Miss Climpson

Miss Katharine Alexandra Climpson (Alexandra Katharine Climpson in Unnatural Death; also called "Kitty") is a minor character in the Lord Peter Wimsey stories by Dorothy L. Sayers. She appears in two novels: Unnatural Death (1927) and Strong Poison (1930), and is mentioned in Gaudy Night (1935) and Busman's Honeymoon (1937).

Plot summary

Climpson is a 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.” She is a member of a jury in Harriet Vane's trial for murder, and holds out against a guilty verdict, creating a hung jury. She is described as having a "militant High-Church conscience of remarkable staying power." In spite of her conscience, she pretends to be a medium and holds a séance in order to obtain information. 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

Miss Climpson appears in print two years before Agatha Christie’s famed spinster detective Miss Marple, leading some scholars to see Sayers’ character as an inspiration.