Have His Carcase

Have His Carcase is a 1932 novel by Dorothy L. Sayers, her seventh featuring Lord Peter Wimsey and her second novel in which Harriet Vane appears. The title is taken from William Cowper's translation of Book II of Homer's Iliad: "The vulture's maw / Shall have his carcase, and the dogs his bones." Harriet Vane, author of crime and mystery novels, goes off on a hiking holiday. She finds a fresh corpse on a lonely beach, and although she is able to... more

Have His Carcase is a 1932 novel by Dorothy L. Sayers, her seventh featuring Lord Peter Wimsey and her second novel in which Harriet Vane appears. The title is taken from William Cowper's translation of Book II of Homer's Iliad: "The vulture's maw / Shall have his carcase, and the dogs his bones." Harriet Vane, author of crime and mystery novels, goes off on a hiking holiday. She finds a fresh corpse on a lonely beach, and although she is able to collect photos and evidence, the body is washed away before it can be recovered. The plot concerns the efforts of the local police, assisted by Harriet and Lord Peter Wimsey, to identify the dead man, recover his body, determine whether his death was suicide or murder, and if the latter, to unmask the killer. The relationship between Harriet and Wimsey, which began in difficult circumstances in Strong Poison, develops further during their collaboration. During a hiking holiday after her acquittal on murder charges in Strong Poison, Harriet... less