Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club

The author’s fourth Lord Peter Wimsey mystery, set shortly after the Great War, begins with the discovery of old general Fentiman’s body seated in his usual armchair, in the smoking room of the Bellona Club, at 7 pm on November 11th - Armistice Day. The general has bequeathed his modest savings to his two grandsons, Major Robert and Captain George Fentiman.



However, the general's wealthy sister, Lady Dormer, died at 10:37 that very morning, leaving him the bulk of her fortune -- assuming he was still alive. If so, his grandsons come into over a half million pounds. If not, the money goes to her young companion, Ann Dorland.



In this classic Golden Age mystery the suave but eccentric Lord Peter Wimsey, aided by his friend and sidekick, inspector Charles Parker of Scotland Yard, must determine whether old general Fentiman died before or after his sister. With so much money hanging on the question of when the old man died, it is hardly surprising that the investigation quickly raises the possibility of murder.



The first three Lord Peter mysteries are Whose Body?, Clouds of Witness, and Unnatural Death. - Summary by Kirsten Wever