Behold, Here's Poison
by Georgette Heyer
Inspectors Hannasyde and Hemingway (2), Country House Mysteries (5)
On This Page
Description
Meet the Matthews... before the next one diesIt's no ordinary morning at the Poplars—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 show more 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."—Manchester Guardian
"A marvelous mélange of malice, murder, mystery, and mirth. Priceless!"—Saturday Review
. show less
Tags
Recommendations
Member Recommendations
Member Reviews
This is a Heyer mystery: forgettable detectives, memorable characters, fun plot, improbable romance, and a ton of accidental queer overtones.
Most mystery series ride on their detectives, who get center stage. Hannasyde and Hemingway, Heyer's detectives in this book, are essentially two-dimensional. There's some effort to make them distinctive -- Hemingway is common and believes in psychology without understanding it, Hannasyde is more genteel, and so, in the approved fashion, has no real personality to speak of, a kind of World's Least Interesting Man -- but Heyer focuses all her character-building energies on the associates of the victim. Well, and the romance, but I'll get to that in a bit.
The characters here are a perfect example of show more the kind of characterization Dorothy Sayers explains in Gaudy Night. If the plot needs someone to do something no normal human would, guess what? They're not normal, and that weirdness will define them. It works incredibly well here. The elder women of the book are all awful in incredibly believable, amusing ways, and the men are mostly hapless bystanders. The character Heyer wants us to identify with, Stella Matthews, is the one mostly normal person in the book, and she's easy to like. But then we come to her love interest.
As a kid, I found Randall Matthews oddly appealing, without in the least buying his relationship with Stella. And, well, all of that is still true. Matthews is the sort of man Heyer liked best: sleek, intensely well-groomed, with an eye for the finer things and superior décor, sarcastic and witty, smart as hell. He's also one of her more unintentionally queer characters, and trust me, she wrote a LOT of them. (Not as high up as, say, the main characters in The Masqueraders, but he's in the the top quintile for sure.) Like, I know she was homophobic as hell, and she thought of this type of man as the True Romantic Heterosexual, but at one point Randall even *lights another man's cigarette for him*, one of the signals of queerness in the period she was writing. And he reacts precisely as someone who knew that cue would. Every time I read this book, I imagine the gay men of the period reading this and laughing until their sides hurt.
Unfortunately, Randall doesn't work particularly well as a romantic hero (for me), mostly because Heyer's conception of romance was: two people are horribly mean to each other and that means they're attracted! Then the woman is briefly vulnerable in some way and turns to the man. Voila! The proof of love. Get those banns posted! I -- need people to show some sign that they like each other, or some kindness, or SOMETHING, before I can believe in their true love forever. (It's also kind of gross that Randall, who is apparently quite a bit older than Stella, has been ... watching her grow up and waiting for her to be ready for him? Like. I do not need that mental image, especially given that they are Heyer's ideal couple, by which I mean first cousins.)
So this romance doesn't work for me, and Randall works for me but not the way the author wanted him to. Doesn't matter. As classic mysteries go, this one is fun -- nice novel method, great characters, fun twists and frustrations. Very soothing! show less
Most mystery series ride on their detectives, who get center stage. Hannasyde and Hemingway, Heyer's detectives in this book, are essentially two-dimensional. There's some effort to make them distinctive -- Hemingway is common and believes in psychology without understanding it, Hannasyde is more genteel, and so, in the approved fashion, has no real personality to speak of, a kind of World's Least Interesting Man -- but Heyer focuses all her character-building energies on the associates of the victim. Well, and the romance, but I'll get to that in a bit.
The characters here are a perfect example of show more the kind of characterization Dorothy Sayers explains in Gaudy Night. If the plot needs someone to do something no normal human would, guess what? They're not normal, and that weirdness will define them. It works incredibly well here. The elder women of the book are all awful in incredibly believable, amusing ways, and the men are mostly hapless bystanders. The character Heyer wants us to identify with, Stella Matthews, is the one mostly normal person in the book, and she's easy to like. But then we come to her love interest.
As a kid, I found Randall Matthews oddly appealing, without in the least buying his relationship with Stella. And, well, all of that is still true. Matthews is the sort of man Heyer liked best: sleek, intensely well-groomed, with an eye for the finer things and superior décor, sarcastic and witty, smart as hell. He's also one of her more unintentionally queer characters, and trust me, she wrote a LOT of them. (Not as high up as, say, the main characters in The Masqueraders, but he's in the the top quintile for sure.) Like, I know she was homophobic as hell, and she thought of this type of man as the True Romantic Heterosexual, but at one point Randall even *lights another man's cigarette for him*, one of the signals of queerness in the period she was writing. And he reacts precisely as someone who knew that cue would. Every time I read this book, I imagine the gay men of the period reading this and laughing until their sides hurt.
Unfortunately, Randall doesn't work particularly well as a romantic hero (for me), mostly because Heyer's conception of romance was: two people are horribly mean to each other and that means they're attracted! Then the woman is briefly vulnerable in some way and turns to the man. Voila! The proof of love. Get those banns posted! I -- need people to show some sign that they like each other, or some kindness, or SOMETHING, before I can believe in their true love forever. (It's also kind of gross that Randall, who is apparently quite a bit older than Stella, has been ... watching her grow up and waiting for her to be ready for him? Like. I do not need that mental image, especially given that they are Heyer's ideal couple, by which I mean first cousins.)
So this romance doesn't work for me, and Randall works for me but not the way the author wanted him to. Doesn't matter. As classic mysteries go, this one is fun -- nice novel method, great characters, fun twists and frustrations. Very soothing! show less
Gregory Matthews is a domestic tyrant and an all-around unpleasant man, so none of his family members are particularly grieved when he suddenly dies after eating a rich dinner. Everyone, including the local doctor, is ready to accept a verdict of death by heart failure, until the dead man's overbearing sister insists on a post-mortem. When the autopsy reveals that Matthews was actually poisoned, however, the family is thrown into turmoil. The taint of suspicion touches everyone, from the victim's sister-in-law, who lives in his house, to his heir, the sophisticated and sarcastic Randall Matthews. Inspector Hannasyde of Scotland Yard is on the case, and he soon finds Randall's attitude suspicious; meanwhile, Randall claims he is working show more on his own to discover the murderer. But will he or the police succeed before the guilty party kills again?
I've been reading Heyer's mysteries in publication order, and overall I've been enjoying them (though not as much as I love her Regency romances!). Sadly, I think this novel is my least favorite so far. Heyer's greatest strength isn't crafting suspenseful mysteries; rather, she excels in creating vivid, likable characters and witty dialogue. In this book, though, I just didn't find the central characters very likable or interesting. Randall in particular got on my nerves; while Heyer has successfully done similarly urbane, dandified characters in her romances, in this case I found him more irritating than intriguing. The romantic storyline also felt undeveloped and unsatisfying. This book wasn't a terrible read, by any means, but I'd recommend one of Heyer's other mysteries instead. show less
I've been reading Heyer's mysteries in publication order, and overall I've been enjoying them (though not as much as I love her Regency romances!). Sadly, I think this novel is my least favorite so far. Heyer's greatest strength isn't crafting suspenseful mysteries; rather, she excels in creating vivid, likable characters and witty dialogue. In this book, though, I just didn't find the central characters very likable or interesting. Randall in particular got on my nerves; while Heyer has successfully done similarly urbane, dandified characters in her romances, in this case I found him more irritating than intriguing. The romantic storyline also felt undeveloped and unsatisfying. This book wasn't a terrible read, by any means, but I'd recommend one of Heyer's other mysteries instead. show less
Georgette Heyer, queen of the historical romance, here uses her well-regarded talent for creating believable characters to present her readers with a cozy mystery that isn't so cozy. Behold, Here's Poison, published in 1936, is a murder mystery set in an English country manor—complete with a passel of unpleasant relatives, talkative servants, suspicious policemen, and red herrings.
When the master at the Poplars, Gregory Matthews, is found dead one morning in his bed, his family is divided; some are sure his death resulted from high blood pressure and indigestion, while others positively insist on a postmortem. Gregory Matthews was not a kind man, and when the postmortem reveals that he died by poison, almost every family member has a show more plausible motive for doing him in. It's up to Inspector Hannasyde to comb through Matthews' tangled affairs and try to catch the murderer... before someone else dies.
What a set of thoroughly unlikeable people Heyer creates! It was hard to build any kind of liking for the characters; they are all selfish in their own ways. Some express it in habitual insincerity (oh what a faithful likeness Heyer paints of someone I know with this trait!), while others are just plain malicious. Apparently the best trait possible among such a set of reprobates is to be interesting. Stella is all right and one begins, rather grudgingly, to wonder if even Randall has his good points, but I'd be hard pressed to point out anyone who could be called a hero or heroine. And maybe that's more realistic anyways, given human nature.
Overall, I enjoyed this mystery, though I couldn't be shut of the characters quickly enough. No one will ever be able to challenge Heyer in the execution of sharp and witty dialogue, but after the amusement fades there isn't much else to return to in this story. The characters are brilliantly drawn, but on the whole pretty odious. I don't think I'd like to know any of them in real life, and I find I've been spoiled by the type of mysteries in which you always have someone to root for, even if your enthusiasm is clouded by the uncertainty of whether or not your favorite will turn out to be the dastardly murderer. But at least you have a favorite in that type of mystery.
Like most of Heyer's readers, I prefer the historical novels, but I do plan to read the rest of her mysteries. show less
When the master at the Poplars, Gregory Matthews, is found dead one morning in his bed, his family is divided; some are sure his death resulted from high blood pressure and indigestion, while others positively insist on a postmortem. Gregory Matthews was not a kind man, and when the postmortem reveals that he died by poison, almost every family member has a show more plausible motive for doing him in. It's up to Inspector Hannasyde to comb through Matthews' tangled affairs and try to catch the murderer... before someone else dies.
What a set of thoroughly unlikeable people Heyer creates! It was hard to build any kind of liking for the characters; they are all selfish in their own ways. Some express it in habitual insincerity (oh what a faithful likeness Heyer paints of someone I know with this trait!), while others are just plain malicious. Apparently the best trait possible among such a set of reprobates is to be interesting. Stella is all right and one begins, rather grudgingly, to wonder if even Randall has his good points, but I'd be hard pressed to point out anyone who could be called a hero or heroine. And maybe that's more realistic anyways, given human nature.
Overall, I enjoyed this mystery, though I couldn't be shut of the characters quickly enough. No one will ever be able to challenge Heyer in the execution of sharp and witty dialogue, but after the amusement fades there isn't much else to return to in this story. The characters are brilliantly drawn, but on the whole pretty odious. I don't think I'd like to know any of them in real life, and I find I've been spoiled by the type of mysteries in which you always have someone to root for, even if your enthusiasm is clouded by the uncertainty of whether or not your favorite will turn out to be the dastardly murderer. But at least you have a favorite in that type of mystery.
Like most of Heyer's readers, I prefer the historical novels, but I do plan to read the rest of her mysteries. show less
Gregory Matthews presides over his country house full of squabbling siblings, a niece and nephew, and a full array of servants. Everybody knows he has high blood pressure, so when he is found dead in his bed one morning, the immediate assumption is “natural causes”; however, one of his sisters doesn’t like it and demands an autopsy, which soon enough proves murder by nicotine poisoning. Superintendent Hannasyde of Scotland Yard is called in, and finds that pretty much the entire family has reason to see Gregory dead, especially his heir Randall Matthews, one of Randall’s cousins Guy Matthews, Mrs. Zoe Matthews who is Guy’s mother and sister-in-law to Gregory - even the unmarried Miss Harriet Matthews who expects to inherit the show more house from Gregory! What’s worse, each suspect is lying about his or her movements, and none of them has an alibi that will hold up. When the house is rocked by a second death, it appears that all manner of family secrets must finally be revealed…. This is the second of four “Country House Mystery” novels, and it’s a pleasure to meet Superintendent Hannasyde again, along with these very spoiled, very wealthy and not-terribly-nice suspects. I actually figured out who the culprit was about halfway through, but had no clue as to the motive until the end, so that makes it a fair read in my estimation! Recommended. show less
When wealthy businessman Gregory Matthews is found dead in bed one morning, it is generally assumed that his heart gave out after a particularly rich roast duck the night before. But when it’s revealed that he was actually poisoned chaos ensues, and Superintendent Hannasyde must decide which of Matthews’ family would have wanted to murder him. Not an easy task, as they all had motive…and nobody in the family seems able to trust anybody else.
This is the first Georgette Heyer book I’ve read – it won’t be the last. I enjoyed the mystery aspect of the story, but more than that I liked the amusing and wit which the author uses throughout the story, especially to describe the various members of the Matthews’ family, with all show more their various idiosyncrasies. All of the characters were well described and I found myself plunged into the story from the first page.
My favourite characters were Stella (Matthews’ niece) and Randall, who while impertinent and naughty, provided a lot of entertainment throughout the story with his clever sarcasm and obvious disdain for most of the family.
I also really liked Inspector Hannasyde. This is not the first book by the author in which he appears, but I didn’t feel that it was necessary to have read any of the others before reading this one. So often in fiction, police characters seem to have marital problems, drink too much and argue with their superiors, and it was refreshing to read about an officer who seemed perfectly level headed and just wanted to get on with the job.
I thought I had worked out the ending about two thirds of the way through the book; I had got some elements right, but the ending itself was a surprise and I certainly could not have predicted it.
This book is both a police procedural set in the 1930s, and a gentle comedy centering on the dynamics of an unusual family. I enjoyed it immensely and will certainly be looking out for more books by Georgette Heyer. show less
This is the first Georgette Heyer book I’ve read – it won’t be the last. I enjoyed the mystery aspect of the story, but more than that I liked the amusing and wit which the author uses throughout the story, especially to describe the various members of the Matthews’ family, with all show more their various idiosyncrasies. All of the characters were well described and I found myself plunged into the story from the first page.
My favourite characters were Stella (Matthews’ niece) and Randall, who while impertinent and naughty, provided a lot of entertainment throughout the story with his clever sarcasm and obvious disdain for most of the family.
I also really liked Inspector Hannasyde. This is not the first book by the author in which he appears, but I didn’t feel that it was necessary to have read any of the others before reading this one. So often in fiction, police characters seem to have marital problems, drink too much and argue with their superiors, and it was refreshing to read about an officer who seemed perfectly level headed and just wanted to get on with the job.
I thought I had worked out the ending about two thirds of the way through the book; I had got some elements right, but the ending itself was a surprise and I certainly could not have predicted it.
This book is both a police procedural set in the 1930s, and a gentle comedy centering on the dynamics of an unusual family. I enjoyed it immensely and will certainly be looking out for more books by Georgette Heyer. show less
When the master of the Poplars is found dead, most of the family and even the doctor believe it to be natural causes, but Aunt Gertrude insists upon an autopsy where poison is discovered. Of course, the evidence had been cleared away by the time it became a police case, so Supt. Hannasyde and Inspector Hemingway have little evidence on which to build their case. The question the family and the doctor and while there are plenty of motives, there is nothing which puts the suspicion on any one member above another. Will they be able to solve a seemingly unsolvable murder? Plenty of motives; plenty of red herrings. Most mystery buffs will be able to spot the truth before it is revealed, but it's still an enjoyable read. There is a reference show more to a previous book, Death in the Stocks, so those who have not read that earlier book should probably begin with it to see why this case reminds Inspector Hemingway of that one. show less
Cousin Randall is a snake, but he's the only one with sense in the family when Uncle Gregory is found to have been poisoned. The rest of the relatives panic, running in all directions and implicating one another with alarming ease and rapidity. Heyer's mystery is a classic British murder infused with a delightful wit; modern readers may however feel the basic plot is hackneyed, not realizing that Heyer was among the first to execute it so successfully.
Members
- Recently Added By
Lists
Cerebral Mysteries
34 works; 23 members
Favorite Georgette Heyer Novels, Ranked
49 works; 29 members
Survey of Mysteries and Crime Fiction
96 works; 17 members
In or About the 1930s
198 works; 27 members
Crime and Mysteries to Read
746 works; 31 members
British Mystery
469 works; 14 members
Books I've Read More Than Once
602 works; 49 members
Murder Mysteries
57 works; 11 members
Detective Stories
343 works; 5 members
Books Read in 2013
1,630 works; 51 members
Books With Complete Sentence Titles
374 works; 15 members
Books Read in 2011
684 works; 19 members
Books Read in 2017
4,249 works; 129 members
Books Read in 2014
2,343 works; 86 members
Books Read in 2019
4,052 works; 110 members
Books Read in 2020
4,379 works; 123 members
Books Read in 2021
5,361 works; 114 members
Books Read in 2024
4,623 works; 126 members
Author Information
125+ Works 78,101 Members
Georgette Heyer was born on August 16, 1902 at Wimbledon, London. She wrote The Black Moth as a story for her brother Boris. Her father, impressed with his daughter's imagination, suggested that she prepare it to be published, which it was by Constable in 1921. Having scored an instant success with The Black Moth at the age of nineteen under her show more own name, Georgette Heyer, she experimented with a pseudonym, Stella Martin, for her third book, published by Mills & Boon. She continued writing and in 1925 she married Ronald Rougier, a mining engineer. After reasonable but not spectacular sales from her first few books the instant success of These Old Shades in 1926 brought her a solid source of income which was very necessary at the time since the family relied to a large extent on the income from Georgette Heyer's writing. She wrote over fifty books during her lifetime and created the Regency England genre of romance novels. She died on July 4, 1974 at the age of 71. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Some Editions
Series
Belongs to Publisher Series
Doubleday Crime Club (1936.23)
Work Relationships
Is contained in
Common Knowledge
- Canonical title*
- Poison!
- Original title
- Behold, Here's Poison
- Alternate titles*
- Tiens, voilà du poison!
- Original publication date
- 1936
- People/Characters
- Hannasyde (Superintendent); Hemingway (Sergeant); Gregory Matthews; Harriet Matthews; Zoe Matthews; Stella Matthews (show all 13); Guy Matthews; Gertrude Lupton; Henry Lupton; Randall Matthews; Dr Deryk Fielding; Edward Rumbold; Giles Carrington
- Important places
- London, England, UK
- Dedication
- To
Dr F.C. Ford
Affectionately - First words
- It was going to be a fine day.
- Quotations
- 'Why shouldn't he have a mistress? I am inclined to think that in his place - as your spouse, my dear Aunt Gertrude - I should have several.'
'Is nothing sacred to you, Randall?' asked Mrs Matthews tragically.
'Certainly,' he replied. 'My personal appearance is quite sacred to me. I am shocked at being asked such a question. Surely you must have realised that so... (show all) perfect a result could not be attained without solemn prayer?' - Last words
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)'I don't come into the case at all, my dear Superintendent.'
- Blurbers
- Sayers, Dorothy L.
- Original language
- English
*Some information comes from Common Knowledge in other languages. Click "Edit" for more information.
Classifications
Statistics
- Members
- 999
- Popularity
- 26,167
- Reviews
- 40
- Rating
- (3.77)
- Languages
- 8 — Danish, English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Russian, Spanish
- Media
- Paper, Audiobook, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 40
- UPCs
- 3
- ASINs
- 23
