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Inspectors Hannasyde & Hemingway #8
Detection Unlimited
It was a hot June evening in the village of Thornden, the Hasells celebrate a tennis party at the Cedars, their mansion. The young Haswell had just motored the lovely Abby Dearham back from social event of the week. Nearly everyone of the village uppercrust had come to the party--the Squire, the Vicar, the sharp-tongued heir to five centuries of local real estate. But the unpopular solicitor Sampson Warrenby had declined, and no one was sorry. Why this charmless social-climber was invited was beyond Abby. Had he some sinister hold on the social leaders of Thornden? All joking was cut short when a wild-eyed girl came running down the lane. For it was Mavis, Warrenby's niece, announcing he was dead.
Slumped on a seat under an oak tree is old Sampson Warrenby, with a bullet through his brain. When the upstart solicitor is killed and everyone -- who at one time or another wanted him out of the way -- feels panic stricken. His body is discovered by his anxious niece, who is just one of ten people in the village in the running for chief suspect, having cause to dislike Warrenby intensely. Everybody in the village is ready to tell Chief Inspector Hemingway who did it. Could the murderer have been the dead man's niece? Or perhaps it was the other town solicitor? The couple at the farm had a guilty secret-what was it? And why is it someone else actually wants to be the prime suspect? Add to this the fact that Warrenby was blackmailing someone. Only Hemingway can uncover which of the ten has turned hatred into murder, but has his work cut out for him.
Slumped on a seat under an oak tree is old Sampson Warrenby, with a bullet through his brain. When the upstart solicitor is killed and everyone -- who at one time or another wanted him out of the way -- feels panic stricken. His body is discovered by his anxious niece, who is just one of ten people in the village in the running for chief suspect, having cause to dislike Warrenby intensely. Everybody in the village is ready to tell Chief Inspector Hemingway who did it. Could the murderer have been the dead man's niece? Or perhaps it was the other town solicitor? The couple at the farm had a guilty secret-what was it? And why is it someone else actually wants to be the prime suspect? Add to this the fact that Warrenby was blackmailing someone. Only Hemingway can uncover which of the ten has turned hatred into murder, but has his work cut out for him.
378 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1953
288 people are currently reading
1346 people want to read
About the author
Georgette Heyer
253 books5,523 followersGeorgette Heyer was a prolific historical romance and detective fiction novelist. Her writing career began in 1921, when she turned a story for her younger brother into the novel The Black Moth.
In 1925 she married George Ronald Rougier, a mining engineer. Rougier later became a barrister and he often provided basic plot outlines for her thrillers. Beginning in 1932, Heyer released one romance novel and one thriller each year.
Heyer was an intensely private person who remained a best selling author all her life without the aid of publicity. She made no appearances, never gave an interview and only answered fan letters herself if they made an interesting historical point. She wrote one novel using the pseudonym Stella Martin.
Her Georgian and Regencies romances were inspired by Jane Austen. While some critics thought her novels were too detailed, others considered the level of detail to be Heyer's greatest asset.
Heyer remains a popular and much-loved author, known for essentially establishing the historical romance genre and its subgenre Regency romance.
In 1925 she married George Ronald Rougier, a mining engineer. Rougier later became a barrister and he often provided basic plot outlines for her thrillers. Beginning in 1932, Heyer released one romance novel and one thriller each year.
Heyer was an intensely private person who remained a best selling author all her life without the aid of publicity. She made no appearances, never gave an interview and only answered fan letters herself if they made an interesting historical point. She wrote one novel using the pseudonym Stella Martin.
Her Georgian and Regencies romances were inspired by Jane Austen. While some critics thought her novels were too detailed, others considered the level of detail to be Heyer's greatest asset.
Heyer remains a popular and much-loved author, known for essentially establishing the historical romance genre and its subgenre Regency romance.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 257 reviews
September 3, 2021
4.5★
Heyer's final detective novel, first published in 1953. She enjoyed writing them & working with her husband (who supplied a lot of the plots & legal knowledge) but her continual problems with the British taxation system (at least partially her & her husband's own fault) meant she needed to write more of her wonderful Regency romances.
Were her readers the winners? The 1950s are when GH wrote some of her finest Regencies -Sylvester, Cotillion, Venetia, The Unknown Ajax but I just love Chief Inspector Hemingway & his wit & sparkle just really lift this book, so I have adjusted my rating upwards by half a star.
So who murdered unpopular resident of the village of Thorndon, Sampson Warrenby? There are certainly plenty of candidates.
With her usual skill, GH has given us a great cast of characters & I like that, like real life not every person living in Thorndon is a potential suspect (although certainly gun laws seemed to be very lax.)
For me, the only fault this book had was the resolution went on forever! I had to talk sternly to myself not to start skimming, but this is why this book didn't rise to a 5★ rating.
I know I am lucky as I was reading a very old paperback
that contained a very useful map of the village.
Heyer's final detective novel, first published in 1953. She enjoyed writing them & working with her husband (who supplied a lot of the plots & legal knowledge) but her continual problems with the British taxation system (at least partially her & her husband's own fault) meant she needed to write more of her wonderful Regency romances.
Were her readers the winners? The 1950s are when GH wrote some of her finest Regencies -Sylvester, Cotillion, Venetia, The Unknown Ajax but I just love Chief Inspector Hemingway & his wit & sparkle just really lift this book, so I have adjusted my rating upwards by half a star.
So who murdered unpopular resident of the village of Thorndon, Sampson Warrenby? There are certainly plenty of candidates.
With her usual skill, GH has given us a great cast of characters & I like that, like real life not every person living in Thorndon is a potential suspect (although certainly gun laws seemed to be very lax.)
For me, the only fault this book had was the resolution went on forever! I had to talk sternly to myself not to start skimming, but this is why this book didn't rise to a 5★ rating.
I know I am lucky as I was reading a very old paperback
that contained a very useful map of the village.
I'd recommend noting down who lived where as well as you read. It is a reasonably large cast of characters.
https://wordpress.com/view/carolshess...
September 10, 2021
”Plain case of shooting, isn’t it, sir? No locked rooms, or mysterious weapons, or any other trimmings?”
Detection Unlimited is a 1953 classic mystery novel set in a small British village where a universally disliked man was shot in his garden following a summer-afternoon tennis party held nearby, so numerous guests had access (and motive) as they made their way home. Detective Inspector Hemingway was called in by the local police to handle “the society of Thornden.” With his sidekick, Harbottle, they, of course, solve the case.
This was my fifth book by Heyer, and one thing I can count on is being amused by the period slang. This post-war setting offered a few new interjections for me besides the usual “By, Jove!” These characters exclaimed “Balderdash!” and “Sauce!” or “Lord-love-a-duck!” One British idiom the inspector mentioned caught my attention, “isn’t going to be all beer and skittles” referred to not being an easy time (of solving the case). And one character was wearing “sponge-bag trousers”, which sounded gross to me. I now know this is a colloquialism for formal trousers usually made of muted colors in wool or twill with single thin lines running through the fabric.
The strength of this book was the cleverly and excitingly revealed whodunit. I didn’t guess the circumstance early; not until the last chapter was it confirmed. There’s more to the plot than initially presented. Inspector Hemingway used psychology guided by his “flare” while Horace Harbottle, his sidekick, was bluntly linear in his approach.
Sounds like a fun read, so why only 3-stars?
Like in previous Heyer books, the initial character setup was involved. Diligently from the beginning, I kept a character list of at least 20 not counting the side characters. My task soon became hopeless though, I never did sort out a few character relationships. The author kept calling them by variations of their name or sometimes only referring to the house name where a character lived. Additionally, many characters had compound names. Names like: Drybeck, Patterdale, Thornden, Warrenby, Warcop, Woodhorn – none seemed unique. By 50%, I gave up trying to sort out the names and just tried to focus on the inspector’s actions.
Unfortunately, too much time was devoted to the endless speculation of suspects, motives, and alibis. With so many suspects, I grew tired of this because to follow some of the descriptions you needed an aerial map of the town (which Carol so kindly provided in her review). (And I was unclear on who a couple of the suspects were). Along with these theories, legal talk about entailed estates and local community boards further bogged down the middle.
Mostly the characters were mediocre or slightly annoying, of little to no humor, basically not ones that I’d remember. For instance, Mrs. Midgeholme was frequently about with her little dogs all with an “U” name, Umberto, Uppish, Unruly, and Umbrella that became less fun as I read on. The haphazard introduction, along with indistinguishable names, and unremarkable profiles turned into a lackluster read that I struggled to finish. Furthermore, I grew weary of the (negative) social commentary of the characters about foreigners, people with “pale-blue eyes”, and “people who evacuated” to their village during the blitz.
I persisted on reading when I would have usually ditched the book because in the Heyer books that I’ve read, she delivered an intriguing and complex plot. The last 30% was my reward for finishing the book.
Recommend for readers who enjoy clean classic mysteries, where all possible alibis are contemplated, and who like making a character list or illustrating a map based on the text.
Detection Unlimited is a 1953 classic mystery novel set in a small British village where a universally disliked man was shot in his garden following a summer-afternoon tennis party held nearby, so numerous guests had access (and motive) as they made their way home. Detective Inspector Hemingway was called in by the local police to handle “the society of Thornden.” With his sidekick, Harbottle, they, of course, solve the case.
This was my fifth book by Heyer, and one thing I can count on is being amused by the period slang. This post-war setting offered a few new interjections for me besides the usual “By, Jove!” These characters exclaimed “Balderdash!” and “Sauce!” or “Lord-love-a-duck!” One British idiom the inspector mentioned caught my attention, “isn’t going to be all beer and skittles” referred to not being an easy time (of solving the case). And one character was wearing “sponge-bag trousers”, which sounded gross to me. I now know this is a colloquialism for formal trousers usually made of muted colors in wool or twill with single thin lines running through the fabric.
The strength of this book was the cleverly and excitingly revealed whodunit. I didn’t guess the circumstance early; not until the last chapter was it confirmed. There’s more to the plot than initially presented. Inspector Hemingway used psychology guided by his “flare” while Horace Harbottle, his sidekick, was bluntly linear in his approach.
”The mistake we’ve been making, Horace, is to have paid a sight too much attention to what you might call the important features of the case, and not enough to the highly irrelevant trimmings.”
Sounds like a fun read, so why only 3-stars?
Like in previous Heyer books, the initial character setup was involved. Diligently from the beginning, I kept a character list of at least 20 not counting the side characters. My task soon became hopeless though, I never did sort out a few character relationships. The author kept calling them by variations of their name or sometimes only referring to the house name where a character lived. Additionally, many characters had compound names. Names like: Drybeck, Patterdale, Thornden, Warrenby, Warcop, Woodhorn – none seemed unique. By 50%, I gave up trying to sort out the names and just tried to focus on the inspector’s actions.
Unfortunately, too much time was devoted to the endless speculation of suspects, motives, and alibis. With so many suspects, I grew tired of this because to follow some of the descriptions you needed an aerial map of the town (which Carol so kindly provided in her review). (And I was unclear on who a couple of the suspects were). Along with these theories, legal talk about entailed estates and local community boards further bogged down the middle.
Mostly the characters were mediocre or slightly annoying, of little to no humor, basically not ones that I’d remember. For instance, Mrs. Midgeholme was frequently about with her little dogs all with an “U” name, Umberto, Uppish, Unruly, and Umbrella that became less fun as I read on. The haphazard introduction, along with indistinguishable names, and unremarkable profiles turned into a lackluster read that I struggled to finish. Furthermore, I grew weary of the (negative) social commentary of the characters about foreigners, people with “pale-blue eyes”, and “people who evacuated” to their village during the blitz.
I persisted on reading when I would have usually ditched the book because in the Heyer books that I’ve read, she delivered an intriguing and complex plot. The last 30% was my reward for finishing the book.
Recommend for readers who enjoy clean classic mysteries, where all possible alibis are contemplated, and who like making a character list or illustrating a map based on the text.
August 7, 2021
A very clever mystery, but not one of my favourites, although young Charles and Abbey made a cute couple. I did admire the lengths to which the murderer went to evade suspicion, but there was just too much dissection of the murder and all the possible motives and suspects.
March 14, 2020
This is the third of the series featuring Chief Inspector Hemingway that I’ve read, though it is the fourth in the series/subseries. Once again in a classic setting—a small English village—this one opens one summer evening as many of the residents are heading to a tennis party thrown by Mrs Haswell. On the way to and at the party we learn of a solicitor Mr Sampson Warrenby, who has recently moved to the village, and is not well liked, in fact disliked by pretty much all the residents. The party guests are rather pleased that Warrenby chose not to attend, though his niece, Mavis, who is keeping house for him is there. Of course, by the time the games come to an end and the guests return, Mavis comes home to find her uncle shot dead in the garden of his home, Fox House. The local Detective-Inspector Thropton is away sick (similar to the case in Envious Casca), and so the Chief Constable decides to call in Scotland Yard, and Chief Inspector Hemingway is sent down, accompanied by Inspector Horace Harbottle.
While in some ways, the case before Hemingway is a simple one, a man shot dead in his garden, it turns out to be quite difficult to figure out as for one, there are so many suspects, all with different reasons to dislike Warrenby—from Mr Drybeck the solicitor whose practice and seats on various boards and committees have been taken away by Warrenby, to his niece, the saintly Mavis who seems to have fallen in love with a young Polish man, Ladislas Zamagorisky, who her uncle most certainly does not approve of, to Mrs Midgeholme, breeder of Pekes whose dog was kicked by Warrenby, many have reasons to dislike him, even kill him. In fact, Hemingway says at one point, ‘I don’t know when I’ve had so many possibles to choose from’ , identifying nearly nine. To add to it, there are 37 rifles of the kind used in the murder in the vicinity. And if these alone weren’t enough, nearly everyone in the village from the said Mr Drybeck and Mrs Midgeholme, to youngsters Charles Haswell and Abigail Patterson, to a ninety-year-old former poacher Mr Biggleswade, has turned into an amateur detective approaching Hemingway with their theories and information they consider of the utmost importance, some to throw suspicion off themselves, but others genuinely ‘trying to help’.
I enjoyed this one, especially since like Hemingway, I certainly didn’t figure out whodunit until he did himself (in the previous Hemingway book I read, Envious Casca I did figure the ‘who’ out); so the book kept me reading till the end. The abundance of suspects and amateur detectives kept me guessing as well. Like the other two Hemingway books that I’ve read, this one too is humorous, in Hemingway’s tone and his exchanges with Inspector Harbottle for instance, as well as in some of the characters such as Mrs Midgeholme and her line of prize-winning Pekes Ultima, all named with the letter ‘U’ (Ulysees, Umberto, and Ursula, but also Uppish, Unruly and Umbrella) and even the old poacher, for that matter. Hemingway’s observations in an instance or two do seem a touch insensitive or un-PC but overall he’s good fun. The rest of the characters too are pretty well drawn out, each standing out individually, and of course, more than one with their own secrets. I liked how Hemingway finally worked the thing out, picking up on various things that he’d missed when first told them—the explanation of who, how, and why runs into several pages where the Inspector is more or less putting together various pieces as he works it out. I find I’m really liking Heyer’s mysteries, ones more serious in tone like Penhallow as well as these lighter-hearted Hemingway ones a lot, and look forward to reading more soon.
While in some ways, the case before Hemingway is a simple one, a man shot dead in his garden, it turns out to be quite difficult to figure out as for one, there are so many suspects, all with different reasons to dislike Warrenby—from Mr Drybeck the solicitor whose practice and seats on various boards and committees have been taken away by Warrenby, to his niece, the saintly Mavis who seems to have fallen in love with a young Polish man, Ladislas Zamagorisky, who her uncle most certainly does not approve of, to Mrs Midgeholme, breeder of Pekes whose dog was kicked by Warrenby, many have reasons to dislike him, even kill him. In fact, Hemingway says at one point, ‘I don’t know when I’ve had so many possibles to choose from’ , identifying nearly nine. To add to it, there are 37 rifles of the kind used in the murder in the vicinity. And if these alone weren’t enough, nearly everyone in the village from the said Mr Drybeck and Mrs Midgeholme, to youngsters Charles Haswell and Abigail Patterson, to a ninety-year-old former poacher Mr Biggleswade, has turned into an amateur detective approaching Hemingway with their theories and information they consider of the utmost importance, some to throw suspicion off themselves, but others genuinely ‘trying to help’.
I enjoyed this one, especially since like Hemingway, I certainly didn’t figure out whodunit until he did himself (in the previous Hemingway book I read, Envious Casca I did figure the ‘who’ out); so the book kept me reading till the end. The abundance of suspects and amateur detectives kept me guessing as well. Like the other two Hemingway books that I’ve read, this one too is humorous, in Hemingway’s tone and his exchanges with Inspector Harbottle for instance, as well as in some of the characters such as Mrs Midgeholme and her line of prize-winning Pekes Ultima, all named with the letter ‘U’ (Ulysees, Umberto, and Ursula, but also Uppish, Unruly and Umbrella) and even the old poacher, for that matter. Hemingway’s observations in an instance or two do seem a touch insensitive or un-PC but overall he’s good fun. The rest of the characters too are pretty well drawn out, each standing out individually, and of course, more than one with their own secrets. I liked how Hemingway finally worked the thing out, picking up on various things that he’d missed when first told them—the explanation of who, how, and why runs into several pages where the Inspector is more or less putting together various pieces as he works it out. I find I’m really liking Heyer’s mysteries, ones more serious in tone like Penhallow as well as these lighter-hearted Hemingway ones a lot, and look forward to reading more soon.
January 7, 2026
I'm making my way slowly along through all the old Georgette Heyer detective stories that are told in the tone and style of the Golden Age of British Detective stories.
A victim that not a soul liked, a village full of quirky suspects, and a chief inspector with a delicious sense of humor while he dug out all the secrets, sifted through the facts and clues, and eventually arrived at the truth.
Like the old-style detective stories, this one introduces the characters while building to the moment of the body's discovery. It paces out steadily and gently as villages and police go about their business dropping red herrings and sometimes clues they didn't know they possessed. I enjoyed trying to work out the solution, but I really didn't catch on until pretty late right along with Hemingway.
Hemingway has been a fixture for several cases and he cracks me up with his banter with his dour-faced assistant. He's intuitive, but works by letting people be themselves. So much can be learned from gossip and easy conversation, but there is a sharp mind behind his smiling demeanor.
Matt Addis was a first time narrator for me, but I thought he told the story well and I enjoyed his voices for all the characters, especially Chief Inspector Hemingway.
I love the old-style post-war world described and the simple story style mixed with a deceptively complex mystery plot. For those who are fans of the older murder mysteries this one is a must.
A victim that not a soul liked, a village full of quirky suspects, and a chief inspector with a delicious sense of humor while he dug out all the secrets, sifted through the facts and clues, and eventually arrived at the truth.
Like the old-style detective stories, this one introduces the characters while building to the moment of the body's discovery. It paces out steadily and gently as villages and police go about their business dropping red herrings and sometimes clues they didn't know they possessed. I enjoyed trying to work out the solution, but I really didn't catch on until pretty late right along with Hemingway.
Hemingway has been a fixture for several cases and he cracks me up with his banter with his dour-faced assistant. He's intuitive, but works by letting people be themselves. So much can be learned from gossip and easy conversation, but there is a sharp mind behind his smiling demeanor.
Matt Addis was a first time narrator for me, but I thought he told the story well and I enjoyed his voices for all the characters, especially Chief Inspector Hemingway.
I love the old-style post-war world described and the simple story style mixed with a deceptively complex mystery plot. For those who are fans of the older murder mysteries this one is a must.
July 14, 2019
Comparing to the previous ones I have read (Why Shoot a Butler?, Behold, Here's Poison, They Found Him Dead, A Blunt Instrument, No Wind of Blame, Duplicate Death, and Penhallow), This novel is my favorite so far. Georgette Heyer knows how to keep a reader in the dark (narrative trick) until the final chapters, I give her that. It is a shame that she only wrote 12 mysteries. Because of that, I am reluctant to read the remaining four this year. I probably gonna read two books in 2020 and two books in 2021.
A typical golden age mystery set in the village of Thornden where a despised Solicitor is found dead in his garden with a bullet in his head. Chief Inspector Hemingway form Scotland Yard is sent to solve the case. However, he has 10 suspects to investigate and none of them has a solid alibi which makes it harder for him, and a lot of mysterious elements surround the death of the victim.
Chief Inspector Hemingway is an interesting character and I like his sense of humor. I recommend this book to anyone who like classical mysteries (Agatha Christie for example).
A typical golden age mystery set in the village of Thornden where a despised Solicitor is found dead in his garden with a bullet in his head. Chief Inspector Hemingway form Scotland Yard is sent to solve the case. However, he has 10 suspects to investigate and none of them has a solid alibi which makes it harder for him, and a lot of mysterious elements surround the death of the victim.
Chief Inspector Hemingway is an interesting character and I like his sense of humor. I recommend this book to anyone who like classical mysteries (Agatha Christie for example).
March 4, 2015
Sadly this is the last detective story that GH wrote.
Hemingway (now a Chief Inspector) sparkles throughout & this book worth reading for his dialogue alone.
I have one leg longer than the other myself & I was wondering why Gavin simply didn't wear a lift in his shoe? Surely they would have been available in the 50s?
But a minor quibble for a very enjoyable book.
Hemingway (now a Chief Inspector) sparkles throughout & this book worth reading for his dialogue alone.
I have one leg longer than the other myself & I was wondering why Gavin simply didn't wear a lift in his shoe? Surely they would have been available in the 50s?
But a minor quibble for a very enjoyable book.
November 10, 2025
At first, I was overwhelmed with the number of characters and the geography (the description of whose house where was). But I went through and finally I figured out who was who. Yet, without the map (shared by sabagrey) I would have had a problem with understanding most of the intrigue.
There was charm and wit, yet I can't say I have had a great time with the story. It was just nice.
--- Review after first try ---
It happened, I decided to not finish Georgette Heyer's book. It was not easy to decide.
First I was overwhelmed by all those characters, I couldn't keep up with all those names. And then started the mystery with all those who and where was when the murder took place etc. Like a mantra, I repeat that I am not much a fan of detective stories, although I liked a few. I am easily distracted with such stories, I need some more to want to keep reading. And this time, neither Heyer's wit nor interesting characters convinced me to go on.
Nonetheless, for sure, I will try it again someday.
There was charm and wit, yet I can't say I have had a great time with the story. It was just nice.
--- Review after first try ---
It happened, I decided to not finish Georgette Heyer's book. It was not easy to decide.
First I was overwhelmed by all those characters, I couldn't keep up with all those names. And then started the mystery with all those who and where was when the murder took place etc. Like a mantra, I repeat that I am not much a fan of detective stories, although I liked a few. I am easily distracted with such stories, I need some more to want to keep reading. And this time, neither Heyer's wit nor interesting characters convinced me to go on.
Nonetheless, for sure, I will try it again someday.
November 4, 2025
I loved this and it's a first read for me! At the beginning my head was spinning with all the characters that were introduced but once I got them straight in my mind the story just flowed along. I was baffled at who the murderer could be even though there was one I was hoping it was. The ending was a tad abrupt as we didn't get to see the reaction of the murderer. I would have loved an extra chapter dealing with this.
Even though it's this author's historicals I really love, her crime novels are very good also. Great read!
Even though it's this author's historicals I really love, her crime novels are very good also. Great read!
November 1, 2025
10/24/25 reread: eyeglass issues had me putting this book and another I was reading on hold - fixed now, but I lose interest if I dawdle too long in the middle of a book!
Anyway, down to 3.5-4 stars for me. Usually an enjoyable GA mystery, this one drags for me until the murder occurs and Hemingway is brought in from Scotland Yard. Heyer spends so much time setting up the large cast, and their movements, around a summer afternoon tennis party in the village of Thornden. The party is at the same time as the murder of an unlikable but successful lawyer in the village, so it is important to the mystery; but the details of the physical layout of the village and the natural areas, lanes, spinneys were rather tedious. I always struggle with juggling lots of characters and descriptions of the physical location of a crime; a map would’ve been helpful.
Otherwise, Hemingway, as always, is a delight - with his ‘flair’ and interactions with villagers, coworkers, everyone, really! His visit to a large, rambunctious, chatty family, and efforts to get information out of an elderly ex-poacher were highlights! And any time he ran into Mrs. Midgeholme, village gossip and Pekingese dog breeder…
7/5/24 reread: 4.5 stars for this entertaining GA mystery; so glad I purchased Ulli Berve’s excellent narration on Audible before it became unavailable. I think she does a wonderful job with Heyer’s snarky, clever mysteries full of quirky characters! I love listening while I read along.
8/2/21: This was great fun for me, the only Heyer mystery I hadn’t read somehow. As usual, Heyer assembles an interesting cast of characters (both suspects and potential witnesses) around an English country house murder. Minor characters, perhaps, but highlights for me were the cranky old former poacher, Mr. Biggleswade, and Gladys, the chatty cook in the household where the murder took place - and of course, Chief Inspector Hemingway of Scotland Yard, flirty, friendly, charming, insightful by turns, but possessor of what he calls “flair”, which allows him to untie the knottiest murder puzzle. He is one of my favorite Heyer characters!
He and his latest assistant, the staid, rather somber Inspector Harbottle, are called in when an unpopular, pushing local attorney is found shot, sitting on a garden bench under a tree on a lazy summer afternoon. Heyer has assembled some great ‘types’ for our delectation, from the drippy, too good to be true niece, to the financially struggling old India hand, Major Midgeholme and his rather flighty wife, who raises champion Pekingese dogs (they provide comic relief in some enjoyable scenes - of course, the charming Hemingway knows how to get along with everyone, even the stately and standoffish sire, Ultima Ulysses, thus winning Mrs. M’s confidence!) It seems a straightforward case at first, but as Hemingway digs, with his “flair”, he discovers blackmail, and a previous crime that wasn’t what it seemed - and leads him to a satisfying conclusion.
I read my paperback copy, and enjoyed the Audible narration by Ulli Burve. I don’t think I’d enjoy her for Heyer’s romances, but for the golden age mysteries she has a knack for capturing the different tones and temperaments of the characters, from the assured, humorous, friendly, Cockney (?) voice of Hemingway, to the snappy tones of the no-nonsense vicar’s daughter, Miss Patterdale, to the snide, snarky mystery writer, Gavin Plenmiller.
Anyway, down to 3.5-4 stars for me. Usually an enjoyable GA mystery, this one drags for me until the murder occurs and Hemingway is brought in from Scotland Yard. Heyer spends so much time setting up the large cast, and their movements, around a summer afternoon tennis party in the village of Thornden. The party is at the same time as the murder of an unlikable but successful lawyer in the village, so it is important to the mystery; but the details of the physical layout of the village and the natural areas, lanes, spinneys were rather tedious. I always struggle with juggling lots of characters and descriptions of the physical location of a crime; a map would’ve been helpful.
Otherwise, Hemingway, as always, is a delight - with his ‘flair’ and interactions with villagers, coworkers, everyone, really! His visit to a large, rambunctious, chatty family, and efforts to get information out of an elderly ex-poacher were highlights! And any time he ran into Mrs. Midgeholme, village gossip and Pekingese dog breeder…
7/5/24 reread: 4.5 stars for this entertaining GA mystery; so glad I purchased Ulli Berve’s excellent narration on Audible before it became unavailable. I think she does a wonderful job with Heyer’s snarky, clever mysteries full of quirky characters! I love listening while I read along.
8/2/21: This was great fun for me, the only Heyer mystery I hadn’t read somehow. As usual, Heyer assembles an interesting cast of characters (both suspects and potential witnesses) around an English country house murder. Minor characters, perhaps, but highlights for me were the cranky old former poacher, Mr. Biggleswade, and Gladys, the chatty cook in the household where the murder took place - and of course, Chief Inspector Hemingway of Scotland Yard, flirty, friendly, charming, insightful by turns, but possessor of what he calls “flair”, which allows him to untie the knottiest murder puzzle. He is one of my favorite Heyer characters!
He and his latest assistant, the staid, rather somber Inspector Harbottle, are called in when an unpopular, pushing local attorney is found shot, sitting on a garden bench under a tree on a lazy summer afternoon. Heyer has assembled some great ‘types’ for our delectation, from the drippy, too good to be true niece, to the financially struggling old India hand, Major Midgeholme and his rather flighty wife, who raises champion Pekingese dogs (they provide comic relief in some enjoyable scenes - of course, the charming Hemingway knows how to get along with everyone, even the stately and standoffish sire, Ultima Ulysses, thus winning Mrs. M’s confidence!) It seems a straightforward case at first, but as Hemingway digs, with his “flair”, he discovers blackmail, and a previous crime that wasn’t what it seemed - and leads him to a satisfying conclusion.
I read my paperback copy, and enjoyed the Audible narration by Ulli Burve. I don’t think I’d enjoy her for Heyer’s romances, but for the golden age mysteries she has a knack for capturing the different tones and temperaments of the characters, from the assured, humorous, friendly, Cockney (?) voice of Hemingway, to the snappy tones of the no-nonsense vicar’s daughter, Miss Patterdale, to the snide, snarky mystery writer, Gavin Plenmiller.
May 11, 2021
Mmkay.
This is either a very impressed four stars or a very angry two stars.
Hemingway and Harbottle are a delightful detective team to follow, Hemingway with his “flair” and his “psychology” and Harbottle with his grim ordinary straight-laced good sense. And Heyer’s witty narration and deft character work shine as brightly as usual. And I thought the solution very clever. I like mysteries where it’s quite an ordinary murder, no exotic poison or anything like that, and you have to poke around the village with its usual number of characters and cranks and lacking alibis and gossip-run-riot.
But I read mysteries, you see, for the intellectual fun of it. They’re not supposed to COMPLETELY TWIST UP MY INSIDES, for heaven’s sake.
As far as I can remember, this sort of thing has only happened to me once before. It was awful. But it was also brilliant. This wasn’t equally brilliant, but still it was just, like, very clever and good? I thought?
What I’m rambling about is, Georgette Heyer made me care about the person who turned out to be the murderer. She made me care a lot.
Like I said, this does not usually happen.
And for good reason. Nobody wants their insides twisted up like mine were by the time I finished this stupid book.
But at the same time, that’s really how you should feel about murder, and murderers. That’s how bad it is, to be a murderer. And how sad. And...I dunno. I want to hate this book, but I kind of can’t because a) it was clever, and b) I’m just so impressed by how it brought home the atrocity to me, not so much of murder as of being a murderer.
It was horrid, okay? Quite entertaining and completely horrid.
This is either a very impressed four stars or a very angry two stars.
Hemingway and Harbottle are a delightful detective team to follow, Hemingway with his “flair” and his “psychology” and Harbottle with his grim ordinary straight-laced good sense. And Heyer’s witty narration and deft character work shine as brightly as usual. And I thought the solution very clever. I like mysteries where it’s quite an ordinary murder, no exotic poison or anything like that, and you have to poke around the village with its usual number of characters and cranks and lacking alibis and gossip-run-riot.
But I read mysteries, you see, for the intellectual fun of it. They’re not supposed to COMPLETELY TWIST UP MY INSIDES, for heaven’s sake.
As far as I can remember, this sort of thing has only happened to me once before. It was awful. But it was also brilliant. This wasn’t equally brilliant, but still it was just, like, very clever and good? I thought?
What I’m rambling about is, Georgette Heyer made me care about the person who turned out to be the murderer. She made me care a lot.
Like I said, this does not usually happen.
And for good reason. Nobody wants their insides twisted up like mine were by the time I finished this stupid book.
But at the same time, that’s really how you should feel about murder, and murderers. That’s how bad it is, to be a murderer. And how sad. And...I dunno. I want to hate this book, but I kind of can’t because a) it was clever, and b) I’m just so impressed by how it brought home the atrocity to me, not so much of murder as of being a murderer.
It was horrid, okay? Quite entertaining and completely horrid.
September 23, 2011
In Georgette Heyer's Detection Unlimited we have more suspects and more detectives than we can shake a stick at. Sampson Warrenby is dead and just about everybody in Thornden has a motive and the opportunity to have done him in. He's found slumped on a seat under the oak tree in his garden....with a bullet through his head. Most of the suspects were at an afternoon tennis party and were wandering about the area on their way home when the the shot was heard. When the local police decide to bring in Scotland Yard, Chief Inspector Hemingway finds that he has more than the village policemen offering him assistance. The villagers each have their pet suspect and can't understand why Hemingway doesn't immediately arrest him...or her. Is the villain the dead man's niece--for an inheritance and to get rid of a controlling uncle? Or maybe it's the town's other solicitor--angry at losing clients and prestige? Then there's the new couple at the farm who seem to have a guilty secret. And what about the author who wants the starring role in a real live murder mystery? It doesn't help that Warrenby seemed to have had the nasty habit of finding out little tidbits about his neighbors and not quite blackmailing them with his knowledge.
This was the only Heyer mystery that I hadn't read previously (I'm currently rereading them all for a Georgette Heyer reading challenge). And it's another fine specimen of the vintage village cozy. All the usual suspects are on board--and we even have the suspicious foreigner to grab some of our attention. Plenty of humor. And Hemingway has his usual "flair" and a new sidekick. Inspector Grant has moved on to better things and we now have Inspector Harbottle--dour-faced but a definite Hemingway devotee. There were plenty of red herrings which managed to keep me guessing until the end, although I was torn between two suspects--the correct one and another. Four stars for a grand story by one of the grand ladies of vintage crime.
This was the only Heyer mystery that I hadn't read previously (I'm currently rereading them all for a Georgette Heyer reading challenge). And it's another fine specimen of the vintage village cozy. All the usual suspects are on board--and we even have the suspicious foreigner to grab some of our attention. Plenty of humor. And Hemingway has his usual "flair" and a new sidekick. Inspector Grant has moved on to better things and we now have Inspector Harbottle--dour-faced but a definite Hemingway devotee. There were plenty of red herrings which managed to keep me guessing until the end, although I was torn between two suspects--the correct one and another. Four stars for a grand story by one of the grand ladies of vintage crime.
May 23, 2013
I gather I'm reading this somewhat out of order, in that there are several other books featuring the same detective and this is the last of them (and the last of Georgette Heyer's mysteries as a whole, I believe?). I blame the fact that they're not numbered in any way. Not that I think it much mattered: Chief Inspector Hemingway couldn't really win my heart, given that my fictional detective sweetie is always going to be Dorothy L. Sayers' Lord Peter. But he was fun enough to spend some time with, and I didn't feel that we needed to know too much about him and his personal life.
(Sometimes he drove me a little mad being superior, but I would imagine that's very much down to personal taste.)
I rather enjoyed the slow unwinding of the mystery, though I think maybe I would've preferred the culprit to be someone else, on the grounds that it was so neat -- got the culprit out of the community where they didn't fit in, leaving the community more or less unharmed (but better off for the loss of a singularly unpleasant murder victim and suspect)... I expect a certain degree of neatness in detective stories, because they're artificial, but that whiffed of something like Putting Those Upstarts In Their Place, or something.
Still, while the characters are more or less stereotypical for a little village murder, they're fun as drawn by Heyer, and she certainly has a way with words. I spat my drink out on reading another review here stating that she's not fit to be mentioned in the same breath as Agatha Christie (not those exact words: if you want to find the review, it's easy enough) -- to me, at least, Hayer's books seem less workmanlike, and rather inclined to mock themselves gently in a way I don't remember Christie's doing, a point which I think Christie's fan missed.
(Sometimes he drove me a little mad being superior, but I would imagine that's very much down to personal taste.)
I rather enjoyed the slow unwinding of the mystery, though I think maybe I would've preferred the culprit to be someone else, on the grounds that it was so neat -- got the culprit out of the community where they didn't fit in, leaving the community more or less unharmed (but better off for the loss of a singularly unpleasant murder victim and suspect)... I expect a certain degree of neatness in detective stories, because they're artificial, but that whiffed of something like Putting Those Upstarts In Their Place, or something.
Still, while the characters are more or less stereotypical for a little village murder, they're fun as drawn by Heyer, and she certainly has a way with words. I spat my drink out on reading another review here stating that she's not fit to be mentioned in the same breath as Agatha Christie (not those exact words: if you want to find the review, it's easy enough) -- to me, at least, Hayer's books seem less workmanlike, and rather inclined to mock themselves gently in a way I don't remember Christie's doing, a point which I think Christie's fan missed.
September 6, 2021
This is a nice small English village murder mystery. Everyone knows everyone else and there are lots of reasons to suspect each other of the killing of a very unlikable man. I've read it several times but I actually remembered the wrong murderer until toward the end of the book.
While I reread this I kept thinking it would have been nice to keep a list of suspects, a timetable of their movements, and to create a map of the town where the murder took place. However, as I was also taking care of two small boys, I was satisfied with just enjoying reading it. My point is that Heyer's mysteries contain all the details you need to solve them, and at the same time she pulls you in with her likable characters and quaint English settings. Adding a bit of romance never hurts.
Every time I reread one her mysteries I think how underrated she is as a mystery author. No one else has quite her touch with characters or setting, and the clues are almost always hard to untwist. I really enjoy them. (Except for Penhallow.) I wish they'd sold better and she'd written more!
While I reread this I kept thinking it would have been nice to keep a list of suspects, a timetable of their movements, and to create a map of the town where the murder took place. However, as I was also taking care of two small boys, I was satisfied with just enjoying reading it. My point is that Heyer's mysteries contain all the details you need to solve them, and at the same time she pulls you in with her likable characters and quaint English settings. Adding a bit of romance never hurts.
Every time I reread one her mysteries I think how underrated she is as a mystery author. No one else has quite her touch with characters or setting, and the clues are almost always hard to untwist. I really enjoy them. (Except for Penhallow.) I wish they'd sold better and she'd written more!
September 30, 2023
But what you see in this case to be pleased about I can’t make out! Seems to me it’s either going to be so easy that this local Sergeant you think so well of might just as well have solved it for himself; or it’s going to be such a snorter that we shall never get to the bottom of it.’ ‘It’s got class,’ said Hemingway, selecting a radish from the dish. ‘It’s got a good decor, too, and, barring the Pole, I like the sound of the dramatis personae. It isn’t every day you get a murder amongst a lot of nice, respectable people living in a country village.
For some reason, I never read this mystery by Georgette until this week. The narration and acting by the reader, Ulli Burve' was excellent. The puzzle was clever and twisty and Inspector Hemingway is as bright as ever. And yes, he still is a fan of "psychology." As always in a cozy mystery many secrets are revealed. Heyer is a master at the characterization of the mostly stock English village types. And always, the witty repartee and humorous observations were one of the strengths. There is a slight but sunny little romance as well. I was mystified as to the perpetrator until the end but it was one of two people I hoped it would be. I wish the final confrontation and reveal would have been real time and not just regurgitated later because it would have made a deliciously satisfactory scene. I'm knocking off part of star for that **3 1/2 stars**
March 6, 2012
First published in 1953, this was the last of Georgette Heyer’s mysteries and the last in my project to read them all. Written in order to pay a tax bill (if I remember correctly from Jennifer Kloester’s excellent biography, Georgette Heyer: Biography of a Bestseller) the novel has a cast of quirky characters and is full of Heyer's witty dialogue. The plot – a reasonably standard whodunit with a range of possible culprits – is not exactly a page turner but was engaging enough to retain my interest. I didn’t guess the identity of the murderer until just before the penny dropped for Heyer’s entertaining detective Chief Inspector Hemingway, which was a definite plus.
This novel will appeal most to fans of Heyer’s writing and to readers with a fondness for the lighter side of British Golden Age detective fiction, rather than to dedicated readers of contemporary crime novels. However, it was a fun read, made even more fun by reading it with my friend Jemidar – who, clever clogs that she is - picked the culprit well in advance.
March 9, 2011
Rating Clarification: 3.5 Stars
Who would have wanted to murder solicitor Sampson Warrenby?
Apparently everyone in the village of Thornden.
There's no shortage of suspects to question when Scotland Yard sends one of their finest -- Chief Inspector Hemingway -- to ferret out means, motive and opportunity. You've got the village squire and his ailing wife, the victim's long suffering niece, a rival solicitor, a mysterious couple, a crime writer, a handsome foreigner, and a military officer whose wife breeds Pekenese dogs with the unlikely names of Ullapool, Ursula, Umberto, Umbrella and Uppish. Oh, the wife had motive alright: Warrenby had had the unmitigated nerve to kick poor peekie Ulysses (!!!).
Another classic whodunit from Heyer set in the mid-1950's, and one of her final mysteries. I enjoyed this one very much, and would have rated it higher except for the fact that the resolution and ending was too abrupt. It needed 2-3 more pages to smooth it out, IMO. In addition, this book would have been so much better with a map provided at the front of Chapter 1. It was hard to picture the village of Thornden and the juxtaposition of all the houses and plots of land which made up a good portion of the book. Otherwise, another winner from Heyer, whose powers of writing droll characters remains top notch.
Who would have wanted to murder solicitor Sampson Warrenby?
Apparently everyone in the village of Thornden.
There's no shortage of suspects to question when Scotland Yard sends one of their finest -- Chief Inspector Hemingway -- to ferret out means, motive and opportunity. You've got the village squire and his ailing wife, the victim's long suffering niece, a rival solicitor, a mysterious couple, a crime writer, a handsome foreigner, and a military officer whose wife breeds Pekenese dogs with the unlikely names of Ullapool, Ursula, Umberto, Umbrella and Uppish. Oh, the wife had motive alright: Warrenby had had the unmitigated nerve to kick poor peekie Ulysses (!!!).
Another classic whodunit from Heyer set in the mid-1950's, and one of her final mysteries. I enjoyed this one very much, and would have rated it higher except for the fact that the resolution and ending was too abrupt. It needed 2-3 more pages to smooth it out, IMO. In addition, this book would have been so much better with a map provided at the front of Chapter 1. It was hard to picture the village of Thornden and the juxtaposition of all the houses and plots of land which made up a good portion of the book. Otherwise, another winner from Heyer, whose powers of writing droll characters remains top notch.
November 9, 2025
entertaining mystery. I do wish that Heyer didn't always feel obliged to build a romance into her mysteries, though
June 1, 2024
*4.5 stars ✨
November 19, 2025
In the village of Thornden there are old timers, who have lived in the village for centuries, and everyone else is a newcomer. Solicitor Sampson Warrenby is very much a newcomer and an encroaching one at that. He dared try to ingratiate himself to the villagers and take over positions traditionally reserved for old timers. If it weren't for the sake of his poor niece, of whom he makes a drudge, no one would associate with him at all! One day after tea and tennis at The Cedars, Mavis returns home to find her uncle dead in the garden- shot in the head! She doesn't even have the presence of mind to call the police, collapsing in hysterics at Miss Patterdale's cottage. The man's physician pronounces Warrenby dead and the local constable declares an open and shut case or murder. The case, however, requires a delicate touch and Scotland Yard sends their finest, Chief Inspector Hemingway, to deal with the upper class residents and determine which one killed Sampson Warrenby. With everyone playing armchair detective and wanting to be his best friend, it will be a wonder if Hemingway can actually solve this one!
I really enjoyed this final mystery from Georgette Heyer. She saved the best for last. This one has a much lighter tone than her previous mysteries and quite a lot of humor. The close-knit, insular village snootiness is easier to stomach than the between-the-wars upper class country manor social snobbery. I had a tough time getting into this one at first, as usual, with all the characters' names being thrown at me. The 1969 American edition has a map of the village but it didn't really help me. Once Hemingway appears on the scene, the pace picks up and I had a hard time putting it down. I had to keep reading to the end. I was certain I knew whodunit and thought Hemingway was missing something but the more he investigated, the more I was confused. I didn't know who the murderer was until a certain clue was dropped that reduced the suspect pool. The conclusion to the mystery is related after the arrest so we don't get to fully know what happened. I would have liked more action in real time. There's a very minor romantic subplot I didn't care for at all. I love romance in my mysteries but this one was such a footnote and concluded in the most awful manner, I just didn't enjoy it.
Heyer's real strength lies in her characters. Normally I don't find her contemporary characters as delightful or memorable as in her Regencies but this book contains several fun and quirky characters and some rather dull and unmemorable ones. My favorite characters are the Ultimas, a family of pampered Pekinese pooches belonging to Mrs. Midgethorpe. She's a bit dim and silly, massively spoils her dogs and I don't approve of her breeding practices. However, she does love her dogs. They're amusing, albeit untrained and their names will make you howl! I know she didn't commit the murder because she's never without her babies and they would have been startled by the gunshot. She gets rather annoying prattling nonsense to the detective, but somewhere in there must be some clues. There is an outside chance she murdered Sampson Warrenby because he kicked her dogs. I would surely be tempted to sic the dogs on him to lick him to death but shoot him? No.
The deceased, Sampson Warrenby, was a nasty character. He had his finger in every pie and was ruthless about getting what he wanted. He was a bully, possibly a cheat and a blackmailer. The village can breathe easier now he's gone. None more than his niece Mavis. She moved in with him after her parents died even though she didn't really have to. He's done nothing but be cruel to her, treating her worse than he would paid help. Why doesn't she leave? Her uncle has even forbidden her the one true friend she has, partly because the man is Polish and partly for control. This man was a psychological terror as well as a temperamental tyrant. Mavis appears dim and waaayyy too selfless. She felt beholden to her uncle and did whatever he told her. Once he's dead, she is the only one to observe old-fashioned mourning customs and the only one who is sad. Truly? I don't buy it. NO ONE can be THAT selfless, that stupid, that... whatever the term is for character I want to slap to life. Could she be the killer no one suspects?
Mr. Drybeck is my third choice for killer. A solicitor by trade, he's Warrenby's chief rival. They're both after the same positions on the same boards and Drybeck can't stand that Warrenby beat him out by underhanded, in his opinion, methods. He loves to fuss and complain a lot to anyone who will listen. Could the jealousy have simmered to a boiling point? I want it to be him because he doesn't like dogs. He has that much in common with his rival.
Major Midgethorpe is your typical old India military chap. Probably if you let him he'd go on and on about his career but he's limited to only appearing twice. He knows how to shoot a gun to kill and certainly must have experience but I don't think he would murder a neighbor. He doesn't seem to have the personality for it. The Haswells live at The Cedars and on the day of the murder, Mrs. H hosts everyone for tea and tennis. She seems lovely but prattles on about inconsequential things too much. She seems clueless about nonverbal social cues and even some verbal ones. Mr. Haswell is absent during the party. He seems like a decent chap. I like the family, especially son Charles who is trying to woo a lady under the eyes of her doting aunt. He seems sensible and his father does as well. I hope it isn't one of them.
Gavin Patterdale, a crime writer, has a chip on his shoulder because he had a hip disease that made one leg shorter than the other. Gavin has a snarky sense of humor, claiming he doesn't mean what he says, but people take offense anyway. He's often rude and mean just because he thinks he's clever and better than everyone else. He isn't a very pleasant man. He leaves the party for a rude reason and doesn't return until late. Could he have killed Sampson Warrenby, a man he claims he won't associate with? He may have had the opportunity but what was the motive? What about the means?
Knelem and Delia Lindale are a young couple new to the village. They don't get out much, having a young baby at home and that makes some of the other villagers suspect the Lindales are not what they ought to be. Sheesh. Talk about nosy neighbors. I feel bad for the couple. They're newcomers and the neighbors are curious. He obviously had a bad time in the war and is trying his hand at a new career. He's busy working, she's busy with the baby and I don't blame them for being a bit anti-social. I can't really warm up to either of them though. She's a bit silly and the nervous type. I think she treats her baby the same way Mrs. M treats her furbabies. Mrs. Cliburn is the type who claims she doesn't like to offer her opinions but then does. Perhaps her position as vicar's wife makes her feel she can share her opinions with everyone and they'll listen. The Squire and Mrs. Ainstable seem like a nice, older couple. I feel so bad for them. They lost their son in the war and she doesn't seem to have recovered from the shock. She's the type that has nerves. I suspect her nerves could be stronger than anyone realizes. She arrived at the party late and left early, in the car, carrying important papers Gavin went home to retrieve for her husband. I suspect she looked and saw something that made her unhappy. Perhaps something to do with the son or the new heir and Warrenby HAD to be stopped before he spread the vicious news.
Another suspect is Ladislas, a young Polish immigrant said to be after Mavis Warrenby. He seems like a drama king but is right to be cautious because he's an immigrant, an outsider to the village and the country. He doesn't know the way the law works. I feel bad for him but I don't find him all that sympathetic.
Abigail Dearham is a young professional visiting her aunt in the village. She's intelligent, warm-hearted and energetic. I really like her. I think she can do better than Charles and hopefully find a new job where her boss isn't so eccentric and demanding. Abby's aunt, Miriam Patterdale is the only spinster in the story. She doesn't need a man. She's strong, level-headed and a really cool aunt. Even though she doesn't drink, she goes crazy mixing up new drinks for her niece and adopted nephew Charles. How fun! I was rather alarmed at how much the young people drank! All three of them alibi each other. I hope anyway.
I love Chief Inspector Hemingway. His dry wit amuses me and I love how he's able to get information out of people when it seems like it's the other way around. He's charming and a lot of fun. I loved the reference to They Found Him Dead but it made me miss Terrible Timothy. Detective-Sargent Carsethorn is not as charming or witty. He's from the village and friendly with the suspects. Inspector Harbottle lacks imagination and cleverness. His morals more than make up for his defects but they make him a dull dog indeed. Police Constable Hobkirk is in a tough spot. Not the first one called to the murder scene but used to dealing with local crime, he has his feelings hurt. He also has to deal with the lower class yokels still and their petty grievances.
The lower class characters are a hoot! Friendly Mrs. Ditchling and her 6 children think Hemingway is their long-lost uncle or something. They're very hospitable and he deals well with the two youngest boys. An older boy, Reggie, has one of the rifles that MAY have committed murder. Was it an ACCIDENT after all? The BEST character in the novel is 90-year-old Mr. Biggleswade. He claims he has evidence of the murder and wants his picture in the paper. He's convinced and will not be deterred. His daughter thinks surely he's in his dotage. He's hilarious and steals the two scenes he's in. There's also Gladys, Mr. Warrenby's housekeeper, who appears late in the story but seems like a fun character. She loves radio dramas so I'm certain this feels like a real life soap opera to her and she's an important piece of the puzzle.
I enjoyed reading this last detective mystery from Georgette Heyer. It's too bad she didn't write more because she seems to have hit her stride with this one. I love her Regencies more but it makes a nice change to read something else.
_____________________________________________________
Reread Nov. 2025
This was my second read. I didn't enjoy it as much as I ddi the first time. The original American edition from 1969 has the map but I just went along for the ride and didn't consult it too much. The story started off too slow and confusing for me. I couldn't keep everyone straight. Once Hemmingway arrives on the scene, it picked up. He's delightful and I love how he deals with the villagers. I began to remember some of the story at that point.
I love the characters' names! The little girl "Jackeryleen" I take it is supposed to be the French pronunciation of Jacqueline? Mr. Biggleswade is a hero and he SHOULD get his picture in the paper even if he tried to pin the murder on someone innocent.
I was half hoping the murderer would be that awful woman with the dogs. Those dogs need to be rehomed, spayed and neutered ASAP. Their names are a hoot but Ursula or whoever doesn't need a human to hold her paw while she's whelping and I hoped she would bite Mother for that.
The niece is totally awful and if she killed her uncle, I think Hemmingway will have to go up against the villagers if he wantsto arrest her. I have a feeling they'd protect Mavis and argue she was justified.
The romance was too rushed for me. I like Abigail. She seems cool. She's very kind to Mavis even though they're complete opposites. I also really like Miss Patterdale. She's tough and she's also caring. She's nowhere near as silly as the other women. Charles is not as appealing. He comes on too strong with Abigail but doesn't state his intensions.
As always though, it's the characters who make Heyer's mysteries shine.
I really enjoyed this final mystery from Georgette Heyer. She saved the best for last. This one has a much lighter tone than her previous mysteries and quite a lot of humor. The close-knit, insular village snootiness is easier to stomach than the between-the-wars upper class country manor social snobbery. I had a tough time getting into this one at first, as usual, with all the characters' names being thrown at me. The 1969 American edition has a map of the village but it didn't really help me. Once Hemingway appears on the scene, the pace picks up and I had a hard time putting it down. I had to keep reading to the end. I was certain I knew whodunit and thought Hemingway was missing something but the more he investigated, the more I was confused. I didn't know who the murderer was until a certain clue was dropped that reduced the suspect pool. The conclusion to the mystery is related after the arrest so we don't get to fully know what happened. I would have liked more action in real time. There's a very minor romantic subplot I didn't care for at all. I love romance in my mysteries but this one was such a footnote and concluded in the most awful manner, I just didn't enjoy it.
Heyer's real strength lies in her characters. Normally I don't find her contemporary characters as delightful or memorable as in her Regencies but this book contains several fun and quirky characters and some rather dull and unmemorable ones. My favorite characters are the Ultimas, a family of pampered Pekinese pooches belonging to Mrs. Midgethorpe. She's a bit dim and silly, massively spoils her dogs and I don't approve of her breeding practices. However, she does love her dogs. They're amusing, albeit untrained and their names will make you howl! I know she didn't commit the murder because she's never without her babies and they would have been startled by the gunshot. She gets rather annoying prattling nonsense to the detective, but somewhere in there must be some clues. There is an outside chance she murdered Sampson Warrenby because he kicked her dogs. I would surely be tempted to sic the dogs on him to lick him to death but shoot him? No.
The deceased, Sampson Warrenby, was a nasty character. He had his finger in every pie and was ruthless about getting what he wanted. He was a bully, possibly a cheat and a blackmailer. The village can breathe easier now he's gone. None more than his niece Mavis. She moved in with him after her parents died even though she didn't really have to. He's done nothing but be cruel to her, treating her worse than he would paid help. Why doesn't she leave? Her uncle has even forbidden her the one true friend she has, partly because the man is Polish and partly for control. This man was a psychological terror as well as a temperamental tyrant. Mavis appears dim and waaayyy too selfless. She felt beholden to her uncle and did whatever he told her. Once he's dead, she is the only one to observe old-fashioned mourning customs and the only one who is sad. Truly? I don't buy it. NO ONE can be THAT selfless, that stupid, that... whatever the term is for character I want to slap to life. Could she be the killer no one suspects?
Mr. Drybeck is my third choice for killer. A solicitor by trade, he's Warrenby's chief rival. They're both after the same positions on the same boards and Drybeck can't stand that Warrenby beat him out by underhanded, in his opinion, methods. He loves to fuss and complain a lot to anyone who will listen. Could the jealousy have simmered to a boiling point? I want it to be him because he doesn't like dogs. He has that much in common with his rival.
Major Midgethorpe is your typical old India military chap. Probably if you let him he'd go on and on about his career but he's limited to only appearing twice. He knows how to shoot a gun to kill and certainly must have experience but I don't think he would murder a neighbor. He doesn't seem to have the personality for it. The Haswells live at The Cedars and on the day of the murder, Mrs. H hosts everyone for tea and tennis. She seems lovely but prattles on about inconsequential things too much. She seems clueless about nonverbal social cues and even some verbal ones. Mr. Haswell is absent during the party. He seems like a decent chap. I like the family, especially son Charles who is trying to woo a lady under the eyes of her doting aunt. He seems sensible and his father does as well. I hope it isn't one of them.
Gavin Patterdale, a crime writer, has a chip on his shoulder because he had a hip disease that made one leg shorter than the other. Gavin has a snarky sense of humor, claiming he doesn't mean what he says, but people take offense anyway. He's often rude and mean just because he thinks he's clever and better than everyone else. He isn't a very pleasant man. He leaves the party for a rude reason and doesn't return until late. Could he have killed Sampson Warrenby, a man he claims he won't associate with? He may have had the opportunity but what was the motive? What about the means?
Knelem and Delia Lindale are a young couple new to the village. They don't get out much, having a young baby at home and that makes some of the other villagers suspect the Lindales are not what they ought to be. Sheesh. Talk about nosy neighbors. I feel bad for the couple. They're newcomers and the neighbors are curious. He obviously had a bad time in the war and is trying his hand at a new career. He's busy working, she's busy with the baby and I don't blame them for being a bit anti-social. I can't really warm up to either of them though. She's a bit silly and the nervous type. I think she treats her baby the same way Mrs. M treats her furbabies. Mrs. Cliburn is the type who claims she doesn't like to offer her opinions but then does. Perhaps her position as vicar's wife makes her feel she can share her opinions with everyone and they'll listen. The Squire and Mrs. Ainstable seem like a nice, older couple. I feel so bad for them. They lost their son in the war and she doesn't seem to have recovered from the shock. She's the type that has nerves. I suspect her nerves could be stronger than anyone realizes. She arrived at the party late and left early, in the car, carrying important papers Gavin went home to retrieve for her husband. I suspect she looked and saw something that made her unhappy. Perhaps something to do with the son or the new heir and Warrenby HAD to be stopped before he spread the vicious news.
Another suspect is Ladislas, a young Polish immigrant said to be after Mavis Warrenby. He seems like a drama king but is right to be cautious because he's an immigrant, an outsider to the village and the country. He doesn't know the way the law works. I feel bad for him but I don't find him all that sympathetic.
Abigail Dearham is a young professional visiting her aunt in the village. She's intelligent, warm-hearted and energetic. I really like her. I think she can do better than Charles and hopefully find a new job where her boss isn't so eccentric and demanding. Abby's aunt, Miriam Patterdale is the only spinster in the story. She doesn't need a man. She's strong, level-headed and a really cool aunt. Even though she doesn't drink, she goes crazy mixing up new drinks for her niece and adopted nephew Charles. How fun! I was rather alarmed at how much the young people drank! All three of them alibi each other. I hope anyway.
I love Chief Inspector Hemingway. His dry wit amuses me and I love how he's able to get information out of people when it seems like it's the other way around. He's charming and a lot of fun. I loved the reference to They Found Him Dead but it made me miss Terrible Timothy. Detective-Sargent Carsethorn is not as charming or witty. He's from the village and friendly with the suspects. Inspector Harbottle lacks imagination and cleverness. His morals more than make up for his defects but they make him a dull dog indeed. Police Constable Hobkirk is in a tough spot. Not the first one called to the murder scene but used to dealing with local crime, he has his feelings hurt. He also has to deal with the lower class yokels still and their petty grievances.
The lower class characters are a hoot! Friendly Mrs. Ditchling and her 6 children think Hemingway is their long-lost uncle or something. They're very hospitable and he deals well with the two youngest boys. An older boy, Reggie, has one of the rifles that MAY have committed murder. Was it an ACCIDENT after all? The BEST character in the novel is 90-year-old Mr. Biggleswade. He claims he has evidence of the murder and wants his picture in the paper. He's convinced and will not be deterred. His daughter thinks surely he's in his dotage. He's hilarious and steals the two scenes he's in. There's also Gladys, Mr. Warrenby's housekeeper, who appears late in the story but seems like a fun character. She loves radio dramas so I'm certain this feels like a real life soap opera to her and she's an important piece of the puzzle.
I enjoyed reading this last detective mystery from Georgette Heyer. It's too bad she didn't write more because she seems to have hit her stride with this one. I love her Regencies more but it makes a nice change to read something else.
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Reread Nov. 2025
This was my second read. I didn't enjoy it as much as I ddi the first time. The original American edition from 1969 has the map but I just went along for the ride and didn't consult it too much. The story started off too slow and confusing for me. I couldn't keep everyone straight. Once Hemmingway arrives on the scene, it picked up. He's delightful and I love how he deals with the villagers. I began to remember some of the story at that point.
I love the characters' names! The little girl "Jackeryleen" I take it is supposed to be the French pronunciation of Jacqueline? Mr. Biggleswade is a hero and he SHOULD get his picture in the paper even if he tried to pin the murder on someone innocent.
I was half hoping the murderer would be that awful woman with the dogs. Those dogs need to be rehomed, spayed and neutered ASAP. Their names are a hoot but Ursula or whoever doesn't need a human to hold her paw while she's whelping and I hoped she would bite Mother for that.
The niece is totally awful and if she killed her uncle, I think Hemmingway will have to go up against the villagers if he wantsto arrest her. I have a feeling they'd protect Mavis and argue she was justified.
The romance was too rushed for me. I like Abigail. She seems cool. She's very kind to Mavis even though they're complete opposites. I also really like Miss Patterdale. She's tough and she's also caring. She's nowhere near as silly as the other women. Charles is not as appealing. He comes on too strong with Abigail but doesn't state his intensions.
As always though, it's the characters who make Heyer's mysteries shine.
March 16, 2020
Detection Unlimited begins with a tea party: the gentry of the village of Thornden gathers at the home of the Haswells to eat, drink, play tennis and gossip.
Back home after the party, one of the invitees, Mavis Warrenby, discovers that her uncle, with whom she lives, has been murdered: shot through the head while he sits in the garden. Mavis, whom everybody agrees was treated very badly by Sampson Warrenby, (who regarded her as the quintessential poor relative, only fit to be a glorified servant), benefits by his death, since she inherits a good deal of Warrenby's wealth.
But Mavis is by no means the only suspect. As Chief Inspector Hemingway, arriving in Thornden with his assistant Inspector Harbottle, realizes, Warrenby was extremely unpopular. From the Peke-breeding Mrs Midgeholme (whose prize dog was kicked by Warrenby) to the Pole expat who's been wooing Mavis, to various others who disliked Warrenby: there seems to be no end to the list of suspects.
I liked this story: it was a good, solid murder mystery, and the way Hemingway and Harbottle go about solving it made for an absorbing read. The clues and the red herrings were all in place, and I found myself, every now and then, comparing Detection Unlimited to one of Agatha Christie's many mysteries set in the English countryside. The similarities are many: the country setting, the upper class gentry who form the bulk of the book's characters. The insight into human nature. The way everything falls into place, from clues which were there in plain sight.
Where Heyer is different from Christie is in her wittiness. Not that this book is funny throughout; but there are enough dialogues—between Hemingway and Harbottle, for instance, and a delightful couple of dialogues featuring the inimitable Mr Biggleswade—which are hilarious.
Two elements irked me. One, the labelling of Ladislas as 'the Pole with the unnatural name' which was so very racist. Two, the unnecessary insertion of the romance. Yes, Heyer is the queen of romances, but in this case, since she doesn't have the time and space to do a proper romance, what one ends up with is a half-baked one that's not satisfying at all. This would have been better left out totally.
Back home after the party, one of the invitees, Mavis Warrenby, discovers that her uncle, with whom she lives, has been murdered: shot through the head while he sits in the garden. Mavis, whom everybody agrees was treated very badly by Sampson Warrenby, (who regarded her as the quintessential poor relative, only fit to be a glorified servant), benefits by his death, since she inherits a good deal of Warrenby's wealth.
But Mavis is by no means the only suspect. As Chief Inspector Hemingway, arriving in Thornden with his assistant Inspector Harbottle, realizes, Warrenby was extremely unpopular. From the Peke-breeding Mrs Midgeholme (whose prize dog was kicked by Warrenby) to the Pole expat who's been wooing Mavis, to various others who disliked Warrenby: there seems to be no end to the list of suspects.
I liked this story: it was a good, solid murder mystery, and the way Hemingway and Harbottle go about solving it made for an absorbing read. The clues and the red herrings were all in place, and I found myself, every now and then, comparing Detection Unlimited to one of Agatha Christie's many mysteries set in the English countryside. The similarities are many: the country setting, the upper class gentry who form the bulk of the book's characters. The insight into human nature. The way everything falls into place, from clues which were there in plain sight.
Where Heyer is different from Christie is in her wittiness. Not that this book is funny throughout; but there are enough dialogues—between Hemingway and Harbottle, for instance, and a delightful couple of dialogues featuring the inimitable Mr Biggleswade—which are hilarious.
Two elements irked me. One, the labelling of Ladislas as 'the Pole with the unnatural name' which was so very racist. Two, the unnecessary insertion of the romance. Yes, Heyer is the queen of romances, but in this case, since she doesn't have the time and space to do a proper romance, what one ends up with is a half-baked one that's not satisfying at all. This would have been better left out totally.
September 6, 2021
Georgette's final detective story is very enjoyable--lots of humor, vivid characters, and a solid mystery.
The book opens slowly, with early chapters setting the scene(a country village), and introducing the characters (alive and dead). Then comes the big moment: the discovery of the dead man, an unpopular resident.
It is the arrival of Scotland Yard's Chief Inspector Hemingway and his partner Inspector Harbottle that kicks the story into high gear. Hemingway is known for his 'flair' and his wicked sense of humor. Harbottle is a one-man chorus of doom and gloom. Together they provide the reader with pages of entertainment. Heyer is at the top of her game--so many lovely observations--often laugh-out-loud hilarious, very seldom mean-spirited.
As for the actual murder mystery part of the story--it was very cleverly done. Hemingway definitely had his ears bent by the various villagers (i.e. potential suspects), each intent on telling him their theory about who the murderer had to be; each firm in their own innocence. I'm not sure that I actually figured out 'whodunnit'. I do know I was very happy with the identity of the villain.
This was so much fun; it goes on the keeper shelf. I know I'll be re-reading it.
The book opens slowly, with early chapters setting the scene(a country village), and introducing the characters (alive and dead). Then comes the big moment: the discovery of the dead man, an unpopular resident.
It is the arrival of Scotland Yard's Chief Inspector Hemingway and his partner Inspector Harbottle that kicks the story into high gear. Hemingway is known for his 'flair' and his wicked sense of humor. Harbottle is a one-man chorus of doom and gloom. Together they provide the reader with pages of entertainment. Heyer is at the top of her game--so many lovely observations--often laugh-out-loud hilarious, very seldom mean-spirited.
As for the actual murder mystery part of the story--it was very cleverly done. Hemingway definitely had his ears bent by the various villagers (i.e. potential suspects), each intent on telling him their theory about who the murderer had to be; each firm in their own innocence. I'm not sure that I actually figured out 'whodunnit'. I do know I was very happy with the identity of the villain.
This was so much fun; it goes on the keeper shelf. I know I'll be re-reading it.
February 12, 2015
The last Heyer mystery written and, in my opinion, the cleverest. Set in the changing world following the Second World War, the disillusionment inherently felt in the slow erosion of the class structure is made clear, and the whole book is permeated by a sense of gentle melancholy. In a sense, this is a lament to times gone by, and the thrusting character of the victim who, it is made clear, was not of the county but needed to be shown how to behave, epitomizes the new world order to come. Inspector Hemingway is as engaging as always, the murder is intriguing and the denoument satisfying. The romance is thrown in here as an added bonus and is welcome as anantidote to the pious do-goodery of another of the characters. Well worth the read and a very enjoyable way to while away an afternoon.
November 11, 2015
Everyone has secrets. This small English village is filled with people with secrets. One of those secrets gets a man killed.
Inspector Hemingway is called in from Scotland Yard because the people involved in this murder are from the upper classes and they make it harder to get questions answered.
The gentleman who was murdered definitely needed to be killed. The number of people who had a motive for murder is large. And everyone involved is playing detective. There are as many theories given to Inspector Hemingway as there are people in the village.
As the reader is drawn into the story, there are introductions to quite a number of characters. For each character there is a story of who they appear to be and who they truly are.
I enjoyed this book very much. Ms Heyer provides a story which takes us to a very British atmosphere filled with very British attitudes. Some of the attitudes would not be acceptable today but they are realistic for the time and place of this story.
I got this book from Amazon Unlimited and I am very grateful for the opportunity to read several Georgette Heyer stories. The reason she is still a popular author – she was a very good writer.
Inspector Hemingway is called in from Scotland Yard because the people involved in this murder are from the upper classes and they make it harder to get questions answered.
The gentleman who was murdered definitely needed to be killed. The number of people who had a motive for murder is large. And everyone involved is playing detective. There are as many theories given to Inspector Hemingway as there are people in the village.
As the reader is drawn into the story, there are introductions to quite a number of characters. For each character there is a story of who they appear to be and who they truly are.
I enjoyed this book very much. Ms Heyer provides a story which takes us to a very British atmosphere filled with very British attitudes. Some of the attitudes would not be acceptable today but they are realistic for the time and place of this story.
I got this book from Amazon Unlimited and I am very grateful for the opportunity to read several Georgette Heyer stories. The reason she is still a popular author – she was a very good writer.
September 27, 2024
I've read a handful of Georgette Heyer mysteries recently, and I've given a lot of them two stars, and I just feel a word of explanation is due here, because these books are really not at the same level of bad as a lot of other books I give two stars. They're just two-star books in the universe of Georgette Heyer. They're very breezy, and they generally have their share of fun characters and witty dialogue. (That's just how Georgette rolls.) It's the mystery plots themselves that tend to fall flat for me. Even when I don't predict them well in advance, I'm just not that interested in how they're going to turn out, and the detectives always spend far too long hashing and rehashing evidence that really wasn't that exciting in the first place. So, I'm going to join the majority when I say that Heyer's historical romances tend to be a cut above her mysteries. But if you're in the mood for some light and frothy Golden Age detective fiction, you could do much worse.
February 10, 2017
A more satisfying ending than most Georgette Heyer mysteries. I really do prefer Hemingway to Hannasyde, and the romance was very sweet.
May 13, 2018
All I can say about the Inspector Hemmingway series is that I am glad that I finally finished all four of them. I didn't particularly like any of the characters. However, the mystery was somewhat interesting.
May 31, 2019
An Author's Work - 2019: Geogette Heyer
Monthly Reading Challenge - February 2019: Shades of blue
Last book in the series and the one I liked the least. What a disappointment!
Monthly Reading Challenge - February 2019: Shades of blue
Last book in the series and the one I liked the least. What a disappointment!
August 4, 2023
3.5 ⭐️ my favorite part of this was Charles and Abby, would’ve been fun if they had done some more sleuthing. So many characters it was hard to keep track of! Also still don’t have the layout of the village down, really need a map to figure it out! Wish there was more explanation about Mavis, with her good exterior and all the comments how there might be more too her… I want to know what was behind that! I liked Inspector Harbottle as well, he cracked me up!
June 8, 2012
Detection Unlimited was the last of Heyer's mysteries. So far, it's actually the only one I've read because my mother happened to have her original copy and passed it along to me. As I learned in The Private World of Georgette Heyer by Jane Aiken Hodge, her husband (who left his career as a mining engineer to become a barrister) actually helped her with writing her mysteries, making sure that she left appropriate clues that would give the reader a fighting chance to solve the mystery.
As with her Regency romances, Heyer writes colorful dialogues between the characters and develops them fully throughout the book. As you read, you really feel like you've become a part of the small village yourself, as Heyer paints the picture so vividly. And you really feel for poor Inspector Hemingway, who has to put up with unsolicited help from everyone he encounters during his investigation. It's a wonder he is able to solve the murder, yet he manages to do so quite cleverly. Oh, and not to worry, there's a bit of romance in this story, too! For me, as a mystery lover, I enjoyed seeing Georgette Heyer use her talents in this genre and look forward to reading more of her mysteries.
As with her Regency romances, Heyer writes colorful dialogues between the characters and develops them fully throughout the book. As you read, you really feel like you've become a part of the small village yourself, as Heyer paints the picture so vividly. And you really feel for poor Inspector Hemingway, who has to put up with unsolicited help from everyone he encounters during his investigation. It's a wonder he is able to solve the murder, yet he manages to do so quite cleverly. Oh, and not to worry, there's a bit of romance in this story, too! For me, as a mystery lover, I enjoyed seeing Georgette Heyer use her talents in this genre and look forward to reading more of her mysteries.
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