{"id":27299,"date":"2026-07-25T08:02:36","date_gmt":"2026-07-25T12:02:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/?p=27299"},"modified":"2026-09-13T10:07:08","modified_gmt":"2026-09-13T14:07:08","slug":"envious-casca","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/27299","title":{"rendered":"Envious Casca"},"content":{"rendered":"

Envious Casca<\/em><\/a> (1941) Georgette Heyer<\/a> (Inspector Hemingway #2)<\/p>\n

\"Envious<\/a>Joseph Herriard has decided to force Christmas upon his brother, their family, and acquaintances.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

No one, except Joseph, wants this, but as Nathaniel is rich, everyone comes.<\/p>\n

And almost much everyone is awful.<\/p>\n

Who cares about Elizabeth of Austria, anyway?’ asked Paula impatiently.<\/p>\n

‘It’s history, dear,’ explained Maud.<\/p>\n

‘Well, I hate history. I live in the present.’<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

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.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

‘Well, if it wasn’t for being frightfully rich, I don’t think I would marry Stephen,’ said Valerie, in a burst of frankness.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Except perhaps Maud.<\/p>\n

‘I know those cheap theatrical lodging-houses, none better!’<\/p>\n

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

Maud’s placid voice broke the stunned silence. ‘I expect they’re just as dirty,’ she said.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

And Mathilda.<\/p>\n

‘I always go to church on Christmas Day,’ replied Maud. ‘And on Sundays, too.’<\/p>\n

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

This was felt to be an observation in such bad taste that Mathilda at once offered to accompany Maud, and Stephen \u2013 although not going to these lengths \u2013 ranged himself on Maud’s side by telling the dramatist to shut up.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

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.<\/p>\n

Characters<\/strong>: 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<\/p>\n

Publisher: Sourcebooks Landmark<\/p>\n

Rating: 6\/10<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Envious Casca (1941) Georgette Heyer (Inspector Hemingway #2) Joseph 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 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[30,190,292,33,8,42],"tags":[151,973,898],"class_list":["post-27299","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-british","category-cozy","category-ebook","category-historical","category-mystery","category-police","tag-georgette-heyer","tag-inspector-hemingway","tag-ww-ii"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/piQkW-76j","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":27242,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/27242","url_meta":{"origin":27299,"position":0},"title":"They Found Him Dead","author":"Michelle","date":"July 13, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"They Found Him Dead (1937) Georgette Heyer (Inspector Hannasyde #3) Set in England in 1937 Clement, who was a partner in the firm of Kane and Mansell, was a man of considerable substance and, since he was heir to his uncle\u2019s private possessions, a man of large expectations also. Miss\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "8\/10"","block_context":{"text":"8\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/8-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"They Found Him Dead","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/They-Found-Him-Dead-219x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":27297,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/27297","url_meta":{"origin":27299,"position":1},"title":"No Wind of Blame","author":"Michelle","date":"July 23, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"No Wind of Blame (1939) Georgette Heyer (Inspector Hemingway #1) She was a large woman, who had enjoyed, in youth, the advantages of golden hair and a pink-and-white complexion. Time had committed some ravages with both these adjuncts, but a lavish use of peroxide and the productions of a famous\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "8\/10"","block_context":{"text":"8\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/8-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"No Wind of Blame","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/No-Wind-of-Blame-215x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":27276,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/27276","url_meta":{"origin":27299,"position":2},"title":"A Blunt Instrument","author":"Michelle","date":"July 16, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"A Blunt Instrument (1938) Georgette Heyer (Inspector Hannasyde #4) Set in London in 1938 A stern glance was directed towards him. \u2018Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord, thy God, in vain,\u2019 said Glass deeply. This admonishment was more comprehensible to Simmons, who was a member of the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "7.5\/10"","block_context":{"text":"7.5\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/7-5-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"A Blunt Instrument","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/A-Blunt-Instrument-192x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":27238,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/27238","url_meta":{"origin":27299,"position":3},"title":"Death in the Stocks","author":"Michelle","date":"July 10, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"Death in the Stocks (1935) Georgette Heyer (Inspector Hannasyde #1) Set in London in 1935 \u2018Know how the body was sitting when you found it?\u2019 \u2018Yes, sir.\u2019 \u2018All right. Put it back as near as you can. Ready with that flashlight, Thompson?\u2019 Constable Dickenson did not care much for the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "7.5\/10"","block_context":{"text":"7.5\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/7-5-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"Death in the Stocks","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/Death-in-the-Stocks-195x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":27316,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/27316","url_meta":{"origin":27299,"position":4},"title":"Duplicate Death","author":"Michelle","date":"July 30, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"Duplicate Death (1951) Georgette Heyer (Inspector Hemingway #3) 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\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "7.5\/10"","block_context":{"text":"7.5\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/7-5-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"Duplicate Death","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/duplicate-death-214x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":13697,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/13697","url_meta":{"origin":27299,"position":5},"title":"No Wind of Blame","author":"Michelle","date":"December 22, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"No Wind of Blame (1939) Georgette Heyer (Inspector Hemingway) Ermyntrude 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\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "British"","block_context":{"text":"British","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/british"},"img":{"alt_text":"No Wind of Blame","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/No-Wind-of-Blame.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27299","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27299"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27299\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":27680,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27299\/revisions\/27680"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27299"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27299"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27299"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}