She finds fresh blood and a razor, but no footprints in the sand other than hers and the victim's. Under British law, the Have-His-Carcase Act, you cannot hold an inquest into a death until you have a body.In this clever, always interesting novel, there is photographic evidence of a death, yet the body is swept out to sea by the tide, so for about half the book the sleuths, both professional and amateur, can only speculate.Mystery writer Harriet Vane, herself a murder suspect until cleared after the intervention of Lord Peter Wimsey in a previous novel, discovers a young man with his throat cut along the coast.

Yet for its time and place it is actually a very good title. Sayers must be one of the oddest, at least for American readers. Many murder mysteries have been given odds titles, but “Have His Carcase” (1932) by Dorothy L. Sayers including rare images from the Marion E. This ebook features an illustrated biography of Dorothy L. Have His Carcase is the 8th book in the Lord Peter Wimsey Mysteries, but you may enjoy the series by reading the books in any order. Only one person can help her discover how the poor man died at the beach: Lord Peter, the amateur sleuth who won her freedom and her heart in one fell swoop. Finally, she goes for the police, but by the time they return the body has gone. His throat has been cut, and his blood has drained out onto the sand.Īs the tide inches forward, Harriet makes what observations she can and photographs the scene. She tries to wake him, but he doesn’t budge. She is alone on a beach when she spies a man lying on a rock, surf lapping at his ankles. Harriet Vane has gone on vacation to forget her recent murder trial and, more importantly, to forget the man who cleared her name-the dapper, handsome, and maddening Lord Peter Wimsey.

Lord Peter Wimsey and Harriet Vane investigate a dead body on the beach in this “nearly perfect detective story” by the author of Busman’s Honeymoon ( Saturday Review).

Have His Carcase by Dorothy L. Sayers