the potential of detective fiction, she moved away from the 'whodunit' narrative, preferring to explore crime, its motivations, mechanisms and effects. Her twelve novels include Unnatural Death (1927), Murder must Advertise (1933) and The Nine Tailors (1934), which feature the aristocratic detective hero Lord Peter Wimsey. From 1940, Sayers concentrated on writing religious drama, broadcasting and works of criticism and translation.

Watch a film clip on the sitter from the BBC Archive in the Media section below

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Dorothy Sayers, by Sir William Oliphant Hutchison - NPG 5146

Dorothy Sayers

by Sir William Oliphant Hutchison
oil on canvas, circa 1949-1950
NPG 5146

Dorothy Sayers, by Unknown photographer - NPG x194180

Dorothy Sayers

by Unknown photographer
vintage print, early 1920s
NPG x194180

Dorothy Sayers, by Howard Coster - NPG x2323

Dorothy Sayers

by Howard Coster
cream-toned vintage bromide print, 1938
NPG x2323

Dorothy Sayers, by Howard Coster - NPG x2324

Dorothy Sayers

by Howard Coster
print, 1938
NPG x2324

Dorothy Sayers and adopted porcupine, by Wolfgang Suschitzky - NPG x200760

Dorothy Sayers and adopted porcupine

by Wolfgang Suschitzky
gelatin silver print, circa 1944
NPG x200760

Dorothy Sayers and adopted porcupines, by Wolfgang Suschitzky - NPG x200761

Dorothy Sayers and adopted porcupines

by Wolfgang Suschitzky
gelatin silver print, circa 1944
NPG x200761

Web image not currently available

Dorothy Sayers

by Howard Coster
print, 1938
NPG x2322

Web image not currently available

Dorothy Sayers

by Howard Coster
bromide print, 1938
NPG x24043

Web image not currently available

Dorothy Sayers

by Unknown photographer
bromide print
NPG x27493

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