Helpful Score: 1
No happy endings here, even the police were upset. It is very different than the author's other books. While near the end you might find yourself liking one or more characters, for most of the book they are very unlikable. In fact, you begin hoping the author will imitate Agatha Christie's "And Then There Were None," and kill off most of the characters by the end of the book. Frankly, I was surprised the father wasn't killed by his family in the first chapter a la "Murder on the Orient Express."
Although the book is 457 pages long, the book is only 7 inches high, so the pages fly by.
Although the book is 457 pages long, the book is only 7 inches high, so the pages fly by.
English parlor mystery set in the 1930s-40s period.
Opinion is pretty divided on this book. Those readers who adore Georgette's historical romances loathe it because there aren't any characters in here that you can really root for and there's no romance in it. It is very well observed but it is downbeat and pessimistic about human nature. There is a rumor that Heyer wrote it to break a contract with her then publisher. I don't know about that but I think it would have worked. I admire this book very much but I don't reread it as often as I do her romances.
This book was difficult, because there were some harrowing goings on in it, but it was entirely realistic and, in the end, riveting.
An irascible, ailing patriarch keeps his bickering family financially dependent on him. Tempers are constantly flaring, threats are issued, punches thrown. When the old man dies, his doctor quickly decides that he was helped out of this world. Are things even worse off with the old tyrant gone? There are too many suspects for the police inspector's taste- where to begin?
A fairly standard mystery of the too-many-suspects type. I'm not crazy about these, as it means I have to read umpteen pages verifying the central character's thoroughly repellent character. Also, we're told who the murderer is. It's more a suspense story about "Will s/he get away with it?" The story isn't bad, but could easily have been edited down without losing anything.
A fairly standard mystery of the too-many-suspects type. I'm not crazy about these, as it means I have to read umpteen pages verifying the central character's thoroughly repellent character. Also, we're told who the murderer is. It's more a suspense story about "Will s/he get away with it?" The story isn't bad, but could easily have been edited down without losing anything.
Well, it's Heyer, so the writing is very good, and I suppose the mystery is too, but it's a harsher, harder mystery than her others, so not my favorite.
Not the usual Heyer - a classic mystery.
I love the period-piece mysteries that Georgette Heyer wrote about the 30's and 40's in England. There is always some vague young thing that is put-upon and some dashing ner-do-well that shapes up at the end and does something heroic. This one was not amusing and I only liked one of that characters. Ms. Heyer was a consumate author and her mysteries are so much more enjoyable and better written than her romance novels. Her husband was a barrister and they must have had some rousing good discussion as to good and evil and what lay in between. this was a very different novel for her and much darker than she usually attempted. Well written.
