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A review by nicolepeck
A Blunt Instrument by Georgette Heyer
4.0
These are busy books. It's like the author took a ginormously deep breath and began talking/writing at a frantic pace and doesn't stop until she's finished at the very end of the book. The characters all are the same way as well, except for maybe Inspector Hannasyde; he seems to be the only one who is slow and methodical. The suspects, the victim's family members and acquaintances, and the other policemen all seem to talk a mile a minute. There is a lot of dialog in these books, though I don't think they're lacking in description/narration. The main form of story-telling just seems to be through dialog. None of this is to say I don't enjoy these books, because I absolutely do. The style is just very lengthy with not a lot of breaks, so, for me, that makes them just a bit harder to read as the chapters are long and it's hard to find a stopping point to be able to put the book down to, you know, go on with life. ha ha.
The mystery of who killed Ernest Fletcher winds all over the place, with a very colorful cast of suspects and characters throughout the book. There are a lot of scripture/Biblical references throughout this book, and how Sargent Hemingway and Neville Fletcher try to deal with their perceived annoyance of these constant fanatical religious declarations from Constable Glass is entertaining. Neville himself is entertaining and a unique individual, as well as his relationship with Helen and Sally (the monocle Sally wears is intriguing and I would love to see this book made into a movie just to see her and the interactions between Neville, Helen, and Sally, as well as, of course, Hannasyde and Hemingway, the recurring main characters in this series).
I did actually at one point towards the end begin to suspect who the killer ended up being but couldn't see how, until the very end when everything was explained. Ms. Heyer does a very good job, in my opinion, of hiding the solution to the mystery and keeping me guessing, with red herrings and interesting bits all along the way to keep the story moving.
Another great mystery from Ms. Heyer. I look forward to reading this entire series, as well as reading her Regency romances and other books to see how they compare to her mysteries.
***I received a copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.***
The mystery of who killed Ernest Fletcher winds all over the place, with a very colorful cast of suspects and characters throughout the book. There are a lot of scripture/Biblical references throughout this book, and how Sargent Hemingway and Neville Fletcher try to deal with their perceived annoyance of these constant fanatical religious declarations from Constable Glass is entertaining. Neville himself is entertaining and a unique individual, as well as his relationship with Helen and Sally (the monocle Sally wears is intriguing and I would love to see this book made into a movie just to see her and the interactions between Neville, Helen, and Sally, as well as, of course, Hannasyde and Hemingway, the recurring main characters in this series).
I did actually at one point towards the end begin to suspect who the killer ended up being but couldn't see how, until the very end when everything was explained. Ms. Heyer does a very good job, in my opinion, of hiding the solution to the mystery and keeping me guessing, with red herrings and interesting bits all along the way to keep the story moving.
Another great mystery from Ms. Heyer. I look forward to reading this entire series, as well as reading her Regency romances and other books to see how they compare to her mysteries.
***I received a copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.***