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3.58 AVERAGE
3.58 AVERAGE
3.5 stars, let's say. Breezy mystery that doesn't outstay its welcome.
The characterization is excellent, if somewhat manic in a way that seems common to the period. To Heyer's credit, the characters are all very engaging, despite most not being very likable. Whereas a Sayer novel, for instance, would have one character being flamboyantly callous, there are three or four doing so here. It could be a lot at times, but I did find myself wanting to know what happened next.
More so with the cast than with the murder, however. This novel falls on the vaguer end of the sliding scale of crime novels. There are hardly any clues or even much detail given to the aspects of the crime, so you have virtually nothing to work with if you're trying to solve it yourself as you read along. It's more a game of speculation, played almost wholly on motives, until the end. (That being said, I will just take a moment to preen over guessing the right culprit myself.)
Between the characters' stance on being as flippant as possible and the lack of hard detail, the plot overall left me a little cold. I guess I found it hard to care about a murder when no one else seemed to.
The characterization is excellent, if somewhat manic in a way that seems common to the period. To Heyer's credit, the characters are all very engaging, despite most not being very likable. Whereas a Sayer novel, for instance, would have one character being flamboyantly callous, there are three or four doing so here. It could be a lot at times, but I did find myself wanting to know what happened next.
More so with the cast than with the murder, however. This novel falls on the vaguer end of the sliding scale of crime novels. There are hardly any clues or even much detail given to the aspects of the crime, so you have virtually nothing to work with if you're trying to solve it yourself as you read along. It's more a game of speculation, played almost wholly on motives, until the end. (That being said, I will just take a moment to preen over guessing the right culprit myself.)
Between the characters' stance on being as flippant as possible and the lack of hard detail, the plot overall left me a little cold. I guess I found it hard to care about a murder when no one else seemed to.
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
A bit tiresome. Dialogue like a bad Gilmore Girls episode and the mystery so hamfisted you could guess whodunnit halfway in.
A fun, quick mystery with plenty of English quirk.
Whilst I liked this book, I just didn't love it!
I found the list of suspects too unlikeable to feel any empathy with (and sadly didn't really care who'd killed the unlikeable victim)
BUT I loved the writing, the wit, the humour and the narrative it made the characters bearable :)
A good classic crime but just not the best (and if Goodreads did half stars this would be a 3.5)
I found the list of suspects too unlikeable to feel any empathy with (and sadly didn't really care who'd killed the unlikeable victim)
BUT I loved the writing, the wit, the humour and the narrative it made the characters bearable :)
A good classic crime but just not the best (and if Goodreads did half stars this would be a 3.5)
I really enjoyed this book! It's my first Georgette Heyer book, and I'd mainly only heard about her Regency romances, but I love a good mystery, so when I had the opportunity to review this book, I thought "why not?" I'm very glad I did, although, honestly, I wasn't sure if I would, based on a few reviews I read that said it was predictable and they were disappointed, so I think that clouded my reading a bit, worrying if I'd be disappointed in the ending. However, when I finished the book, I wasn't disappointed at all and it even made me want to read more from this author.
As I began the book, I was immediately reminded of Agatha Christie, my favorite mystery author ever, but the story took on its own characteristics and the author can stand on her own without saying that she copied Christie's style, in my opinion. The story is told with humor throughout pretty much all of it, and in a way that I felt like the action didn't take a breath, so to speak -- not many stopping points, the action just keeping moving. While the murders themselves are a bit dark (as murder would be), the details aren't gruesome or overly descriptive, just mentioned as facts and then the rest of the book is more light, focusing mainly on the victims' family. While some reviews I read mentioned the characters were annoying, I did get why they would think that because of how flippantly they treated the whole situation, but, as I said, I appreciated the humor and how the story was told.
This book is part of a series, with the policemen being the recurring characters, but one would never know that just based off this book, since the majority of the book is told from others' points of view (the suspects mainly) and the policemen actually appear to play a more minor role in the action and solution. It did make me wish that Giles, at least, would be a recurring character in the rest of the books, since he is the one who ultimately solves the crimes and not the two policemen, so it'll be interesting to see how many of the subsequent books include Hannasyde and Hemingway.
Since I was nervous about other readers' opinions through most of the book, I was afraid I'd have to give this book 3-3.5 stars, but in the end I thoroughly enjoyed it. It kept me well entertained and guessing, with the clues as to the murderer's identity hidden enough for me, though I did suspect that person at one point, which isn't saying much, as I suspected most everyone throughout the book! ha ha I actually would probably give this 4-4.5 stars because I did enjoy it and appreciated the Christie-esque style, though, again, Heyer stands on her own as a writer (it may have simply been the time period the story is set in that felt so much like a Christie book).
Content: Clean, no language, and a lighter mystery, definitely in the style of Agatha Christie but standing on its own without copying Christie in any way, I felt.
***I received a copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.***
As I began the book, I was immediately reminded of Agatha Christie, my favorite mystery author ever, but the story took on its own characteristics and the author can stand on her own without saying that she copied Christie's style, in my opinion. The story is told with humor throughout pretty much all of it, and in a way that I felt like the action didn't take a breath, so to speak -- not many stopping points, the action just keeping moving. While the murders themselves are a bit dark (as murder would be), the details aren't gruesome or overly descriptive, just mentioned as facts and then the rest of the book is more light, focusing mainly on the victims' family. While some reviews I read mentioned the characters were annoying, I did get why they would think that because of how flippantly they treated the whole situation, but, as I said, I appreciated the humor and how the story was told.
This book is part of a series, with the policemen being the recurring characters, but one would never know that just based off this book, since the majority of the book is told from others' points of view (the suspects mainly) and the policemen actually appear to play a more minor role in the action and solution. It did make me wish that Giles, at least, would be a recurring character in the rest of the books, since he is the one who ultimately solves the crimes and not the two policemen, so it'll be interesting to see how many of the subsequent books include Hannasyde and Hemingway.
Since I was nervous about other readers' opinions through most of the book, I was afraid I'd have to give this book 3-3.5 stars, but in the end I thoroughly enjoyed it. It kept me well entertained and guessing, with the clues as to the murderer's identity hidden enough for me, though I did suspect that person at one point, which isn't saying much, as I suspected most everyone throughout the book! ha ha I actually would probably give this 4-4.5 stars because I did enjoy it and appreciated the Christie-esque style, though, again, Heyer stands on her own as a writer (it may have simply been the time period the story is set in that felt so much like a Christie book).
Content: Clean, no language, and a lighter mystery, definitely in the style of Agatha Christie but standing on its own without copying Christie in any way, I felt.
***I received a copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.***
Arnold Vereker wasn't a very good man. Which means that it comes as little surprised when he's murdered. Although finding the body in the stocks of the small village where he had a cottage comes as something of a shock. The most obvious suspects are his half-brother and sister. The half-brother, Kenneth, is an artist and stands to inherit a quarter of a million pounds. The half-sister, Antonia (Tony), was upset that Arnold was casting aspersions against her fiance.
Throw in Kenneth's fiancee, a woman who is in love with Kenneth, a beloved retainer and a long-lost family member and you have quite a conundrum.
Throw in Kenneth's fiancee, a woman who is in love with Kenneth, a beloved retainer and a long-lost family member and you have quite a conundrum.
I discovered that my public library has a bunch of Heyer's mysteries via overdrive! That excites me because they're light and engaging enough that I do want to read them but they're also hit-or-miss enough that I don't necessarily want to buy them myself. I could maybe see myself reading this again because watching Tony and Giles interact was quite entertaining. Also, the other Verekers are all goofy as heck. I figured out the whodunit pretty early but since I don't read mysteries for the mystery part, I don't care. Very 1930s slapstick vibe throughout.
CW: murder, drinking, kissing
CW: murder, drinking, kissing