Perlycross: a tale of the western hills is a three-volume novel by R. D. Blackmore published in 1894. The story is set in eastern Devon around 1830.
Sir Thomas Waldron, the squire of Perlycross, is suffering from a terminal disease. The news is kept from him and his family so long as possible, and his death comes as a great shock. Sir Thomas was aware that Dr. Jemmy Fox has fallen in love with his daughter Inez, and expresses to his friend Rev. Philip Penniloe his approval of the match should the girl herself care for the doctor. On the very night of the squire’s funeral it is found that the grave has been rifled and the body stolen. The only man with a clue to the mystery is a blacksmith who has been called up late at night by a mysterious party with a cart. He declares, on first telling of this, that he saw Dr. Fox with the cart, and this makes people suspect that Dr. Fox performed the sacrilege for medical purposes.
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