''Still Dead'' is a 1934 mystery

detective novel Detective fiction is a subgenre of crime fiction and mystery fiction in which an investigator or a detective—whether professional, amateur or retired—investigates a crime, often murder. The detective genre began around the same time as specu ...

by the British author

Ronald Knox Ronald Arbuthnott Knox (17 February 1888 – 24 August 1957) was an English Catholic priest, theologian Theology is the study of religious belief from a religious perspective, with a focus on the nature of divinity. It is taught as an ...

. It is the fourth in a series of five novels featuring the

insurance investigator An insurance investigator examines insurance claims that are suspicious or otherwise in doubt. Investigators in this field have differing specialties and backgrounds. Some insurance companies have their own in-house investigation teams while other ...

Miles Bredon, one of the many detectives of the

Golden Age of Detective Fiction The Golden Age of Detective Fiction was an era of classic murder mystery novels of similar patterns and styles, predominantly in the 1920s and 1930s. While the Golden Age proper is usually taken to refer to works from that period, this type of f ...

. It was published in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

Hodder and Stoughton Hodder & Stoughton is a British publishing house, now an imprint of Hachette.H ...

and in

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

by Dutton.Reilly p.912

Synopsis

In the

Scottish Highlands The Highlands (; , ) is a historical region of Scotland. Culturally, the Highlands and the Scottish Lowlands, Lowlands diverged from the Late Middle Ages into the modern period, when Scots language, Lowland Scots language replaced Scottish Gae ...

Colin Reiver, the feckless son of the

laird Laird () is a Scottish word for minor lord (or landlord) and is a designation that applies to an owner of a large, long-established Scotland, Scottish estate. In the traditional Scottish order of precedence, a laird ranked below a Baronage of ...

, is involved in a tragic incident while

drunk driving Drunk driving (or drink-driving in British English) is the act of driving under the influence of alcohol. A small increase in the blood alcohol content increases the relative risk of a motor vehicle crash. In the United States, alcohol is in ...

a local boy is knocked down and killed. Despite being cleared by the authorities, he is filled with remorse and plans to go away to join the

French Foreign Legion The French Foreign Legion (, also known simply as , "the Legion") is a corps of the French Army created to allow List of militaries that recruit foreigners, foreign nationals into French service. The Legion was founded in 1831 and today consis ...

. Due to his bad health, excarbated by his heavy drinking, his family instead convince him to go on an ocean cruise. Several weeks later the head

gamekeeper In the United Kingdom, a gamekeeper (often abbreviated to keeper) is a person who manages an area of countryside (e.g., areas of woodland, moorland, waterway or farmland) to make sure that there is enough Game (hunting), game for hunting, or fish ...

rushes to the house claiming that he has seen Colin's dead body by the roadside. Just minutes later the corpse has apparently disappeared. Its appearance is attributed to the gamekeeper's

second sight Extrasensory perception (ESP), also known as a sixth sense, or cryptaesthesia, is a claimed paranormal ability pertaining to reception of information not gained through the recognized physical senses, but sensed with the mind. The term was ado ...

in foreseeing the death of the heir to the estate, particularly when Colin's body is discovered on exactly the same sport forty eight hours later dead from exposure. As their remains doubt exactly when he died, and therefore whether the

life insurance Life insurance (or life assurance, especially in the Commonwealth of Nations) is a contract A contract is an agreement that specifies certain legally enforceable rights and obligations pertaining to two or more parties. A contract typical ...

on his is valid, the Indescribable Insurance Company send in their

private investigator A private investigator (often abbreviated to PI; also known as a private detective, an inquiry agent or informally a wikt:private eye, private eye) is a person who can be hired by individuals or groups to undertake investigatory law services. ...

to untangle the mystery. Although he is tasked principally to discover when Colin died, he soon becomes as much focused on why and where he was killed.

References

Bibliography

* Barzun, Jacques & Taylor, Wendell Hertig. ''A Catalogue of Crime''. Harper & Row, 1989. * Corbishley, Thomas. ''Ronald Knox, the Priest''. Sheed and Ward, 1965. * Hubin, Allen J. ''Crime Fiction, 1749-1980: A Comprehensive Bibliography''. Garland Publishing, 1984. * Reilly, John M. ''Twentieth Century Crime & Mystery Writers''. Springer, 2015. * Rooney, David. ''The Wine of Certitude: A Literary Biography of Ronald Knox''. Ignatius Press, 2014. * Shaw, Bruce. ''Jolly Good Detecting: Humor in English Crime Fiction of the Golden Age''. McFarland, 2013. 1934 British novels British mystery novels Novels by Ronald Knox Novels set in Glasgow Novels set in Scotland Novels set in Surrey British detective novels British crime novels Hodder & Stoughton books {{1930s-mystery-novel-stub