Have His Carcase by Dorothy L. Sayers

On a Walking Tour, Harriet Vane, Lord Peter Wimsey’s not-quite-ladyfriend, who is also a mystery novelist, falls asleep on the beach. When she wakes up, she finds a dead body nearby. She quickly takes pictures and collects what evidence she can, knowing that the tide will come in soon, and the body may be washed away before she can summon the police. She’s right, of course, as it takes her some time to locate a phone she can use to call the police. With the body washed away, her photograph and the evidence she gathered are all the police have to go on. Wimsey, of course, heads to the coast as soon as he learns she’s in need. Soon, it’s learned that the man was something of a gigolo, and engaged to a much older (and rich) local widow. Not only that, but he also apparently believed himself to be exiled Russian royalty. While the police are quick to label the death a suicide, Wimsey and Harriet think it’s murder.

I loved Harriet’s thinking and talking about how writing detective novels and being a detective were very different things, and how, if this were one of her novels, there would be a convenient piece of evidence to guide the detective at specific times. I admit, though, that I can’t help but wonder if there was a bit of self-insertion going on with that. A part of me wishes that Harriet had been the one to solve the crime and give the reveal (even if Peter figured it out first) but it wouldn’t really have fit.

( smallish spoilers )

Angel Sanctuary Vol 6

Does anyone else feel kind of weird when they read Kaori Yuki’s author’s notes in these books? I can’t put my finger on what, but there’s just something a bit odd to reading them.

( WTF?-ing here.  )