The Haunted Policeman

by Dorothy L. Sayers

The story of the poor policeman who saw a house numbered thirteen where no thirteen ought to be and a murdered man where no one has been murdered. Lord Peter helps him prove that he wasn't drunk nor delusional.

Genres: Mystery, Short Stories

31 pages, Kindle Edition

Published September 24, 2021

About the author

The detective stories of well-known British writer Dorothy Leigh Sayers mostly feature the amateur investigator Lord Peter Wimsey; she also translated the Divine Comedy of Dante Alighieri.

This renowned author and Christian humanist studied classical and modern languages.

Her best known mysteries, a series of short novels, set between World War I and World War II, feature an English aristocrat and amateur sleuth. She is also known for her plays and essays.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dorothy...

Reviews

[Sue Bridgwater · Rating 3 out of 5]

3* for the story and 1, no zero, for the casual racism.

[Meg · Rating 3 out of 5]

5 stars for the reemergence of Harriet and her new, little bundle of joy but only 2 stars for the "mystery." Lord Peter is up in the middle of the night, having just ushered the doctor out of the house after the successful birth of his first son. With Harriet and babe resting comfortably with the nurses, Lord Peter is a loose end and is looking for someone to celebrate with. Up comes a policeman at the end of his shift and Lord Peter invited him in for champagne. He tells a strange tale of having been accused of being drunk on the job because he heard screams of murder being committed and he went to house number 13 where he witnessed a murder scene through the letterbox slit but upon receiving backup it was proved that there isn't any number 13 on the street and no house matches the description of what he saw through the slit. Lord Peter figures out pretty quickly, as I did, that the policeman witnessed a painting though the slit, not the true inside of the house. The prank was set up for the benefit of another artist and it was unfortunate that the policeman got caught up in it.

[Mesembryanthemum · Rating 4 out of 5]

Clever short story featuring Lord Peter Whimsey. Alas, the policeman's racist speech -- unacceptable when the story was published, and shocking for our time -- was a negative in an otherwise enjoyable experience.

I found this short story in the collection Miraculous Mysteries, edited by Martin Edwards.

[Cynthia · Rating 5 out of 5]

great sweet little domestic story, lord peters wife has just given birth to their first son after a difficult 24 hour labor. as lord peter recovers with a cigarette on the stoop he sees a confused policeman, invites him in and solves a quick little mystery. i found this story in the dorothy sayers collection on fadedpage.com.

[Ray LaManna · Rating 5 out of 5]

A different type of a Lord Peter story with no dead body!

[Kat · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.75

[Bookworman · Rating 3 out of 5]

A nice coda after finishing "Busman's Honeymoon". This short story covers the birth of Harriet and Peter's first child.

[Ketutar Jensen · Rating 4 out of 5]

LOL

I can understand the total confusion :-D

[Julia Balko · Rating 5 out of 5]

Entertaining

I very much enjoyed this fun short story. It's exactly the sort of thing you would expect to happen to Lord Peter Wimsey. There he is, just sitting out front of his home in the wee hours after the birth of his son, wide awake and beginning the adjustment to his new role of father, when, as fate would have it, a mystery literally comes to him in the form of a policeman with a problem. A problem, it turns out, that is particularly suited to Lord Peter's unique talent as a sleuth.
Recommended.