One of the first things the police do when they are investigating a murder is to identify the victim. Usually that’s easy; most people have identification or a telephone. And even if those things are missing, it’s a straightforward matter to check fingerprint data and use other electronic resources. Even so, there are times when a body is misidentified. In real life, that can impede an investigation. In fiction, though, it can make for an interesting plot twist and add to the suspense.

Dorothy L. Sayers’ Whose Body? begins as an architect called Alfred Thipps discovers a man’s body in his bathtub. His employer, the Dowager Duchess of Denver, is convinced he’s innocent, and wants to clear his name, so she asks her son, Lord Peter Wimsey, to find out who the killer is. A famous financier named Sir Ruben Levy has recently been reported missing, and at first, the police believe that the body in the bathtub is that of Sir Ruben. But that’s not the case. So, Lord Peter faces a few challenges. Who is the dead man? Who killed him and why? And what’s happened to Sir Ruben? If he, too, is dead, who killed him? It’s not an easy puzzle to solve. I know, Sayers fans; there’s an interesting question of a body’s identification in The Nine Tailors.

In Agatha Christie’s The Body in the Library, Colonel Arthur Bantry and his wife Dolly awaken to a shock. The body of a young woman has been found in their library. Neither one knows who the woman is, although the police do wonder just how involved Colonel Bantry may have been in the murder. The body is at first identified as that of eighteen-year-old Ruby Keene, a professional dancer at a hotel. She was reported missing when she didn’t show up for a scheduled dance session, and the body fits her description. When it turns out that the young woman wasn’t Ruby, there are new questions: who was the young woman in the library? Who killed her and why? What was the body doing in the Bantry’s library? And what happened to Ruby Keene?

In Vera Caspary’s Laura, New York police detective Lieutenant Mark McPherson investigates when the body of successful advertising executive Laura Hunt is discovered in her apartment. McPherson finds that Laura was engaged to marry a ‘blueblood’ named Shelby Carpenter. However, she postponed the wedding so she could get away for a short time. Another suspect is Laura’s old flame, Waldo Lydecker, with whom she had dinner plans. Lydecker claims Laura called and cancelled the dinner plans, and he hasn’t spoken to her since. As the case goes on, McPherson finds himself falling in love with Laura even though she’s dead; he becomes increasingly fascinated with her. Then, there’s a shock. The body in Laura’s apartment turns out not to be her. In fact, Laura returns from a stay in the country and surprises McPherson while he’s in her apartment. The dead woman is identified as Diane Redfern, a friend of Laura’s who was staying in her apartment with permission. Now McPherson has to go back to the beginning to find out who killed the victim.

In Ruth Rendell’s Simisola, Dr. Raymond Akande is concerned about his twenty-two-year-old daughter, Melanie. It seems she’s been gone for two days without being in touch, and he’s worried for her welfare. So, he asks one of his patients, Detective Chief Inspector (DCI) Reg Wexford, to look into the matter. Wexford isn’t too worried at first; there could be any number of reasons why a young woman would take off for a few days and not tell her parents about it. As more time goes by, though, Wexford does get concerned and starts an investigation. Then, the body of a young woman is discovered in a nearby wood. Wexford is sure it’s Melanie and calls in her parents. It turns out, though, that this is not Melanie. Now, Wexford has to find out who the dead woman is and who killed her. He also has to find Melanie, if she’s still alive.

And then there’s Don Winslow’s The Dawn Patrol. Surfer and occasional PI Boone Daniels gets a new case. Attorney Petra Hall approaches him about a case her firm is litigating. It seems their client, Coastal Insurance, is caught up in what might be an arson case, and they’re looking for a stripper named Tamera Roddick, who witnessed the blaze. Daniels takes the case and starts looking for the woman. He soon learns that a young woman fitting her description and carrying her identification was found dead after a fall from the balcony of a cheap hotel room. Oddly enough, though, the dead woman turns out not to be Tamera Roddick. Now, Daniel knows that this case is more complicated than he thought. Who is the dead woman, and why did she have someone else’s identification? And where is Tamera Roddick?

And that’s the thing about bodies that aren’t correctly identified. Finding a murderer can be complicated enough. Adding in a misidentified body adds another layer of difficulty. These are only a few examples. Your turn.

*NOTE: The title of this post is a line from Phil Collins’ In The Air Tonight.