The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club

The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club is a 1928 novel by Dorothy L. Sayers, her fourth featuring Lord Peter Wimsey. The "unpleasantness" is that a 90-year-old member of this men's club in London, General Fentiman, has died in one of its armchairs, and no one noticed for hours that he was dead. During those hours his wealthy sister also died, and now there is a legal battle between their heirs over which of them died first.

Similar plot elements appeared in other Lord Peter novels, such as Unnatural Death and Strong Poison, where the legal technicalities governing wills and inheritance were more fully explored.

The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club was adapted for television in 1972, as part of a series starring Ian Carmichael as Lord Peter.