Thanks to this post I've started reading some Orwell essays (probably not exactly the same selection as you; the collection is All Art Is Propaganda) and he's sooooo good. He reminds me of C. S. Lewis (a comparison I suspect they would both dislike) because his writing is so clear and readable and persuasive, even if after the fact I'm sometimes like "Hey wait, I'm not sure I do agree with you actually..."

I'm not sure if this collection has the detective fiction essay but there have been a number of references to Lord Peter Wimsey, Archetype of the Upper Class Twit Who Makes Good in a Crisis, so clearly Orwell has Opinions about Sayers.

I really enjoyed his essay about Dickens and the one about the picture postcards - especially because he described one with a gag I actually recognize, the girl who is describing something to her friends as "Thiiiiiiis long" and there's a fish on the wall as cover... but we all know she's not talking about fish. Are usually-not-very-funny 'funny" greeting cards the slightly smutty picture postcards of our time?