The Body on the Pavement

“Murder’s an ugly thing!” Detective Inspector Haig said. “Maybe you’ll not want to attend the funeral.”

As the door closed, Thelma said, “I know one funeral I wouldn’t mind attending.”

With a million-dollar secret in his possession, a mysterious stranger travels from Australia to London to meet violent death just before he can accomplish his mission. And it is up to Rex Haig, of Scotland Yard, to find not only the stranger’s murderer but to fathom his generation-dead reason for this most bizarre of visits.

Rex Haig uses a minor villain as bait to catch the killers—only to be led deeper into a baffling puzzle involving beautiful heiress Joan Hamilton; Tony Miller and his jealous mistress; operators of a confidence swindle of staggering proportions; and most bizarre of all, the mad occupant of the gloomy, castle-like Towers—an old man whose passion is playing with dolls!

The Body on the Pavement was originally published in 1942. This new edition includes an introduction by crime fiction historian Curtis Evans.

Author Biography

Gordon Meyrick lived from 1909 to 1943. He was one of eight children. His mother, Kate Meyrick, was a notorious night-club owner between the first and second world wars in London. He was the author of four crime novels, published between 1941 and 1943, in addition to earlier stage successes. In 1943 Meyrick fell from an upper floor window to his death – the exact circumstances of this tragedy remain unknown. Dean Street Press have republished two of his classic mysteries: The Body on the Pavement and Danger at my Heels.