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kienie 's review for:
Duplicate Death
by Georgette Heyer
Hello canonically bisexual and gay characters. Like, the word "homosexual" is used. It's so nice to see. Not so nice is the fact that one is a drug-peddling bi man who tried to get his lady-lover's 19yo daughter addicted to drugs because he wanted her. No so nice that same man's boyfriend was a hysterical, jealous mess whom everyone called a pansy. On the other hand, no overt hatred or disgust with them because of their sexuality.
Also, I'm still convinced Chief Inspector Hemingway is gay/bi. First, he's described as "not a marrying man," which is how the canonically bisexual character was described. He describes his intuition as "flair." Though to be fair I'm more influenced by his portrayal in Detection Unlimited, where, at least to my eye, he was clearly involved with his Inspector. In this one, I don't think he was involved with Inspector Grant. They were friends, but not lovers.
The mandatory hetero couple (TM) was fine as well. Since the Hemingway novels tend to focus on Hemingway (once the crime occurs), the hetero couple tends to be secondary. And they were, but there was something to the framed/wrongly convicted female half of the couple. No idea why she's fond of Terrible Timothy, but he's a lawyer, and we all know how Georgette Heyer feels about lawyers...except in Detection Unlimited, where one lawyer was dead and the other irrelevant.
The motive for the first murder made perfect sense. But why didn't they search the lady's entire house? Whatever. I like that there were different murders and that the fact that the person was killed didn't disqualify them from being a suspect.
However, the motive for the second murder was so dumb that even the novel comments on it. The killer didn't want people to find out he was legitimized rather than legitimate because then he couldn't have inherited his title. But it's IN HIS BIRTH CERTIFICATE that he was legitimized! It's NOT A SECRET!! Literally, it's in the public records.
Yes, the victim threatened to actively go out and tell the proper authorities. But you need to somehow establish that the murderer the kind of man who flies into rages...which I guess Heyer tried to do with him ranting about COMMUNISM GOOD! But it's one thing to be passionate about a political system you don't have to live in, and another to strangle a person. I don't see the leap.
The guy whose wife was being blackmailed and addicted to drugs because of the victim would've made more sense. And would've been more interesting to catch, since that guy was so unflappable.
Finally, audiobooks: the lady reading this was good. The dialogue was easy to follow because she did voices, though not too exaggerated (except for the horrific Scottish accent, though what do I know). But I prefer to just read. It's faster (listening at 1.5 speed makes my brain want to abandon my scull), and it's not like I can do anything while listening (and paying attention) to the audiobook. So, reading for me.
Also, I'm still convinced Chief Inspector Hemingway is gay/bi. First, he's described as "not a marrying man," which is how the canonically bisexual character was described. He describes his intuition as "flair." Though to be fair I'm more influenced by his portrayal in Detection Unlimited, where, at least to my eye, he was clearly involved with his Inspector. In this one, I don't think he was involved with Inspector Grant. They were friends, but not lovers.
The mandatory hetero couple (TM) was fine as well. Since the Hemingway novels tend to focus on Hemingway (once the crime occurs), the hetero couple tends to be secondary. And they were, but there was something to the framed/wrongly convicted female half of the couple. No idea why she's fond of Terrible Timothy, but he's a lawyer, and we all know how Georgette Heyer feels about lawyers...except in Detection Unlimited, where one lawyer was dead and the other irrelevant.
The motive for the first murder made perfect sense. But why didn't they search the lady's entire house? Whatever. I like that there were different murders and that the fact that the person was killed didn't disqualify them from being a suspect.
However, the motive for the second murder was so dumb that even the novel comments on it. The killer didn't want people to find out he was legitimized rather than legitimate because then he couldn't have inherited his title. But it's IN HIS BIRTH CERTIFICATE that he was legitimized! It's NOT A SECRET!! Literally, it's in the public records.
Yes, the victim threatened to actively go out and tell the proper authorities. But you need to somehow establish that the murderer the kind of man who flies into rages...which I guess Heyer tried to do with him ranting about COMMUNISM GOOD! But it's one thing to be passionate about a political system you don't have to live in, and another to strangle a person. I don't see the leap.
The guy whose wife was being blackmailed and addicted to drugs because of the victim would've made more sense. And would've been more interesting to catch, since that guy was so unflappable.
Finally, audiobooks: the lady reading this was good. The dialogue was easy to follow because she did voices, though not too exaggerated (except for the horrific Scottish accent, though what do I know). But I prefer to just read. It's faster (listening at 1.5 speed makes my brain want to abandon my scull), and it's not like I can do anything while listening (and paying attention) to the audiobook. So, reading for me.