Have His Carcase by Dorothy Sayers

Reviewed by Sarah
Start Date: September 11th
Finish Date: September 13th
Star Rating: 8 stars for Lord Peter and Harriet! ********
"Movie" Rating: Um, PG or PG-13. For the blood and such. Its a murder mystery.

"Good Morning, Sherlock. Where is the dressing-gown? How many pipes of shag have you consumed? The hypodermic is on the dressing-room table."
"How in the world," demanded Harriet, "did you get here?"
"Car," said Lord Peter, briefly. "Have they produced the body?"
"Who told you about the body?"
"I nosed it from afar. Where the carcase is, there shall the eagles be gathered together. May I join you over the bacon-and-eggs?"
"By all means," said Harriet. "Where did you come from?"
"From London--like a bird that hears the call of its mate."
"I didn't--" began Harriet.
"I didn't mean you, I meant the corpse. But still, talking of mates, will you marry me?"
"Certainly not."
"I thought not, but I thought I might as well ask the question."



And thus, I finally have read all of Dorothy Sayer's Lord Peter Wimsey Novels. All thats left are the Short Storys, and I am Not Allowed to go get the short story collection until ALL my homework for this week is done. So I really should go work on that. But first a quick review.

Though I understood, appreciated, and loved Gaudy Nigt without having first read Have His Carcase, I will say that Have His Carcase added significantly to my understanding, appreciation and love for Gaudy Night. Though it's more puzzle and less romance than Gaudy Night, it does show important progress and nuances of Peter and Harriet's relationship. In fact, directly after finishing Have His Carcase I had to go and get Gaudy Night and re-read all the Best Parts.

Have His Carcase is definitely a puzzler. I was pre-ty confused, and didn't suspect the real solution until it was All Revealed. I don't particularly like being confused. I think this is part of the reason that Murder Must Advertise is my favorite of the non-Harriet books (and also why apparently Dorothy Sayers DIDN'T like MMA)--the puzzle is not as complicated, so I could Feel Smart for having Been On The Right Track. I do like to Feel Smart. :-) And I like to Laugh At Lord Peter, which isn't very difficult.


XD :D XD :D *contented sigh*