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Loading... Behold, Here's Poison (original 1936; edition 1973)by Georgette Heyer
Work InformationBehold, Here's Poison by Georgette Heyer (1936)
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Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book. No current Talk conversations about this book. Did grumpy old Uncle Gregory die from a stroke, brought on by high blood pressure and over-rich food, or was he poisoned? If the latter, who did the unpleasant deed? This novel is set in 1930s upper-class England, contemporary fiction of the time. Georgette Heyer's detective stories don't have such clever plotting as Agatha Christie's, but their characterisation is always very well done. This book brings in the intelligent Superintendent Hannasyde and his sidekick, Inspector Hemmingway. The pair are frequently foiled in their investigations, not just by the lack of clues but by the prevarication of Uncle Gregory's family. Most of them had plenty of motivation to bump him off, but insufficient expertise or, indeed, opportunity. Just when it seems that the crime may never be solved, another one is committed, which confuses everyone still more and causes the domestic staff to give notice. I was pleased that I managed to figure out what had happened to cause the second crime before any of the characters did, but had not guessed the identity of the perpetrator. The ending, when it came, was rather sudden and abrupt, and while it made sense, it didn't give the satisfaction that the final resolution of a Christie book usually does. Still, as a piece of social history and some nice characterisation, I thought it a good book. Re-reading ten years later, I concentrated more on the people than the crime, and enjoyed it very much. Latest longer review here: https://suesbookreviews.blogspot.com/2022/10/behold-heres-poison-by-georgette-he... This is a book I should have enjoyed more than I did. The dialog between characters is scathing, often hilarious in a âI canât believe he/she said that out loudâ kind of way, and the murder was clever and the karma both just and tragic. Itâs not that I didnât enjoy it, so much as I think I might have been better off choosing something else at that moment, with the result that I was impatient with the reading of it. Itâs a weird place to be when youâre reading thinking this is good and are we done yet? at the same time. Heyerâs strong point in writing wasnât her detectives; Hannasyde is flat and Hemingway needs to switch to decaf, but the rest of the cast of characters are all vividly written, and as I said, the dialog scorching. Mrs. Lupton came on the scene with a speech that had me laughing and wanting to stand and applaud and the rest of the case all have a shot at each other at least once or twice. The romance, arguably Heyerâs raison dâĂȘtre, just ⊠failed. To put those two together with so little development or subtlety makes me wonder if Heyer hated these characters and wanted them so suffer. I mean, thereâs playful verbal sparring, and thereâs what these two were doing. Me? I donât find anything romantic about being called a little idiot. This was my first introduction to Heyer, and it took me awhile to take to her, but once I did, well, I enjoyed her a lot. The pleasure of these isn't the detective or the mystery, but rather this lovely look at the world in the 1920s & 1930s and how the smart set live. I adore her conversations, the match of wits between people and the intresting things that happen when a detective, an outsider, enteres their midsts to slove the crime. Great fun! no reviews | add a review
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HTML: Meet the Matthews... before the next one dies It's no ordinary morning at the Poplarsâ??the master is found dead in his bed, and it seems his high blood pressure was not the cause. When an autopsy reveals a sinister poison in his body, it's up to the quietly resourceful Inspector Hannasyde to catch the murderer in time to spare the next victim. But every single member of the quarrelsome Matthews family has a motive and none, of course, has an alibi. "The ingredients are so well and carefully mixed, the writing is so bright, and the solution so unexpected that the book achieves success and remains one no reader can fail to enjoy."â??Manchester Guardian "A marvelous mĂ©lange of malice, murder, mystery, and mirth. Priceless!"â??Saturday Review No library descriptions found. |
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Google Books — Loading... GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)823.912Literature English & Old English literatures English fiction Modern Period 1901-1999 1901-1945LC ClassificationRatingAverage:
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It falls to the quietly resourceful Inspector Hannasyde to sift through all the secrets and lies and discover just who killed Gregory Matthews. He faces the deadliest test of his career when members of the wealthy Matthews clan begin to die, one by one. With motives everywhere, it is no easy case for the inspector to solve in time to spare the next victim. Meet the Matthews -- while they last... Gregory, Harriet, Gertrude, Zoe, Guy, Stella and Randall. Hemingway/Hannasyde Book 2 ( )