A Christmas Party by Georgette Heyer @PenguinUK

‘Tis the season to find whodunit . . .

About the Book

It is no ordinary Christmas at Lexham Manor. Six holiday guests find themselves the suspects in a murder inquiry when the old Scrooge who owns the substantial estate is found stabbed in the back. Whilst the delicate matter of inheritance could be the key to this crime, the real conundrum is how any of the suspects could have entered the locked room where the victim was found to commit this foul deed. For Inspector Hemingway of Scotland Yard, the investigation is also complicated by the fact that every guest at Lexham Manor is hiding something – casting suspicion far and wide . . .

My thoughts

It’s been many years since I read Georgette Heyer and back then it was her historical fiction that I read and loved. I don’t think that I even realised that Heyer also wrote crime fiction! Well that’s something I have now corrected by reading A Christmas Party*

This is a locked room mystery initially the local acting Inspector took the case but whilst he did some good work and interviews he was happy to hand over to D I Hemingway of Scotland Yard. He knew that various members of the household were holding back if not actually lying but he just couldn’t get around how the room was locked from the inside and all but a very small window were locked.

Inspector Hemingway is brought up to speed at the local station and then sets to checking out the crime scene, talking to the household members. He isn’t initially getting to close to solving whodunnit – there are several credible suspects – but then he has a very enlightening thought.

Nathaniel Herriard owns Lexham, a Tudor manor house, he’s a bit of a tartar and plays on his lumbago when he’s in a bad mood. He’s not happy that his brother Joseph has taken to organising a party for Christmas. Joseph and his wife, Maud, now live at Lexham after many years of travelling as an actor. Joseph has also included guests that Nathaniel has or likely will have a dislike of.

The guests – Stephen, nephew and his fiancée Valerie; Paula, niece and her aspiring playwright friend Willoughby Roydon; Nathaniel’s business partner, Edgar Mottisfont; Mathilda, a cousin.

There various staff including the butler, Sturry and the valet, Ford.

Heyer sets the scene well introducing the characters and their various foibles. This argumentative, rather ill put together set of characters clearly ensures the reader knows this is not going to be the happiest Christmas party!

When Nathaniel cannot be raised to come down to dinner Ford raises the alarm with Joseph who calls upon Stephen to help. When no response is elicited Ford and Stephen break down the door to Nathaniel’s room. He’s lying on the floor! Ford is sent for brandy but before he returns it is clear that Nathaniel is dead. But how? Why? And who could have done this?

The police are sent for.

This is a very satisfying and enjoyable locked room mystery. It is engaging and well done. The resolution is cleverly crafted and even if you do work out whodunnit doubtless it will not be until the final stage of the story.

Book: Purchased

Note: A Christmas Party was previously titled Envious Casca*

Information

Published: Penguin | Paperback: Imprint: Arrow | 05/11/2015 | ISBN: 9781784754686 | 400 pp || ebook: Imprint: Cornerstone Digital |05/11/2015 | ISBN: 9781473536784 | 400 pp

First Published: 1st January 1941

About the Author

Author of over fifty books, Georgette Heyer is the best-known and best-loved of all historical novelists, who made the Regency period her own. Her first novel, The Black Moth, published in 1921, was written at the age of seventeen to amuse her convalescent brother; her last was My Lord John. Although most famous for her historical novels, she also wrote eleven detective stories. Georgette Heyer died in 1974 at the age of seventy-one.

Penguin: Author page

Also by Georgette Heyer

The Historical Novels

The Mystery Novels