Off with His Head [SEP] series
Off with His Head
Off with His Head is a detective novel by Ngaio Marsh; it is the nineteenth novel to feature Roderick Alleyn, and was first published in 1957. 
The plot concerns a village festival in the English countryside, and features folkloric elements such as Morris dancing and Mummers play. It is set around a particular version of the Guiser/Mummers play and sword dance: the fictional "Dance of the Five Sons", performed on the "Sword Wednesday" of the Winter Solstice. The characters used
, fell down shaft
Iley, William, 22 Feb 1878, (accident: 14 Feb 1878), aged 30, Heap Keeper, leg badly crushed between waggons while passing between them
Johnson, Ralph, 10 Jun 1859, aged 14, Horse Driver, killed by a fall of stone
Johnson, Thomas, 04 Sep 1852, aged 11, Driver, fell off the limmers attached to a laden coal-tub, his head was jammed between the off-side fore wheel and the tramplate.
Justice