Heyer Month Wrap-Up: The Black Moth and Duplicate Death

I read The Black Moth this month along with Anastasia as part of her Georgette Heyer Month event. It was another of Heyer's fantastic romances, one part adventure, one part comedy of manners. There were plenty of likable characters, a dastardly duke, and a pair of shamefully bad characters that actually redeemed themselves by the end. This was a really fun read!

I also like to read a Heyer mystery or two a year, even though most of them have been somewhat awful (in a still readable way). She writes such horrid characters in her mysteries that you hope there's more than one murder to weed the patch a bit, so to speak, and there's usually a surprise romance at the end that nobody, not even the characters who fall in love, would have seen coming. But this one was a bit different in that the romance is there from page one, even if it's a bit tentative. There are still some extremely despicable characters but the return of a good Chief Inspector and a charming main character from a previous story (I said in my review of that book that I wished for a follow-up story with young Mr. Harte -- well, he's not as young anymore but Heyer must have loved him as well to bring him back!), makes for enough balance to make this one of her better mysteries.

Thank you to Anastasia for hosting this fun event and for getting two more Heyers off of my TBR shelf. Now there's room to buy a couple more!

Through love and death,
K

Heyer in the Summer: Detection Unlimited

Visit Stiletto Storytime today to read our review of Georgette Heyer's Detection Unlimited as part of Courtney's "Georgette Heyer Gems of August" series!

Shooting first, asking later,
K

Heyer in the Summer: Sylvester or The Wicked Uncle

Visit Stiletto Storytime today to read our review of Georgette Heyer's Sylvester or the Wicked Uncle as part of Courtney's "Georgette Heyer Gems of August" series!

Believing the best,

K

"There was a twinkle in the Nonesuch's eye as he scanned the countenances of his assembled relations ..."

I needed a nice, light read to get me past a small slump and so I chose The Nonesuch from my TBR stacks. It's a fairly standard Georgette Heyer romance and, though I had trouble getting into it at first, I ended up as yet another admirer of the Nonesuch.

If you have read every Jane Austen novel and are looking for something similar, this would be a good choice -- especially since the plot is quite reminiscent of Pride and Prejudice! A rich bachelor, Sir Waldo, heads to a country home that he has just inherited, accompanied by his kind and titled cousin, Lord Lindeth. They are immediately set upon by all of the mothers of eligible girls around. But, of course, Sir Waldo (known in the London Corinthian set as "The Nonesuch" -- meaning "ideal: model of excellence or perfection of a kind; one having no equal") falls for the smart and reserved Miss Trent, a mere governess/companion of gentle birth but with no fortune. Against her better judgment and her opinion of Corinthians (playboys), she also falls for him. But their romance will have to be put aside while they deal with the antics of the young heiress, Tiffany Wield, who is as spoiled and selfish as she is beautiful.

This summary is nothing like the one on the back of the book. This is because the one on the back of the book takes a situation that happens in the last 50 pages of the book and presents it as the entire plot of the book. Not only that, but it is inaccurate in what happens anyway (but that's a rant for another day). This was a light-hearted romance with enjoyable characters and one truly odious one, Heyer's specialty. Tiffany Wield is so despicable and self-centered that she has the reader rooting against her for the duration of the story! You will have to pick up this book to find out if she gets her just desserts in the end.

Riding off in a phaeton,
K


Support our site and buy The Nonesuch on Amazon or find it at your local library. We bought our own copy.

New Release: They Found Him Dead

If you ever want to go into a mystery knowing exactly what the initial crime will be, look no further than Georgette Heyer and her awesome mystery titles!  With names like Behold, Here's Poison, Death in the Stocks and the newly re-released They Found Him Dead, you aren't too surprised at what you encounter.  What is surprising is the variety of characters, the plethora of false leads and the other crimes that happen throughout the rest of the novel.  These mysteries usually turn out to be anything but straight-forward.

In this book, we visit one of Heyer's favorite settings -- the English country home -- where a hodge-podge of relatives are gathered.  Inevitably, we find one of them dead -- this time the patriarch of the family, Silas Kane.  Though he seems to have died of natural causes, not everyone is satisfied that Silas was not maliciously cut down before his time.  When other events happen, it becomes obvious that someone has it out for Kane and his heirs.

I thought this was a good mystery but there was one character that I loved which really made the book for me.  Mr. Harte is a fourteen year old boy who is obsessed with American gangster films and regularly attempts to use the vernacular and tones of these films.  He is spunky and bright and, at the same time, whiny and petulant.  In short, he's fourteen!  His character was a breath of fresh air and I wish there was a follow-up novel of his character.  Beyond Harte, this is a typical Heyer mystery with a fairly obvious suspect that you still can't be sure of until the very end.

Finding a good mystery between the pages,
K


Support our site and buy They Found Him Dead on Amazon or find it at your local library. We received our copy from the publisher.

New Release: Death in the Stocks

Sourcebooks continues to re-release Georgette Heyer's mysteries and the most recent one to cross my path is Death in the Stocks. Thankfully, this one does not take place in an English manor house which was a refreshing change!

Wealthy businessman Arnold Vereker is found dead in the town near his country home, stabbed in the back with his feet in the stocks. When it emerges that his family and business associates all felt at least a mild dislike for him, everyone becomes a suspect. When a missing family member returns from the dead, the plot thickens even more.

I really liked this mystery. Superintendent Hannasyde is a pleasant and smart detective and the characters, though flawed, were not quite as over-the-top as in other Heyer mysteries. The London setting was interesting and a nice change of pace. Written in 1935, I think this book holds up very well. I hope to find more like this in the Heyer catalogue.

At least I won't be killed for my fortune,
K


Support our site and buy Death in the Stocks on Amazon or find it at your local library. We got our copy from the publisher.

Exciting Heyer Promotion

Join me in heading to Barnes & Noble to buy The Foundling during the month of September, send your receipt in to Sourcebooks and get the chance to win $200 of books! Here is a plot summary (from Amazon) and the details from Sourcebooks ...

One of readers', librarians' and booksellers' most frequently requested Heyers, The Foundling features Gilly, the seventh Duke of Sale.

A diffident young man of 24 years, easily pushed around by his overprotective uncle and the retinue of devoted family retainers who won't let him lift a finger for himself, the Duke sometimes wishes he could be a commoner. One day he decides to set out to discover whether he is "a man, or only a Duke."

Beginning with an incognito journey into the countryside to confront a blackmailer, he encounters a runaway school boy, a beautiful but airheaded orphan, one of literature's most appealing and well-spoken comic villains, and a series of alarming and even life threatening events from which he can extricate himself only with the help of his shy and lovely fiancé…

Marking the calendar,
K

Sourcebooks B&N Heyer Receipt Promotion

This September, Sourcebooks is exclusively releasing The Foundling by Georgette Heyer in Barnes & Nobles stores nationwide!!

Sourcebooks is holding a fabulous receipt promotion! Send us your receipt/proof of purchase of The Foundling from your local Barnes & Noble to our office or a scanned receipt in an email to danielle.jackson@sourcebooks.com and you’ll be entered to win a $200 Barnes & Noble gift card! Receipts must be dated between September 1 – September 31, 2009, and can be from an in-store or online purchase. Any questions please contact danielle.jackson@sourcebooks.com.

Sourcebooks is so excited about the warm embrace everyone has given the Georgette Heyer reissues! Good luck—we look forward to hearing from you!

Send your Barnes & Noble The Foundling receipts to

Sourcebooks, Inc.
c/o Publicity
PO Box 4410
Naperville, IL 60567

Join our Georgette Heyer mailing list!

New Release: Cousin Kate

A few things that you are guaranteed when you pick up a Georgette Heyer novel of any kind are unique characters and a fast-paced plot. I have yet to find a Heyer that doesn't deliver on these elements. Cousin Kate is a gothic novel that has a lot of family tension and a somewhat suspenseful plot but, ultimately, I'm not sure if it quite delivers.

Kate is a young twenty-something who has lost both her parents and must find her own way in the world. She fails as a governess (by no fault of her own) and returns to live with her nurse. Though her nurse is entirely devoted to her, she worries that Kate will be forced to more drastic measures to support herself and so she contacts Kate's father's half-sister to see if some of her family will take her in. Surprisingly, this aunt shows up almost immediately and offers to take Kate back to the home she shares with her titled, elderly husband and her nineteen year old son. After some time spent in the home, Kate starts to become suspicious about the real situation in the household and her aunt's motives for bringing her there.

The characters are well-formed and some are similar to her mystery characters in that they are pleasantly unpleasant. However, this story builds slowly and while you wait for something grand to happen, there are only small occurrences that are a little disappointing. Then, all of a sudden, there is a climax that comes out of nowhere and is just as quickly dismissed by those involved. I still enjoyed this book and it was entertaining but I wished it would have been a bit more -- a bit more forceful, a bit darker, a bit more, well, gothic.

Still waiting to hear from the rich distant relative,
K


Buy Cousin Kate on Amazon or find it at your local library.

Heyer Mystery Giveaway Winner

Random.org picked a number between 1 and 6 and the number was ...

1!

Eva wins a copy of Why Shoot a Butler?! Congratulations!

Sharing a mystery,
K

Heyer Mystery Giveaway!

So now that you've read the reviews of the three Heyer mysteries featured this week, is there one that piqued your interest? Leave your choice (and your email address if it's not in your profile) and I will have a drawing for one Heyer mystery!

Again, the three choices are:
Why Shoot a Butler?
The Unfinished Clue
Behold, Here's Poison

The drawing is open to readers in the U.S. and Canada and the last day for entries is next Thursday, May 28.

Good luck!
K

New Release: Behold, Here's Poison

The final Georgette Heyer mystery that I read was Behold, Here's Poison. This one was really less a mystery than a family dynamics story. The cantankerous patriarch of a family is murdered with an obscure poison and it brings out the worst in everyone involved -- his sister, his sister-in-law and her two children and his nephew. They all had something to gain from his death and yet his death seems to make them all more miserable and it brings out the worst in them.

There is a surprise romance in the story that is somewhat unexplainable and strange. The mystery is also solved in a slap-dash manner with no real clues presented through the story. However, despite these shortcomings, this is still a good read as just a general fiction story.

One last thing that I wanted to comment on is the series design. I really love the period artwork that Sourcebooks chose for the covers of these mysteries. The color palette for the series is also really pleasant. This will be a nice set to collect!

Hoping I don't deserve poisoning,
K


Buy Behold, Here's Poison on Amazon or find it at your local library.

New Release: The Unfinished Clue

Welcome back to Heyer Mystery Week! The next mystery I read was The Unfinished Clue. This book has a lot in common with the one I reviewed yesterday. It has a host of unpleasant (to downright repulsive) characters and a budding romance. In fact, Heyer outdid herself this time in writing extremely self-centered and annoying characters! The main detective was probably the only wholly likable person in the bunch.

Yet, while Why Shoot a Butler? had a strong mystery, I found this one to be less so. The main clue was somewhat obvious and if we had a bit more information, it would have been rather easy to solve. The solution was unexpected but not shocking. There was no sense of danger or urgency as there was in Butler either.

So, while this book wasn't quite up to the standards set by the first Heyer mystery I read, it was still enjoyable. I have been in the mood lately for some stand-alone mysteries as a break from the Agatha Christie series and these all work well.

Keeping a pencil in hand to record my dying words,
K


Buy The Unfinished Clue on Amazon or find it at your local library.

New Release: Why Shoot a Butler?

Why Shoot a Butler? is the first mystery that I read by Georgette Heyer. Let me tell you, I was pleasantly surprised! This was all I could have wanted in a mystery and, for standard Heyer fans, there was even a bit of romance.

Since I posted the jacket blurb yesterday, I'm going to be really brief on the plot summary. Frank Amberley is a successful barrister in London but is known in this country neighborhood (where he has gone to visit his aunt and uncle) as an amateur sleuth due to his help solving an earlier crime in the area. On his way, he takes a wrong turn and finds a dead man in a car and a young woman standing nearby. He decides that he is going to get involved in the solving of the crime and in the protection of the girl.

I will admit that Amberley is not the most likable character. He's rude and smug -- think Mr. Darcy but even less sensitive to people's feelings. In fact, not many characters in this book are wholly likable--most are flawed in some way--and yet it works. The characters certainly seem less one-dimensional than many in Agatha Christie's stories. Amberley's aunt was an especially fantastic character who wasn't to be underestimated. The romance could be seen coming from a book length away but it was still sweet. The mystery was acceptable and this is a good example of a mystery that gives you some of the clues along the way so that you can solve it yourself. I'm very excited to move on and read my next Heyer mystery!

Why shoot a butler indeed,
K


Buy Why Shoot a Butler? on Amazon or find it at your local library.

Georgette Heyer Mystery Week

As I was lucky enough to receive three re-released Georgette Heyer mysteries for review, I thought it would be fun to make a review week. Here are the jacket blurbs to whet your interest!

Monday, we will ponder Why Shoot a Butler? (1933).

Every family has secrets, but the Fountains' are turning deadly ...
On a dark night, along a lonely country road, barrister Frank Amberley stops to help a young lady in distress and discovers a sports car with a corpse behind the wheel. The girl protests her innocence, and Amberley believes her--at least until he gets drawn into the mystery and the clues incriminating Shirley Brown begin to add up ...

In an English country-house murder mystery with a twist, it's the butler who's the victim, every clue complicates the puzzle, and the bumbling police are well-meaning but completely baffled. Fortunately, in ferreting out a desperate killer, amateur sleuth Amberley is as brilliant as he is arrogant, but this time he's not sure he wants to know the truth ...

Tuesday, let's explore The Unfinished Clue (1934).

A houseful of people he loathes is not Sir Arthur's worst problem ...
It should have been a lovely English country-house weekend. But the unfortunate guest-list is enough to exasperate a saint, and the host, Sir Arthur Billington-Smith, is an abusive wretch hated by everyone from his disinherited son to his wife's stoic would-be lover. When Sir Arthur is found stabbed to death, no one is particularly grieved--and no one has an alibi. The unhappy guests find themselves under the scrutiny of Scotland Yard's cool-headed Inspector Harding, who has solved tough cases before--but this time, the talented young inspector discovers much more than he's bargained for.

Wednesday, take a sniff at Behold, Here's Poison (1936).

Meet the Matthews--Before the next one dies ...
It's no ordinary morning at the Poplars--the master is found dead in his bed, and it seems his high blood pressure was not the cause. When an autopsy reveals a sinister poison, it's up to the quietly resourceful Inspector Hannasyde to catch the murderer in time to spare the next victim. But every single member of the quarrelsome Matthews family has a motive and none, of course, has an alibi.

In the mood for a mystery,
K

"There was so much noise in the market-place, such a hubbub of shouting and chaffering ..."

The subtitle of Georgette Heyer's The Conqueror is "A Novel of William the Conqueror, the Bastard Son Who Overpowered a Kingdom and the Woman Who Melted His Heart". Somehow, that title, as long as it is, doesn't do this book justice. Heyer has written an excellent historical fiction that brings alive a time period that I didn't know much about before reading this book.

At the heart of the story is the political unrest in Western Europe almost 1000 years ago. This book briefly tells of William's birth but this is essentially the story from a point during his tenure as Duke of Normandy (1047) to the Battle of Hastings where he defeats Earl Harold Godwinson to become the conqueror King of England (1066) which he ruled for almost 21 years. This was a short time period in which to become a very powerful man -- he was 38 when was declared King. The story also includes his marriage to Matilda of Flanders and some of the doings of his children.

I like this type of book because, assuming a certain level of fictionalizing of events to make for a better story, I am always inspired to do some research after the book to see what was true and what facts were embellished. While Heyer's main character, Raoul de Harcourt, appears to be fictional, her depiction of William and of the political strife of the time seems quite accurate.

While this book wasn't a page-turner, it definitely held my interest and was well-written. I wouldn't mind reading another historical fiction about William the Conqueror in the near future to get another perspective on this amazing man. Heyer continues to amaze me with the versatility of her writing through different genres. I would love to read one of her mysteries next.

Finally understanding the difference between Normans and Saxons,
K


Buy The Conqueror on Amazon or find it at your local library.

"It was dusk when the London to Little Hampton stage-coach lurched into the village ..."

The most recent Georgette Heyer book that I finished is the most exciting one by far. The Reluctant Widow is the story of Elinor Rochdale, a formerly wealthy young woman who has been reduced in circumstances and has to seek work as a governess. Thinking she is getting into the carriage of her new employer, she instead is accidentally taken by Lord Carlyon's carriage to the home of his cousin, Eustace Cheviot. Carlyon is looking for a woman to marry his repulsive cousin in order to prove that he has no designs on Cheviot's property. When Carlyon's youngest brother arrives at the house with the news that he has accidentally stabbed Cheviot and that their cousin is now on his deathbed, Carlyon convinces Elinor to be the token bride. Unfortunately, Cheviot was into more trouble than just the financial issues they knew of. He appears to have been consorting with French spies and now those spies have come to Elinor's new home, bringing trouble with them.

This is a fast-paced narrative with plenty of exciting dialogue. Carlyon's younger brother Nicky had me laughing out loud a few times. Carlyon's cool sarcasm brought to mind the line delivery perfected by Cary Grant in many of his roles. It was apparently made into a movie in 1950 but in the credits there are character names that don't exist in the book (including changing Elinor's name to Helena for some reason) so it was obviously not a faithful re-creation.

A review of that movie also mentions "quite a number of passionate love scenes" which most definitely do not exist in the book. In fact, its classification as a "romance" perplexes me as the only romantic part of the book is in the last four pages and solely consists of a proposal and a kiss (which you will know is coming pretty much from the start of the book). I fear that many readers would choose not to read this book if, like me, they have a prejudice against the romance category due to some lesser quality works in that genre.

Each Heyer book that I have read so far (False Colours, Simon the Coldheart and this one) is quite different from the others. She has an amazing imagination and a very wide array of characters. I'm sure she has written a book for almost any type of reader.

Wondering how I can inherit an estate,
K


Buy The Reluctant Widow on Amazon or find it at your local library.

"He came walking from Bedford into Cambridge one May morning when the sun was still young and the dew scarce gone from the grass."

Rarely do I feel drawn to a character as quickly as I did in my second outing with Georgette Heyer, Simon the Coldheart. Set in the early 15th century, we meet Simon, a young boy of fourteen, setting out to find his way in the world. He is a bastard son of the Lord of Malvallet and he chooses to join the household of the lord's rival, Lord Fulk of Montlice. He doesn't do this out of malice but because he wants to have no advantages given to him based on anything but his own merit. Simon quickly endears himself to Fulk and his son Alan while holding his own emotions close. He uses his honesty and his strength to gain the allegiances and respect of all of the men he works with. Eventually, Simon proves himself indispensable to Fulk, his own half-brother Geoffrey, the young Prince Henry and his father, King Henry IV. Eventually, he heads to France to fight for England and to finally find love with the feisty Margaret.

It is very satisfying to follow Simon from youth to adulthood as he makes his own fortune and future. This is a fast-paced book -- quite different from many historical fictions. Heyer doesn't show off all the historical research she did by writing elaborate descriptions. There aren't any long battle scenes to bog down the narrative as there are in some other historical tomes. Heyer really focuses on her plots and it makes for a satisfying read. If you need a good initiation into historical fiction, I strongly recommend this one.

Enjoying history with a heart,
K


Buy Simon the Coldheart on Amazon or find it at your local library.

"It was past two o'clock when the job-chaise turned into Hill Street ..."

False Colours by Georgette Heyer is an amusing Regency period novel about identical twin brothers Kit and Evelyn, Lord Denville. Kit comes to London from Vienna based on a hunch that something has happened to his brother and finds him missing on the eve of meeting the family of his new fiancee, Cressy. Kit's mother, a light-hearted and spontaneous woman, gets her mind set that Kit should impersonate Evelyn for the one night in order to protect his honor and the honor of Cressy, her goddaughter. Kit finally agrees but when Evelyn doesn't show up even after the dinner, Kit has to decide his next step.

The characters in this book are fun and complex and the story is far-fetched but also believable. The only problem I had with this book was funnily the same problem that I had the other day with The Maltese Falcon -- the slang. There were times in this book when I couldn't quite understand what they were getting at because of the heavy use of period slang. But the story was fun to follow and I appreciated that the characters were smart and resourceful.

I have a few other of Heyer's books in my TBR pile, one more period novel and two historical fictions. I look forward to starting another one!

Wishing someone could step in for me sometimes,
K


Buy False Colours on Amazon or find it at your local library.