Hodder to revamp Dorothy L Sayers' crime list

Hodder & Stoughton is reissuing Dorothy L Sayers’ classic mystery fiction, complete with new covers and new introductions, to "recruit readers new and old" to the series.

New introductions to the books will be authored by BBC actors and authors, including crime novelist Lee Child, actress Dame Harriet Walter, and writer Jill Paton Walsh, who became the Dorothy L. Sayers Society's new president in 2015 and is set to continue the series, featuring amateur detective protagonist Lord Peter Wimsey.

The first batch of reissues, which will see the books move into B-format for the first time, will be published in August 2016, with a second batch to follow in September, and two short story collections at the end of the year.

Books to receive reissues are: Whose Body?, with an introduction by Laura Wilson; Clouds of Witness, with an introduction by Ruth Dudley Edwards; Unnatural Death, accompanied by writing from Minette Walters and Lord Peter Views the Body, with a foreword by Christopher Fowler.  The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club, Strong Poison, The Documents in the Case, Five Red Herrings will also be revamped.

Meanwhile, Lee Child will write a foreword for Have His Carcase, Peter Robinson for Murder Must Advertise, David Mark for Hangman's Holiday, Jill Paton Walsh for The Nine Tailors, Dame Harriet Walter for Gaudy Night and Natasha Cooper for Busman's Honeymoon.

Hodder & Stoughton, Sayers' longstanding publisher, also recently published Sayers' work in audio and e-book for the first time.