Not natural death
No natural death (English: Unnatural death - The German first edition was published under the title "Eine Natural Todes" by Scherz 1951) is a detective novel by Dorothy L. Sayers published in 1927 . In the USA it was published under the title The Dawson Pedigree .
The story refers to the impending enactment of the English Law of Property Act 1925 , which was supposed to change the inheritance situation. These legal aspects are pointed out in various passages.
content
prehistory
Miss Agatha Dawson, a wealthy old maid, falls ill with cancer and brings her great-niece Mary Whittaker, a trained nurse, to her home in Leahampton to look after her. When she dies earlier than expected, and thus if the old regulations (which favor relatives) apply, the attending physician Dr. Carr is skeptical and performs an autopsy , which, however, remains without result; Miss Dawson appears to have died of natural causes. Dr. Carr gradually loses the trust of his patients and has to leave Leahampton.
action
Dr. Carr tells this story to Lord Peter Wimsey , who immediately suspects Mary Whittaker. He sends his acquaintance Miss Climpson to Leahampton so that she can find out about the incident there unobtrusively. Wimsey himself tries to establish contact with the sisters Bertha and Evelyn Gotobed, who were housemaids in the Dawson house at the time, through a newspaper advertisement.
A little later Bertha Gotobed is found dead, but no traces of violence or poisoning are found. However, traces on the corpse lead to a Mrs. Forrest, who knows nothing more about Bertha's death.
Miss Climpson befriends Vera Findlater, who admires Mary Whittaker and wants to open a chicken farm with her. Miss Whittaker and Miss Findlater go to the country to see farms. When they don't come back, the police are looking for them. Vera Findlater's body is found and Mary Whittaker appears to have been kidnapped. Lord Peter suspects that Mrs. Forrest and Miss Whittaker are accomplices who only faked the kidnapping. Miss Climpson learns by chance that Vera Findlater was not with Mary Whittaker the whole time, but that Mary made a detour to London. Vera had followed her and saw her with a man on South Audley Street, where Mrs. Forrest lives (Miss Climpson knows nothing of existence).
In turn, Miss Climpson goes to London to find Mary Whittaker on South Audley Street. Disguised as a peddler , she rings Mrs. Forrest's apartment and, to her surprise, Miss Whittaker opens and attacks her. At the same time, Wimsey discovers that Miss Whittaker and Mrs. Forrest are not accomplices, but one and the same person. The police can show up on South Audley Street in time and prevent the murder of Miss Climpson. Lord Peter also discovers the method of murder: Miss Whittaker had injected air into her victims, which led to a natural-looking cardiac arrest . She had killed her great-aunt because she feared that the new inheritance law, which would soon come into force, would no longer recognize her as a closest relative and deprive her of her inheritance.
Recurring characters
- Lord Peter Wimsey
- Inspector Charles Parker
- Mr. Murbles, the Wimseys family attorney
Dorothy L. Sayers also introduces the figure of Alexandra Catherine Climpson, an "old maid". She investigates for Lord Peter in cases where information can only be obtained through gossip .
ethics
Unlike the two previous Wimsey novels, No Natural Death is not a pure Who done it guessing thriller . An ethical discussion has been woven between Lord Peter and the pastor of Leahampton in which Wimsey questions the rejection of euthanasia . This discussion expresses Sayers' point of view that there is no excuse for murder.
Lesbian relationships
In a conversation between Miss Climpson and Vera Findlater, it becomes clear that Vera is drawn to Mary Whittaker and intends to move in with her. Miss Climpson rejects this plan as unnatural.