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| Have His Carcase / Dorothy L. Sayers New English Library, 1977, c1932 444 p. |
In my Sayers reading spree last spring, I managed to read all of her books. But I've missed talking about a few of them so am going to try to remedy that this week!
Have His Carcase is the second book that Harriet Vane features in, coming straight after Strong Poison and before the masterpiece of Gaudy Night. It's a strange one, that doesn't quite measure up to the other two.
Harriet, having been saved from the gallows by Peter in Strong Poison, needs to get away from the stress and infamy. She goes for a solo walking tour on the coast, only to stumble across a dead body on top of a rock on the shore. The body belongs to a professional dancer at the hotel nearby, and when Harriet reports this death after some obstacles in getting to a telephone, she is of course suspected. She was the person who found the body, after all, and she was a recent murder suspect up for trial.
She thinks she can handle it all, but Peter appears to help out as soon as he hears of it. He was driven by concern for her, but Harriet's independence sees it as patronizing. They spar the entire book in emotional exchanges, with Peter still asking her to marry him periodically.
The mystery itself is one of those that isn't quite fair to the reader; an integral part of the solution is withheld for a very long time. And there is a lot of dithering and an interminable chapter going over the code that they've discovered the dead man used in his clandestine correspondence -- explaining it, showing how it works, and on and on. Just say they've figured it out, and move on!
Eventually, of course, they solve the implausible crime, and then the question becomes more focused on what will become of Peter and Harriet as a pair. If you are reading these because you are interested in the relationships (as I am) then you will enjoy it and it will fill in some of that story for you. If you are more interested in the mystery itself, it's not as good as others.
I still like this book -- and the tv version too -- and would reread it for the wonderfully drawn seaside setting and the growing levels of understanding between these two main characters. If you are reading through the entire series, you obviously must read this in order. It makes a lot more sense in the context of the four Peter & Harriet books of the series. I liked it; didn't love it as I do the other two already mentioned, but still found it a good read overall.
Nearly done the series now!
Harriet, having been saved from the gallows by Peter in Strong Poison, needs to get away from the stress and infamy. She goes for a solo walking tour on the coast, only to stumble across a dead body on top of a rock on the shore. The body belongs to a professional dancer at the hotel nearby, and when Harriet reports this death after some obstacles in getting to a telephone, she is of course suspected. She was the person who found the body, after all, and she was a recent murder suspect up for trial.
She thinks she can handle it all, but Peter appears to help out as soon as he hears of it. He was driven by concern for her, but Harriet's independence sees it as patronizing. They spar the entire book in emotional exchanges, with Peter still asking her to marry him periodically.
The mystery itself is one of those that isn't quite fair to the reader; an integral part of the solution is withheld for a very long time. And there is a lot of dithering and an interminable chapter going over the code that they've discovered the dead man used in his clandestine correspondence -- explaining it, showing how it works, and on and on. Just say they've figured it out, and move on!
Eventually, of course, they solve the implausible crime, and then the question becomes more focused on what will become of Peter and Harriet as a pair. If you are reading these because you are interested in the relationships (as I am) then you will enjoy it and it will fill in some of that story for you. If you are more interested in the mystery itself, it's not as good as others.
I still like this book -- and the tv version too -- and would reread it for the wonderfully drawn seaside setting and the growing levels of understanding between these two main characters. If you are reading through the entire series, you obviously must read this in order. It makes a lot more sense in the context of the four Peter & Harriet books of the series. I liked it; didn't love it as I do the other two already mentioned, but still found it a good read overall.
Nearly done the series now!
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