(from the blurb) “The new Earl of St. Erth returned from glory at Waterloo to a nest of intrigue at his ancestral home. Vexed by his pompous stepmother and reckless half-brother, he seemed to have but one ally—Drusilla Morville, a level-headed girl who had lost her heart to the dashing lord.”

This blurb overlooks his other two seeming allies, his cousin Theo and the Viscount Ulverston. This was a very entertaining Regency romance even though the story is predictable as you go along. I enjoy Heyer because of her entertaining characters and repartee not because of her “riveting” plots". Actually she has about four or five basic plots, but the details vary and many of the characters are interesting. This plot was “the unexpected, unwelcome, and misunderstood heir arrives setting up family turmoil.” The new heir, however, is just what the family needs to put things to right. He ‘saves the day’ and wins the fair damsel (or in this case, the rather plain Jane Erye-ish damsel with hidden talents).

[Note: Perhaps I should read or reread all her Regency romances and catalog the plot types. This would make a good project for retirement. I’m sure someone has probably already done that, but I could use the “mental exercise”—even if my family thinks that my “fluff reading” takes no mental work at all. (True—but we all need a break now and then!)] ( )

A nice foray into mystery. Heyer develops her characters nicely, gradually bringing the reader to understand that the obvious suspect isn't always the villain!

This is definitely one of my favourite Heyers. The hero and heroine are both Heyer staples - he wealthy, titled, handsome, talented and confident; she plain, sensible, genteel but not overly wealthy, intelligent but not academic. She still managed to make both of them quite likeable, though. St Erth is quiet and reserved, which makes his confidence and assurance bearable, while Drusilla does not really occupy enough space in the novel to make her presence irksome. For as with most of the best of Heyer's work, she focuses as much on the cast of supporting characters as she does on the romantic leads. The Dowager Countess was a delightful horror, and Lucy was a pet. I was rather amused at how Heyer didn't even trouble to hide her opinion of people with republican principles; she really was an unreconstructed monarchist. Racist too, of course; though thankfully that doesn't crop up in this volume. ( )

Having survived the Napoleonic Wars, Gervase Frant returns home to a hostile stepmother and half brother, both of whom feel resentful he has survived the wars and that he is now the new Earl of St. Erth. Gervase has to contend with open hostility and challenges to his authority. Adding to all this are the attempts on his life! But Gervase sails through all this with the quiet civility, good humour and charm which define the Georgette Heyer hero and which fans have come to expect in her work.

Heyer is a favorite author and is considered by many readers of regency romance to be the prototype author of this type of book for the 20th century. [Jane Austin is the true prototype.]
This book is my favorite by Georgette Heyer. It has all the elements that I like in her books and is the one I am most likely to reach for when I wish to reread one of her novels. The heroine is a bit of a Cinderella character although it is the Earl who has the stepmother (and half-siblings). There is also something of a mystery (Who is trying to kill the Earl?) as well as the romance and the commentary on Society in England in the early 1800's. ( )