Montague Egg

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Montague Egg is a fictional amateur detective, who appears in eleven short stories by Dorothy L. Sayers.

Unlike Sayers's better-known creation, Lord Peter Wimsey, Egg does not actively pursue investigations. Usually, he is witness to the discovery of a murdered body, or links a casual observation with a recent newspaper headline proclaiming some crime.

By occupation, Egg is a travelling salesman for an importer and distributor of fine wines and spirits. His knowledge of all aspects of the vintners' trade is often useful in determining the exact circumstances of several cases of poisoning. Through regular contact with other commercial travellers, he also has gained a smattering of the knowledge of several other lines of business; enough, for example, to determine (in A Shot at Gold) that a threatening letter was written by someone connected with the printing trade rather than a surly garage mechanic.

He has a habit of quoting maxims from The Salesman's Handbook, such as:

A cheerful voice and cheerful look

put orders in the order-book.

Don't trust to luck, but be exact

and certify the smallest fact.

He frequently fortifies himself at various stages in criminal investigations by falling back on these proverbs.

Egg is described (in One too many) as a fair-haired, well-mannered young man, and elsewhere as being slightly portly also. He is not mentioned as being married, or having any romantic attachments or inclinations.

[edit] List of Montague Egg stories

• In the Teeth of the Evidence:
  • A Shot at Goal
  • Dirt Cheap
  • Bitter Almonds
  • False Weight
  • The Professor's Manuscript

• Hangman's Holiday:
  • The Poisoned Dow '08
  • Sleuths on the Scent
  • Murder in the Morning
  • One Too Many
  • Murder at Pentecost
  • Maher-Shalal-Hashbaz