For the fan of Heyer who reads this book because they are entranced with her Regency Romances it will probably be a let down. It is not a badly written book and while the plot is cliched it is not patently ridiculous as is the case with some books written contemporaneously, although it does lack the lightness and wit that readers of the Regency Romances came to expect from the author. For the fan of Heyer’s detective stories this, her second murder mystery, shows the author still experimenting with a format that will let her bring the strengths of her Regencys to a different and more modern genre. Readers may also be turned off, or even depending on their own experiences horrified, by the degree to which the they are presumed to empathize with the idea that aggressive and almost abusive behaviour is experienced (when carried out by the right person) as romantic and attractive.SPOILERS AHEADHeyer’s second excursion into the world of the detective story does not, in the opinion of this reviewer, age as well as the first. The “missing will” and “long lost relatives” plots were even at that time overused in English fiction and Heyer goes to the well of local constabulary incompetence with a frequency that rises to the level of constancy as the book unfolds. The talented amateur benefits from knowledge he never shares with the police and indeed withholds information from the police without which there was no chance for them to solve the case.The opening scene in which the protagonist “meets cute” with the mystery lady over a dead body is in itself a giveaway to the entire plot. Only the most inexperienced reader will not know by the end of this encounter that they will battle with each other through the rest of the book only to realize close to the end they have been in love the whole time. The fact that they find each other intolerable and cannot have a conversation of more than a few minutes duration without a violent argument breaking out does not bode well for their future happiness together.
A fun read shot through with dry humor & sarcasm. While Frank Amberley (the rudest man in London) makes disparaging remarks and not-so-subtle jibes at the expense of almost everyone (mostly the local constabulary), many of my favorite moments come from his aunt, Lady Matthews. She is nowhere near as lost as she sounds, yet speaks almost exclusively in short scattered sentences and non sequiturs.Sir Humphrey, Frank's uncle, is voicing his displeasure at the way Frank's investigation is interfering with his daily routine:"Damn it, Frank, next time you come and stay in my house------" "But I'm enjoying it all so much," interposed [Lady Matthews:], emerging from her correspondence. "Shall we be murdered, Frank? I thought these things didn't happen. So very enlightening.""I hope not, Aunt. I might be, of course. You never know."She glanced up at him shrewdly. "Not pleased, my dear?""Not so very," he admitted."Annoying," she said, "losing things. I once lost my engagement ring. It turned up. Better not say where, perhaps."And so it goes. Like reading a particularly well-done Mystery episode on PBS.
What do You think about Why Shoot A Butler? (2007)?
I just discovered the Freading app - and the ebooks that are available through my library. I knew that Heyer had written a number of detective novels but they were not available as print copies at the library. I was so happy to find many of them available as ebooks.This is definitely my style of detective novel. It was short, sweet and to the point. I do not like more modern writers who feel the need to fill many, many pages with trivial details about the lives of the protagonists and thereby fill me with boredom. I did guess the murderer.
—Trudy Pomerantz
Read on Kindle.This was a Kindle deal last week, and I like Heyer and have only previously read and enjoyed one of her mysteries (Envious Casca), so I thought I'd give it a try. I'm glad I did.A fun traipse through the British countryside (despite the murders) with twists and turns that the explanation make plausible. Mr. Amberley is wonderful main character detective (if abrasive at times) ... rich, knowing, and piecing together scraps of information to a logical deduction. It was a gripping read from the beginning - stumbling upon a murder; referencing a past involvement of Amberley with the police. I'd like to find out more about that ... and whether there are others with Amberley as a character. If you like mysteries, I'd recommend this one as delightful, light reading.
—ladydusk
The good news is that this turned out to be a Heyer that I hadn't read before.The bad news was that it was absolutely terrible.Three things save this book from a one star rating.The first is that my personal one stars for GH's books (not on GR, mainly because I have no intention of reading them ever again) are so much worse. WSaB at least has glimpses of Heyer's wonderful wit. Helen (mercifully suppressed contemporary) & My Lord John (leaden historical) don't.The second is that two of the secondary characters, Lady Matthews & the Sergeant are very entertaining.The third is that GH yet again reworked characters & placed them in a better book. Frank & Shirley from this effort, become Worth & Judith in GH's first Regency, Regency Buck. I always find this interesting when GH does this -in my opinion a sign she was unhappy with the first effort. I've loaned out my Koestler so I can't check. I could make a case that alcoholic Mark becomes spoilt Peregrine. So many unsatisfactory brothers in Heyer's books. A subtle sign that she was unhappy with the financial burden her own brothers were to her perhaps?Minor irritations - another grey eyed hero, another GH detective story where a female character has a bull terrier.What really bugged me. I'm going to spoiler this. (view spoiler)[ Bizarre character motivation, in one case career threatening. Implausible obligatory romance (although Frank & Shirley are so unlikeable they deserve each other!) Plot holes you could drive a truck through & a tedious finale which still didn't explain how Frank knew to go to that particular fishing village)& one of my least favourite literary tropes - killing off relatives that will spoil the happy ever after for the main characters. (hide spoiler)]
—☆ Ｃａｒｏｌ ☆
