1941, #2 Inspector Hemingway, rural England at Christmastimeclassic set-up, basic plot, decent-to-good characters, well-crafted, entertaining overall. [classic cosy, three stars and a touch more] Can’t get more basic classic big-house cosy than this, with its Wicked Uncle holding the purse strings, two siblings each bitter and strong-willed, a dependent weak brother and his peculiar wife, the patient cousin, a magnet for all the goings on (also in love with one of the siblings/heirs), two intrusive newcomers and wannabe family members (a playright and an insipid blonde) asked down for the holidays by the siblings, and a nicely diabolical plot carefully set into motion by The Least Likely Suspect. I twigged onto the culprit almost immediately but read on just to see how it might come out, and persevered all the way through because I wanted to know how the murder was actually done. Must admit, locked-room stories are definitely not my favorite type of mysteries, so I started at a disadvantage, and several of the characters were *extremely* annoying, plus Heyer kept harping on a couple of particularly maddening bits over and over! But the over-emphasis actually had a point; it’s not Heyer’s fault if what would likely have been seen as amusing in the 1930s affected me somewhat as nails on a blackboard do... But the writing is mostly excellent - and mostly funny too, if awfully similar to her previous mysteries. The main action consists of acerbic, witty family members who mouth off regularly against stupid or clueless family members or outsiders, with barbs flying and Attitude-with-a-large-“A” all over the place. But I do happen to find that-sort-of-thing amusing, and Heyer is extremely good at it. The only true weakness is that of the personality of the policemen, particularly the lead one, Inspector Hemingway. Possibly he might have seemed more interesting had I read the earlier book in which he featured, but I haven’t done so as yet. He came across here as boring, perfunctorily written, almost pure stock, unlike his predecessor in her writing, Inspector Hannasyde. However, the over-all effect is that of a classic, entertaining couple-of-afternoons reading. At 400 pages it was a touch repetitve in places and would have benefitted from some slight pruning, but while not her best, it’s still very good stuff.
Envious Casca by Georgette Heyer was written in 1941. Joseph wants to be have a holiday party and has invited his niece and nephew, and their current significant others, as well as his brother Nathan's business partner. Apparently old uncle "Nat" was not the holiday cheer type and was up and down with a painful malady, making him grumpier than usual. Having all these people under one roof proved not to be such a grand idea when Uncle Nat was murdered in his bed.This is a classic "locked door" mystery set during the holidays, making this a good mystery to pull out this time of year. Suspects and motives abound as Inspector Hemingway tries to sort through the evidence and alibi's. This classic mystery might have you thinking twice about congregating your family under one roof for a little holiday gathering.This book is a part of my personal book collection and one I've always wanted to read, but somehow never got around to. I'm glad I decided to sneak it in my holiday reading list this year. This one would appeal to all mystery lovers, but especially to those that enjoy British mysteries and classic mysteries. A+
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The second last in my 2011 project of reading all of Georgette Heyer's mysteries, this was a fun read. It's an old-fashioned mystery of the locked room kind, complete with an old house, cantankerous victim, eccentric suspects and plenty of red herrings. Heyer is not, in my view, the most talented of British Golden Age mystery writers. To my mind, that accolade goes to Dorothy L. Sayers, although a number of other writers of the period also deserve high praise. That said, a Heyer mystery has its attractions. This one, like the others, has lots of style and is easy and undemanding to read. It also has some snappy dialogue and witty one-liners as well as an obligatory romance. While I guessed the identity of the culprit (with luck rather than through a deductive process), I didn't work out how the murder was done until seconds before the big reveal. This was a plus, because there's nothing I hate more in crime fiction than solving the mystery before the detective has come even close to working it out. I re-read a number of Heyer's romances fairly regularly. They are amongst my favourite comfort reads. While I may not read the mysteries again, I've had lots of fun with them over the past few months. It has been particularly good to tackle this one as a buddy read with my friend Jemidar. Recommended for Heyer completists and fans of British Golden Age crime fiction. For me this is was a 3-1/2 star read.
—Kim
Well , disappointing read. I knew who had done it, the moment murder happens. So no point of calling it a "whodunnit". After that, I was just reading the book to see how the Inspector goes on :( and when would he catch up. Ah! If only JKR existed before, she would have given a tip or two about how to carefully construct plots, and throwing clues in proper places so that "mystery" SURVIVES till the end of the book. From now on, I plan to read only Heyer's regency novels. The character sketches were also a bit obvious. Stephen, a misunderstood man because of ill-mannered and hot tempered behaviour a la Darcy from Austen's Pride and Prejudice. On the whole, only Maud's character was interesting ironically.Compared to Heyer's own standards of witticisms which was aplenty and fresh in her other book "cotillion", this book is weak even in that area.
—Pavithra Manoharan
Rating Clarification: 3.5 StarsMy final Heyer mystery, and while not a personal favorite like Why Shoot a Butler?, it was certainly up to par with almost all other Heyer whodunnits. This is a true "locked room" murder in every sense of the word, and while I figured out the "who" of the crime pretty early on, I never did figure out the "how" until the final reveal.As usual with Heyer's stories, her cast of characters fulfill every "ic" I can think of: eccentric, acerbic, and sarcastic, and if her characters do come across in every book as interchangable stereotypes (which they do), at least they are well done stereotypes; the kind you would enjoy spending a few hours of reading time with.All in all, I'm pleased with my Heyer whodunnit reading adventure and look forward to re-reads in the distant future - perhaps in my retirement years :D*****Two things that will alert the reader to the resolution of the murder (do not read the spoilers below unless you really want to be ahead of the game):1. (view spoiler)[ The clever title of the book. Did anyone really know what "Envious Casca" meant when they started this book? (hide spoiler)]
—Hannah
