No Wind of Blame by Georgette Heyer

It’s already November, the end of year is near and I can safely speak about who my favorite awesome writer discovery is this year. It is undoubtedly, definitely Georgette Heyer. I am completely taken by this author of mysteries and historical romances and also extremely happy that luck was on my side and I did get to know about her, considering that I had lived on this planet for 31 years (20 of which having been a total bookworm) before I laid my hands on the books of Ms. Heyer. It is therefore not going to be a surprise to you to learn that No Wind of Blame was yet another hit for me.

Wally Carter provided all who knew him many reasons to want to kill him and the list includes his overly dramatic wife, absurdly theatrical stepdaughter and a newly acquainted phony Russian prince who isn’t really Russian and has no princely belongings. However, the fact that everyone had a motive is not what complicates the case of Mr. Carter’s murder. It’s not why but how he was killed that Inspector Hemingway has to figure out first because none of the suspects were anywhere near the murder weapon when it was used to fire the deadly shot. Now Inspector Hemingway has quite a cast of characters to deal with before the guilty party is found and how he gets to interrogate the suspects makes up for one hilarious read.

I honestly cannot praise Heyer’s talent at writing mysteries enough. No Wind of Blame my fourth Heyer mystery I read this year and they just keep getting better for me. On the surface it is a cozy whodunit read in the same field as Agatha Christie’s books. And as such it already would have been enjoyable enough. What makes this book extra special for me is the clever dialogue showing off the absurdity of some human characters and the hilarious comedy of manners. Ms. Heyer will provide you with tons of laughs if only you’ll give it a chance. At least I couldn’t stop myself from bursting out laughing every once in a while. And boy did I need it! I think it takes a special kind of author to write intelligent, hysterical mysteries that provide just the right mixture of entertainment and secrets to keep a reader intrigued and hooked until the last page. I also think that Georgette Heyer is that special kind of author and No Wind of Blame is that special kind of book.

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Special Thanks to Danielle J. from Sourcebooks, Inc. for sending me a copy of this book for review.

Cousin Kate by Georgette Heyer

It’s no secret by now that I am a fan of Georgette Heyer, considering that I read, reviewed and enjoyed three books of hers in the past 20-something days. The previous ones were all mysteries set in the times contemporary to Heyer. I had a slight anxiety therefore when I started reading Cousin Kate which even though still a mystery, it’s also a historical fiction, romance and Gothic mystery. It turned out I needn’t have worried.

Kate Malvern is considered at 25 on the brink of old age by the Regency standards. Her prospects for the future are looking worse and worse by the minute. With no parents, no dowry to speak of and no real prospects for substantial income, Kate has only one person to turn to: her nurse Sarah Nidd. But Sarah has her own family and household to care for and as much as she loves Kate, it’s only a matter of time when Kate will become a nuisance and yet another mouth to feed. With the appearance of Kate’s aunt Minerva, the estranged half-sister of Kate’s father, it looks like the deliverance from all worries has finally arrived. Kate is overwhelmed by the kindness bestowed upon her by Minerva and wishes with all her heart to repay it any way she can. When taken to Staplewood, Minerva’s family estate, Kate discovers soon enough that what she’s expected to do in return for Minerva’s benevolent treatment may be more horrifying than she could ever imagine. The household has the gloomy atmosphere with uncle Timothy living in a separate wing, the moody and often unpredictable cousin Torquil living in another part and Minerva ruling the house with an iron fist. Soon, Kate finds herself entrapped in Staplewood with only one person, cousin Phillip willing to help.

Cousin Kate is a completely different novel from the ones I’ve read but also the same talent Heyer’s for writing with style, humor and cleverness shines through. Kate is a very likable character, she’s independent, she knows what she wants, how to say what she wants and most importantly, how to stand up for herself and say no. I suspect she got it from her nurse Sarah, which I think I liked the most, even though she only appears at the beginning and end of the book. Talk about a no-nonsense woman. I like to imagine that Georgette Heyer used some of her own characteristics when creating Sarah. Also, I was happy to see that despite writing in a different genre, Heyer didn’t lose any of her wittiness, humor and a knack for truly bringing to life all her characters. There was one other new element introduced: mental illness. That just added more fun for me because I enjoy reading books with at least one person who suffers from some kind of mental impediment. Heyer never names what the illness is, but it really doesn’t matter because a name is not necessary when the portrayal is so excellent. Cousin Kate was simply another great performance by this wonderful writer and it only makes me elated to know that there are plenty more of her books to read.

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Special Thanks to Danielle J. from Sourcebooks for sending me a copy of this book.

Book Info

Title: Cousin Kate

Author: Georgette Heyer

Published in: 2009

By: Sourcebooks Casablanca, an imprint of Sourcebooks, Inc.

Why Shoot The Butler? by Georgette Heyer

It does not happen often that I discover an author I had not heard of before and become an instant fan of that author’s writing with the very first book. It does however happen, infrequent as it may be. And so was the case with Georgette Heyer. I have first heard of her Regency novels but have not yet had the chance to read any of them. I instead decided to try out her mysteries first. I fell under Heyer’s spell with Behold, Here’s Poison, I remained under that spell while reading The Unfinished Clue and now Why Shoot The Butler? confirmed my belief that Ms. Heyer is one of the most entertaining writers I have ever read.

Why Shoot The Butler? starts off a little differently than the two previous mysteries. The murder is committed right at the beginning and we know nothing of the character of the person that was murdered. Frank Ambereley, who is a barrister, is on his way to visit his uncle in the country side when he spots a car with a woman standing beside it. Being a curious person, Frank soon discovers that the car holds a dead body of an unidentified man and the lady claims to know nothing of the occurred death. Mr. Amberely soon finds out the identity of both the victim and the mysterious girl. As it turns out Frank had already been a tremendous help to the local police before and is now unofficially employed by them to help solve the mystery of the butler’s murder, as it is certain that he was murdered. Shirley Brown, the mysterious girl met on that first night, claims to be innocent even thought all the clues point toward her being the killer. Frank believes her innocence and actually goes as far as allowing himself to feel more than just the need to bring the real murderer to justice.

Having written that Why Shoot The Butler? was entertaining enough to keep my interest in reading more of Ms. Heyer’s work, I have to say that it was a little weaker than the other two books and if you are just thinking to try this author out, you’re probably better off putting this one away for a later time. This is not to say that I didn’t enjoy it as much as her previous novels. I did. I loved the character of Frank Amberley. He is as arrogant and as outspoken as you can find them. His wordy sparring with the inspector and the sergeant of the local police is always hilarious. Frank does not waste a moment to let everyone around him know how truly superior he is and to expose all the vices of the small countryside residents. He enjoys annoying his uncle and stirring anger in the inspector but despite all that I couldn’t help but like the guy. I also liked that the romance element, which is always present in Heyer’s books, was much more developed in Why Shoot The Butler? and occupied a central stage right beside the mystery of the murder itself. All and all, the book was still a delightful and pleasant read with plenty of clever dialogue and witty humor, which are Heyer’s trademarks. I just think that action-wise it was on a slow side and if you are a fan of cozy mysteries but haven’t read any of Georgette Heyer’s yet, you will like Why Shoot The Butler? but there’s a danger that it will not make a die-hard fan of hers.

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Special Thanks to Danielle J. from Sourcebooks for sending me a copy of this book.

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'The Unfinished Clue' by Georgette Heyer

As it appeared quite clear in my review of Behold, Here’s Poison, I have become a fan of Georgette Heyer. Now I know that it’s only one book but her writing talent shone through enough to convince me. As any respectable fan, I promptly proceeded to feed my Heyer bug with another one of her mystery books, The Unfinished Clue.

The premise of The Unfinished Clue is the murder of Sir Arthur Billington-Smith in his country house. The book starts off with a promising, friendly weekend with quite a few people attending. Apparently, Sir Arthur is a highly disliked figure by all of the guests and members of the family living nearby. He is abusive towards his young wife Fay, he hates his son Geoffrey, whom he ends up disinheriting for being engaged to Miss Silva, a Spanish dancer with questionable character for a proper English lady, and besides Mrs. Camilla Halliday, Sir Arthur has something negative to say about pretty much everyone around him. No wonder they all hate him. One of these people hates him enough to kill him. And with the violent death of Sir Arthur the fun begins. Obviously everyone has a reason to murder him and not even the persons with alibis are beyond suspicion. Inspector Harding from Scotland Yard makes sure that this difficult case will get solved.

I have to say that for me it’s just impossible to not like Heyer’s writing. I don’t even put so much importance on the murder mystery as on the dialogue and the characterization. I loved the ladies’ snappy and quite often cruel remarks always disguised as polite, so as not to step outside of the decorum. It was really very witty and funny. All the characters, including the secondary ones, have so much depth surprisingly, and are so vividly portrayed that I can just imagine myself sitting amongst them all and forming opinions of who would be my friend, who I would cross words with and so forth. This is not to say that the plot was of no interest to me. I was absolutely and completely engaged in trying to solve this murder mystery ahead of Inspector Harding, and not surprisingly, I failed. The ending was quite unexpected and that’s what made The Unfinished Clue all the more delicious. This delightful book is, in my humble opinion, a perfect remedy for a gloomy mood and a thing to enjoy on a summer day at the beach (just make sure you put a lot of SPF on, as there’s a danger you might forget all about it as you start reading).

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Special Thanks to Danielle J. from Sourcebooks for sending me a copy of this book.

'Behold, Here's Poison' by Georgette Heyer

Am I the only person on Earth who up until yesterday didn’t know what Georgette Heyer had been capable of producing with her writing talent? I had surely felt like that for quite some time before I actually picked up Behold, Here’s Poison to see what the ruckus was all about. And I have to say that the fact I had not heard about Ms. Heyer seems now to be verging on abomination.

Behold, Here’s Poison is one of mystery books written by Heyer and yes, there are more genres that this author was very skilled at writing. It is what one might call a cozy mystery. The action of the book revolves around the murder of George Matthews, a master of the Poplars where he lived with his sister, Miss Matthews, his sister-in-law, Mrs. Matthews, and her two children, Stella and Guy. Mr. Matthews is found dead one morning in his bed and upon closer examination it turns out that the cause of his death was poison and not his high blood pressure. Of course no one in the house accepts this fact easily even though everyone seems quite glad that the master is dead, including family members living outside the Poplars, Mrs. Lupton and a new head of the family, Randall Matthews. And everyone, as it turns out, may have benefited from his untimely death. That’s when Inspector Hannasyde steps in to try and untangle the web of secrets and find the murderer.

Hats off to Georgette Heyer! She is now my most favorite author and I am only glad that I have so many more books of her waiting for me to delight in. This book got me hooked from the first pages and I was laughing out loud by page 10. The Matthews family is absolutely hilarious with Miss Matthews and Mrs. Lupton leading the way. It’s amazing how witty and clever the dialogue is and quite refreshing after many books where all you read is slang and cursing. The way the whole book is written just gave me this feeling of unadulterated pleasure and I am positive that when I wasn’t laughing I had a grin on my face all the while reading. Yes, it is a classic whodunit where everyone has a motive and no one has a solid alibi. But above all the elements that are necessary to create a perfect murder mystery, Ms. Heyer also created wonderful characters, some quite simple, some outrageously funny and others very unlikable, but none of them boring. The fact that the author made me start accusing people from one character to another and then back to the original, until I just gave up trying to guess, was simply icing on my favorite cake. All I have to say to the ones who have not yet read any of Heyer’s books (if indeed there are such unfortunates), don’t despair and waste your time looking for a perfect book. Instead delve right into the world of Behold, Here’s Poison.

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Special Thanks to Danielle J. from Sourcebooks for sending me a copy of this book.