# Miss Climpson

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Fictional character created by Dorothy L. Sayers

Miss **Katharine Alexandra Climpson** (**Alexandra Katharine Climpson** in *Unnatural Death*; also called "**Kitty**") is a minor character in the [Lord Peter Wimsey](/source/Lord_Peter_Wimsey) stories by [Dorothy L. Sayers](/source/Dorothy_L._Sayers). She appears in two novels: *[Unnatural Death](/source/Unnatural_Death_(novel))* (1927) and *[Strong Poison](/source/Strong_Poison)* (1930), and is mentioned in *[Gaudy Night](/source/Gaudy_Night)* (1935) and *[Busman's Honeymoon](/source/Busman's_Honeymoon)* (1937).

## Plot summary

Climpson is a [spinster](/source/Spinster) who assists Wimsey by doing inquiry and undercover work: Wimsey says she "asks questions which a young man could not put without a blush." In *Unnatural Death* Climpson is described as "a thin, middle-aged woman, with a sharp, sallow face and very vivacious manner".

In *Strong Poison* Climpson now runs an employment agency for women, nicknamed "The Cattery."[1] She is a member of a jury in [Harriet Vane](/source/Harriet_Vane)'s trial for murder, and holds out against a guilty verdict, creating a [hung jury](/source/Hung_jury). She is described as having a "militant [High-Church](/source/High_church) conscience of remarkable staying power." In spite of her conscience, she pretends to be a [medium](/source/Mediumship) and holds a [séance](/source/S%C3%A9ance) in order to obtain information.[2]

In *Unnatural Death*, another character describes Miss Climpson's religion in these terms:

You might find her up at the church. She often drops in there to say her prayers like. Not a respectful way to approach a place of worship to my mind...Popping in and out on a week-day, the same as if it was a friend's house. And coming home from Communion as cheerful as anything and ready to laugh and make jokes.

## Reception and analysis

According to Catherine Kenney, "Miss Climpson is one of the brighter and more believable examples of the female sleuth."[3] Other scholars have described her as a character whose modern, earnest and public devotion to [Anglicanism](/source/Anglicanism) drives her morality, a characterization unique in Sayers' novels.[4] As a spinster who must seek work, Climpson can also be read as representative of certain socioeconomic challenges of [interwar Britain](/source/Interwar_Britain), where women were still expected to marry for economic stability; however, Climpson is not belittled or depicted as pathetic, but instead as a resourceful and perceptive woman who has educated herself to keep up with changing socioeconomic realities, while remaining old-fashioned in some respects.[1][5]

Miss Climpson appears in print two years before [Agatha Christie's](/source/Agatha_Christie) famed spinster detective [Miss Marple](/source/Miss_Marple), leading some scholars to see Sayers' character as an inspiration.[6]

## References

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-:0_1-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-:0_1-1) Conley, Alzire Stephanie (1996). [*Role of minor characters in Dorothy L. Sayers' fiction between the world wars*](https://lib.dr.iastate.edu/rtd/14422) (MA thesis). [Iowa State University](/source/Iowa_State_University). pp. 32–7.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** Martin, Jessica (2019). ["Dorothy L. Sayers (1893-1857): God and the Detective"](https://books.google.com/books?id=lp6aDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA99). *Anglican Women Novelists: From Charlotte Brontë to P.D. James*. pp. 99–100. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [9780567665867](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9780567665867). Retrieved 23 April 2020.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** Kenney, Catherine (1991). [*The Remarkable Case of Dorothy L. Sayers*](https://books.google.com/books?id=w9DiArv98MQC&pg=PA130). [Kent State University Press](/source/Kent_State_University_Press). p. 130. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [9780873384100](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9780873384100). Retrieved 20 February 2021.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** Sprague, Rosamond Kent (October 1983). ["Detection & Orthodoxy: On Dorothy L. Sayers"](https://www.newoxfordreview.org/documents/detection-orthodoxy/). *[New Oxford Review](/source/New_Oxford_Review)*.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-5)** Scowcroft, Philip (1988). ["Homosexuality in the detective fiction of Dorothy L. Sayers"](https://www.jstor.org/stable/45305540). *Sidelights on Sayers*. **27**: 16–18. [ISSN](/source/ISSN_(identifier)) [0969-188X](https://search.worldcat.org/issn/0969-188X). [JSTOR](/source/JSTOR_(identifier)) [45305540](https://www.jstor.org/stable/45305540).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-6)** Conroy, Sarah Booth (1993-06-12). ["Essay"](https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1993/06/12/essay/3a11ce0f-68e5-449f-8ed0-49634906f9e1/). *Washington Post*. [ISSN](/source/ISSN_(identifier)) [0190-8286](https://search.worldcat.org/issn/0190-8286). Retrieved 2021-11-08.

v t e Lord Peter Wimsey stories by Dorothy L. Sayers Characters Lord Peter Wimsey Harriet Vane Mervyn Bunter Miss Climpson Charles Parker Duke of Denver (family title) Novels Whose Body? (1923) Clouds of Witness (1926) Unnatural Death (1927) The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club (1928) Strong Poison (1931) The Five Red Herrings (1931) Have His Carcase (1932) Murder Must Advertise (1933) The Nine Tailors (1934) Gaudy Night (1935) Busman's Honeymoon (1937) Short story collections Lord Peter Views the Body (1928) Hangman's Holiday (1933) In the Teeth of the Evidence (1939) Striding Folly (1972) Lord Peter (1972) The Wimsey Papers in The Spectator (1939-1940) Continuations by Jill Paton Walsh Thrones, Dominations (1998; based on unfinished manuscript by Sayers) A Presumption of Death (2002) The Attenbury Emeralds (2010) The Late Scholar (2013) Adaptations The Silent Passenger (1935 film) Busman's Honeymoon (1940 film) Lord Peter Wimsey (1972 television series) Lord Peter Wimsey (1973 radio series) A Dorothy L. Sayers Mystery (1987 television series)

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Miss Climpson](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miss_Climpson) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miss_Climpson?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.