''Head of a Traveller'' is a 1949

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 s ...

Cecil Day-Lewis Cecil Day-Lewis (or Day Lewis; 27 April 1904 – 22 May 1972), often written as C. Day-Lewis, was an Irish-born British poet and Poet Laureate from 1968 until his death in 1972. He also wrote mystery stories under the pseudonym of Nicholas Bla ...

, written under the pen name of Nicholas Blake. It is the ninth in a series of novels featuring the private detective

Nigel Strangeways Nigel Strangeways is a fictional British private detective created by Cecil Day-Lewis, writing under the pen name of Nicholas Blake. He was one of the prominent detectives of the Golden Age of Detective Fiction, appearing in sixteen novels betwee ...

.Reilly p.135

Synopsis

When a headless corpse is found entangled in reeds on the

River Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the The Isis, River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the Longest rivers of the United Kingdom, se ...

close to the

Oxfordshire Oxfordshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the north west of South East England. It is a mainly rural county, with its largest settlement being the city of Oxford. The county is a centre of research and development, primarily ...

home of celebrated

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral or writte ...

Robert Seaton, Strangeways becomes involved in the case. Due to his admiration for Seaton he does everything he can to protect the family from the police investigation, but suspects the answer to the killing may lie in the great man's poetry.

References

Bibliography

* Bargainnier, Earl F. ''Twelve Englishmen of Mystery''. Popular Press, 1984. * Reilly, John M. ''Twentieth Century Crime & Mystery Writers''. Springer, 2015. * Stanford, Peter. ''C Day-Lewis: A Life''. A&C Black, 2007. 1949 British novels Novels by Cecil Day-Lewis British crime novels British thriller novels Collins Crime Club books British detective novels Novels set in Oxfordshire British mystery novels {{1940s-crime-novel-stub