Which author created the character of Lord Peter Wimsey?

Dorothy L. Sayers created the character of Lord Peter Wimsey.

Wimsey first appeared in Sayers's 1923 novel *Whose Body?* He is a wealthy British aristocrat and amateur detective who later becomes the 17th Duke of Denver. His full name is Peter Death Bredon Wimsey, a deliberately striking name that reflects the witty, stylized character Sayers developed.

Unlike the emotionally detached image associated with some fictional sleuths, Wimsey's personality changes across the series. In early stories he can seem like a playful dilettante, but later novels explore the psychological effects of his service in the First World War. He is assisted by his valet Mervyn Bunter and his friend Charles Parker, a police detective.

Wimsey eventually falls in love with crime novelist Harriet Vane, whom he meets in *Strong Poison*. Their relationship develops through several books and becomes one of the major arcs of the series. Sayers wrote the original Wimsey stories, while later continuation novels were produced by Jill Paton Walsh using Sayers's characters and unfinished material.