books

Georgette Heyer

Books: Mystery | Historical

Footsteps in the Dark (1932), Why Shoot a Butler? (1933), The Unfinished Clue (1934)

Inspector Hemingway: No Wind of Blame (1939), Envious Casca (1941), Duplicate Death (1951)

Inspector Hannasyde: Death in the Stocks (1935), Behold, Here's Poison (1936), They Found Him Dead (1937), A Blunt Instrument (1938) 

Romances

Footsteps in the Dark (1932)

Footsteps in the Dark

Peter, Margaret, Cecelia and Charles (Cecelia's husband) have inherited an old house in the country–the Priory. Some claim the house is haunted, and others claim to have seen the figure of a ghost on the grounds.

But the four–and their aunt Lilian–refuse to be driven from the house by noisy spirits and believe there may be a more corporeal explanation to the sounds and events around the house.

I'm not certain how I feel about the mystery. It was not a murder mystery, which probably threw me off initially, as I kept waiting for someone to die. And of course there was a strong element of romance (this is Georgette Heyer after all) which I didn't mind at all.

It was also a period piece, however, it took me a bit to determine precisely when the mystery was set. I decided it was set about the time of publication, between The Great War and WWII.

I'll probably have to read another to decide how I feel about her mysteries, but I do enjoy Georgette Heyer's writing.

Characters: Celia Malcolm, Charles Malcolm, Peter Fortescue, Margaret Fortescue, Aunt Lilian Bosanquet, Mrs Emma Bowers, Mr Bowers, Michael Strange / Inspector Draycott, Mr James Fripp, Ernest Titmarsh, Colonel Ackerley, Dr Roote, Mrs Roote, Mr Pennythorne, Mrs Pennythorne, Jane, the housemaid, Mr Wilkes, Spindle, M. Louis Duval, Mr and Mrs Milbank, Inspector Tomlinson, Sergeant Matthews, Constable Flinders, Dr Puttock

Published by Sourcebooks Landmark

Why Shoot a Butler? (1933)

Why Shoot a ButlerThis story was all over the place.

Barrister Frank Amberley gets lost taking a shortcut to visit his aunt and uncle, and comes upon a car alongside the road, and a young woman beside it. A closer look find a man dead in the drivers seat, and the woman claiming she found him shot.

Frank reports the murder–but not the presence of the young woman, and then ends up getting involved.

'I stopped to ask the way to Greythorne and found the fellow was dead. Probably murdered. I'd come with you, but I'm an hour late for dinner already.'

I think my favorite part of this story was the language. Written in 1933 it was then a contemporary and now so much of the language is strange and unusual to the modern American reader.

(A) closed Austin Seven. It was drawn up to the side of the road, its engine switched off, and only its side and tail-lights burning.

Burning car lights.

Felicity became aware of an indignant motorist who was violently sounding his hooter.

You tell that to the marines.

'Nothing would induce me to mount the velocipede again, I can tell you.'

'Fountain rang up the police station at three in the morning?'

'That's right, sir. Some people seem to think the police like being rung up at all hours.'

…supposed that the man had taken French leave..

Frank jerked his thumb downwards in a certain Roman gesture.

That last bit I REALLY want to know what it means.

So, although the story was a disappointment, I was fascinated by the way the words were placed together.

Publisher: Poisoned Pen Press

The Unfinished Clue (1934)

The Unfinished ClueSir Arthur Billingham-Smith and his wife Fay are throwing a house party. Except that the general didn't want to have the party, doesn't want to see his son and the woman he wants to marry, and is pretty much a complete bastard.

He dislikes his son almost as much as he dislike's Fay's sister.

'H'm! I suppose this is a specimen of the modern frankness we hear so much about!' remarked Sir Arthur belligerently. 'Personally, I should have thought that common politeness –'

'You wouldn't,' interrupted Dinah, quite unperturbed. 'You told me last time I came that you'd ceased to expect ordinary courtesy from me.'

Dinah is probably the best character in the book.

'Would you like me to make love to you, darling?' inquired Francis.

'Do just as you like; I needn't listen,' replied Dinah.

'It seems to be the order of the day,' he said softly. 'You don't like me a bit, do you, my sweet?'

'No, not much.'

So, to summarize: Arthur is awful, Fay is weak, the son–Geoffrey–is unable to stand up for himself, and the rest of the members of the house party are pretty much contemptible.

The mystery is ok. Although the murder doesn't happen until chapter five, you know precisely who is going to die, and of course everyone has good reason to kill him. I also guess pretty quickly who had killed him, although I wasn't positive which of two characters was that person.

However, I did enjoy the historical aspects of the story–in that is a contemporary that is now 80-some years old and an historical, which I always find fascinating. The rest of it? Meh.

Characters: Miss Dinah Fawcett, Lady Fay Billington-Smith, General Sir Arthur Billington-Smith, Francis Billington-Smith, Captain Geoffrey Billington-Smith, Lola de Silva, Stephen Guest, Basil Halliday, Camilla Halliday, Mrs Twining, Rev. Hilary Chudleigh, Mrs Emmy Chudleigh, Dr Raymond, Mr Horace Tremlowe, Concetta, Mr Samuel Lewis, Finch, Mrs Moxon, Joan Dawson, Peckham, Lester, Jarvis, Major Grierson, Inspector Harding, Superintendent Lupton, Sergeant Nethersole

Publisher: Poisoned Pen Press

Inspector Hannasyde

Death in the Stocks (1935)  #1

This is, as best I can tell, set around the time it was published, the mid 1930s.

What I found fascinating was that I was totally unable to pin down the time. I was pretty sure it was post WWI, but wasn't quite certain.

I think the police procedures of the time are pretty fascinating.

'Know how the body was sitting when you found it?'

'Yes, sir.'

'All right. Put it back as near as you can. Ready with that flashlight, Thompson?'

Constable Dickenson did not care much for the task allotted him, but he went up at once to the body and raised it to the original position, and carefully laid one arm across the stiffening legs. The Inspector watched him in silence, and, when he stepped back at last, made a sign to the photographer.

So, the siblings are incredibly obnoxious, and no one seems to have any compunctions about lying to the police, and to a modern reader the murderer was pretty obvious.

That said, it was still fun.

'Kenneth's story was a much better one, all the same, because you can't disprove it, and it doesn't place him anywhere near Ashleigh Green. I really don't think much of yours, Rudolph. Can't you think of something better? We'll all help, won't we?'

'Speaking for myself, no,' replied Giles.

There was also, of course, romance underneath, because this is Georgette Heyer. But mostly it was a fascinating period piece.

Characters: Superintendent Hannasyde, Sergeant Hemingway, Mr Giles Carrington, Antonia Vereker, Kenneth Vereker, Rudolph Mesurier, Murgatroyd, Miss Leslie Rivers, Miss Violet Williams, Mr Charles Carrington, Roger Vereker, Henry George Fletcher, Miss Summertown, Philip Courtenay, Maud, Mr Harold Fairfax, Miss Rose Miller, Taylor, Colonel Agnew, Police-Constable Dickenson, Inspector Jerrold, Sergeant Hamlyn, Dr Hawke, Mrs Duke, Horace, Mrs Beaton

Publisher: Sourcebooks Landmark

Behold, Here’s Poison (1936)  #2

The second Inspector Hannasyde mystery.

Gregory Matthews is found dead in his bed one morning, with a terrible look up on his face. Everyone assumes it's a natural death, except for his sister who insists upon an autopsy.

The list of possible culprits is quite large, especially since two characters, Miss Harriet Matthews and Mrs. Zoe Matthews (niece-in-law to Gregory) are unable to act like normal humans.

'one comfort is that Aunt Harriet can't live for ever.'

'That kind of person nearly always does,' said Mrs Matthews, forgetting for the moment to be Christian. 'She'll go on and on, getting more eccentric every day.'

'We have a tray brought into the drawing-room at ten o'clock. I myself think it's entirely unnecessary, and simply encourages young people to sit up late, drinking and smoking, and wasting the electricity.'

There is, as the book was written in the 1930s a fair amount of sexism, even in a book written by a woman.

'I'm not surprised her husband looked so uncomfortable. More shame to him, letting her run riot the way she does!'

But as those were the times, it's not unexpected. Just a reminder of how things used to be.

And some amusing bits.

'Bit of womanly intuition, if you ask me. Funny things, women.'

'You don't believe in that, do you?' asked the Inspector scornfully.

The Sergeant looked at him with a penetrating eye. 'You a married man, Inspector?'

'I'm not.'

'That was what you call a rhetorical question,' said the Sergeant.

It's interesting, and I find the time period fascinating, as the world was still changing rapidly. The mystery actually was a surprise, since there were plenty of people who had grounds for being unhappy with the victim.

Characters: Mr Giles Carrington, Detective-Superintendent Hannasyde, Miss Stella Matthews, Mr Guy Matthews, Gregory Matthews, Miss Harriet Matthews, Mrs Zoë Matthews, Mrs Gertrude Lupton, Henry Lupton, Janet Lupton, Agnes Crewe, Owen Crewe, Mr Randall Matthews, Mr Edward Rumbold, Mrs Dorothy Rumbold, Dr Fielding, Mr Nigel Brooke, Inspector Davis, Mrs Beecher, Beecher, Mary, Rose, Jenner

Publisher: Sourcebooks Landmark

They Found Him Dead (1937)  #3

The third Inspector Hannasyde mystery.

This one I was pretty sure who the murderer, even if I couldn't figure out why. Or quite how the second murder was managed.

Silas Kane is found dead the day after his 60th birthday celebration. He's survived by his mother, and a nephew and great-nephew, as well as partners who were wanting to take the business in another direction.

So again, lots of potential murders. Especially since some of the people were rather awful.

'I do frightfully believe in keeping their little minds free from everything but happy, beautiful things, don't you?'

'A waste of time,' pronounced Agatha. 'Children are singularly heartless creatures.'

'I think,' said Rosemary, as he went out, 'that as Clement's widow I am entitled to some consideration!'

'Considering you have just informed us all that you are in love with Mr Dermott, I think the less you say about being Clement's widow the better it will be!' retorted Miss Allison.

But again, I really liked the bits that secretly gave away hints to what the world was like at that time.

Mrs Mansell had been to college in the days when such a distinction earned for a woman the title of Blue-Stocking and the right to think herself superior to her less fortunate sisters.

Characters: Silas Kane, Emily Kane, Jim Kane, Miss Patricia Allison, Mr Timothy Harte, Sir Adrian Harte, Lady Norma Harte, Clement Kane, Rosemary Kane, Mr Trevor Dermott, Joseph Mansell, Agatha Mansell, Paul Mansell, Clive Pemble, Betty Pemble, Jennifer and Peter Pemble, Oscar Roberts, Jane Ogle, Pritchard, Detective-Superintendent Hannasyde, Sergeant Hemingway, Inspector Carlton, Sergeant Trotter, Maud & Edwin Leighton, Mr Bert Wilson

Publisher: Sourcebooks Landmark

A Blunt Instrument (1938) #4

The 4th Inspector Hannasyde mystery.

Ernest Fletcher seems to have been a likable man, so his death–bludgeoned to death in his story–came as a surprise to everyone.

The obvious suspect is his nephew Neville, his heir who seems to owe money to everyone, and who was heard to have argued with his uncle earlier in the evening, but the report of a man leaving the scene immediately prior to the discovery of the body seems to clear his name.

'That's why I told Neville. I thought he might be able to do something.'

'Neville?' said Miss Drew, in accents of withering contempt. 'You might as well have applied to a village idiot!'

'I know, but there wasn't anyone else. And he is clever, in spite of being so hopeless.'

'As judged by village standards?' inquired Neville, mildly interested.

That and the fact that Neville doesn't seem they type.

'I suppose you wouldn't just hint to him that he oughtn't to do it? I feel that what you said would carry more weight than what I say.'

'What's he been up to?' asked Hannasyde.

'Well, he's told one of the reporters that he's employed here as the Boots, and when the man asked him his name he said it was Crippen, only he didn't want it to be known.'

Hannasyde chuckled. 'I don't think I should worry very much about that, Miss Fletcher.'

'Yes, but he told another of them that he came from Yugoslavia, and was here on very secret business. In fact, he's in the front garden now, telling three of them a ridiculous story about international intrigue, and my brother at the back of it. And they're taking it down in their notebooks. Neville's such a marvellous actor, and of course he speaks Serbian, from having travelled in the Balkans. But I don't think he ought to deceive those poor men, do you?'

'It might be better for you, sir, if you told the truth about your doings on the night of the murder without waiting to be questioned,' suggested the Sergeant, with a touch of severity.

'Oh no! You'd have thought it very fishy if I'd been as expansive as all that,' said Neville.

Upon reflection, the Sergeant privately agreed with him. However, all he said was that Neville would be wise not to try to be too clever with the police.

I quite liked Neville.

So this is another book where I figured out the murderer pretty quickly. I couldn't figure out the why, but then who was rather obvious, though again that is perhaps due to being a modern reader. (In the first book, a woman is the murderer, and I suppose it might have been chocking at the time, but not so much to modern eyes.

So these are interesting books, and I like the settings and time, but the murders felt a little obvious to a modern mystery reader.

Characters: Mr Neville Fletcher, Miss Sally Drew, Mrs Helen North, Mr John North, Superintendent Hannasyde, Sergeant Hemingway, Inspector True, PC Malachi Glass, Inspector Jevons, Mr Joseph Simmons, Mrs Simmons, Ernest Fletcher, Miss Lucy Fletcher, Abraham Budd, Charlie Carpenter, Alfred Carpenter, Angela Angel

Publisher: Sourcebooks Landmark

Inspector Hemingway

No Wind of Blame (1939) #5

No Wind of BlameErmyntrude Carter married Wally Carter, but has come to regret doing so, as Wally isn't a great human. Yet Ermyntrude and her daughter Vicki Fanshawe, and Wally and his ward (and cousin) Mary Cliffe lived together on the money Ermyntrude inherited from her fist husband.

Although Ermy is badly put upon by Wally and others in this story, it's Mary I feel bad for.

Mary, who disliked White, could not agree with Ermyntrude that he was Wally's âme damnée. Having lived with Wally for many more years than had Ermyntrude, she suffered from fewer illusions, and had long since realised that his character lacked moral fibre.

Consider being an adult but still being a ward of someone solely because you're female.

Ugh.

This was an adequate story, but interesting more for being a set piece for the late 1930s than for anything else. It's got lots of slang at the time (which is often hilarious), but it's a good reminder of the place women had in the world at that time.

Also, no medical privacy laws.

'(I)f anyone knows the ins and outs of that household, it's the doctor, for if you were to tell me the fair Ermyntrude doesn't treat him like a confession-box I wouldn't believe you.'

'Well, I don't know,' said Small. 'You wouldn't hardly expect him to give away anything she may have said to him, would you?'

Plus, most of the characters are just awful.

Her father, who had been treating her with the politeness he reserved for public use, forgot, in the irritation of finding his cigarette-case empty, that in the presence of strangers she was his indulged daughter, and got up, demanding to know why she had not put out a box of cigarettes.

The Russian prince felt ridiculously fake, mostly because the way he put sentences together felt more French or Spanish than Russian.

'You are the Inspector of Police? You desire to interrogate me? I understand perfectly. This terrible affair! You will forgive me that I find myself so startled, so very much shocked, I can find no words!

I have NOTHING to back up that assertion, yet I'm still making it.

It just wasn't a very good story, but since it was my bedtime book, that was perfectly fine.

Characters: Mrs Ermyntrude (Fanshawe) Carter, Mary Cliffe, Wally Carter, Vicky Fanshawe, Harold White, Alan and Janet White, Hugh Dering, Sir William Dering, Lady Ruth Dering, Connie Bawtry, Tom Bawtry, Robert Steel, Prince Alexis Feodor Gregorovitch Varasashvili, Dr Maurice Chester, Percy Baker, Samuel Jones, Dr Hinchcliffe, Peake, Mrs Peake, Inspector Hemingway, Superintendent Hannasyde, Inspector Cook, Superintendent Small, Sergeant Wake, Jupp, Florence Florrie Benson

Publisher: Poisoned Pen Press

Envious Casca (1941) #2

Envious CascaJoseph Herriard has decided to force Christmas upon his brother, their family, and acquaintances.

Nathaniel, regarding him with a contemptuous eye, said that a real English Christmas meant, in his experience, a series of quarrels between inimical persons bound to one another only by the accident of relationship, and thrown together by a worn-out convention.

No one, except Joseph, wants this, but as Nathaniel is rich, everyone comes.

And almost much everyone is awful.

Who cares about Elizabeth of Austria, anyway?’ asked Paula impatiently.

‘It’s history, dear,’ explained Maud.

‘Well, I hate history. I live in the present.’

She continued in this strain for several minutes, leaving the Inspector with the impression that the household contained few, if any, persons who would have been unwilling to have murdered Nathaniel.

‘Well, if it wasn’t for being frightfully rich, I don’t think I would marry Stephen,’ said Valerie, in a burst of frankness.

Except perhaps Maud.

‘I know those cheap theatrical lodging-houses, none better!’

‘It is not a theatrical lodging-house!’ said Roydon, goaded to madness. ‘It is, as you will shortly perceive, a bawdy lodging-house!’

Maud’s placid voice broke the stunned silence. ‘I expect they’re just as dirty,’ she said.

And Mathilda.

‘I always go to church on Christmas Day,’ replied Maud. ‘And on Sundays, too.’

‘One had not realised that there were still people who did!’ said Roydon, with the air of one interested in the habits of aborigines.

This was felt to be an observation in such bad taste that Mathilda at once offered to accompany Maud, and Stephen – although not going to these lengths – ranged himself on Maud’s side by telling the dramatist to shut up.

The murder itself was interesting (even if I’m not quite sure I believed it) but almost all the characters were horrible. It was obvious that Mathilda and Stephen were the romance, but Stephen was so utterly unlikable I wanted Mathilda to find someone not in the story at all to fall in love with.

Characters: Nathaniel Herriard, Joseph Herriard, Maud Herriard, Paula Herriard, Stephen Herriard, Mathilda Clare, Edgar Mottisfont, Valerie Dean, Willoughby Roydon, Albert Reginald Sturry, Ford, Maggie, Mrs Fratton, Esher, John Blyth, Inspector Colwall, Detective-Superintendent Hannasyde, Sergeant Ware, Inspector Hemingway, Major Bolton, Mrs Dean

Publisher: Sourcebooks Landmark

July 2026 | Rating: 6/10

Duplicate Death (1951) #3

Duplicate Death

Mrs Lilias Haddington is a domineering woman who is trying to find the “best” marriage for her daughter, which is why she’s managed to work her way into society–even though no one is quite sure how she managed it.

(T)he social smile which had become so mechanical that she frequently assumed it when addressing persons, such as her secretary, whom it was quite unnecessary for her to charm.

Beulah Birtley is Mrs Haddington’s much put upon secretary–staying because she seemingly has nowhere else to go.

Although Mrs Haddington wants Mr Timothy Harte to marry her daughter Cynthia, Timothy only has eyes for Beulah, despite his mother’s concerns, which brings Timothy’s half-brother, Jim Kane, down to London.

This was published ten years after the second Inspector Hemingway story–six years after the end of the war–and revisits characters from They Found Him Dead, where we first met Timothy Harte and James Kane.

I’d like to know what you’ve been up to since I saw you last.’

‘School – War – Cambridge – Bar,’ replied Timothy succinctly.

(H)ow’s that brother of yours? I hope no one’s been trying to bump him off since I saw him last?’

‘Only Jerry. He lost a leg at Monte Cassino, but otherwise he’s flourishing. Got four kids, too.’

This is the first book written in this time period that actually states one (and implies another) character is queer.

‘He used to be very thick with Seaton-Carew, and always flying into tantrums if ever Seaton-Carew paid too much attention to anyone else.’

‘Oh, a homosexual, is he?

I won’t say he was one of the better characters, but he was queer, and he didn’t die, so that’s something for that time I suppose.

The one problem with the mystery was that you knew it wasn’t going to be Timothy Harte, and since Beulah was his love interest, you knew it wasn’t going to be her, which further limited the pool of suspects.

There was also a huge drugs subplot. It was interesting to see how they were addressed at that time.

An interesting mystery, and although it was interesting to see a queer character who had been named as such in what had been a contemporary story, he wasn’t a good character, and some of the language hadn’t aged especially well.

But it was interesting.

Characters: Mrs Lilias Haddington, Miss Cynthia Haddington, Mr Daniel Seaton-Carew, Mr Timothy Harte, Miss Francesca Beulah Birtley Meriden, Lady Nest Poulton, Mr Godfrey Poulton, Miss Beatrice Trix Guisborough, Mrs Irene Guisborough, Mr Kenelm Guisborough, Sir Roderick Vickerstown, Dr Theodore Westruther, Mr Sydney Butterwick, Miss Violet Pickhill, Colonel Cartmel, Mr Freddy Atherstone, Thrimby, Miss Gwenny Mapperley, Mrs Foston, M. Gaston, Miss Spennymoor, Mr Charles Ashbourne, Baroness Rozhdesvenskiy, Superintendent Hinckley, Chief Inspector Stanley Hemingway, Inspector Pershore, Sergeant Snettisham, Inspector Alexander Grant, Sergeant Bromley, Ex-Superintendent Darliston, Dr Yoxall, Mr Francis Caister, Kempsey, Mr Eddleston, Mrs James Kane, Mr James Kane, Miss Susan Kane, Master William Kane, Lady Norma Harte

Published by Poisoned Pen Press

Rating: 7.5/10