Death in the Stocks

When Arnold Vereker, a "weekender" with a cottage nearby, is found murdered, propped up in the stocks at Ashleigh Green, the local police know that it's a case for Scotland Yard. As Inspector Hannasyde soon discovers, the deceased was rather unpopular with his family, and suspicion soon falls on Kenneth Vereker, the artistic half-brother of the victim, whose outrageous antics seem designed to provoke. The only problem? Hannasyde isn't convinced that Kenneth is the murderer...

I was relieved to find Death in the Stocks so much more enjoyable than No Wind of Blame, the only other Georgette Heyer mystery I have read to date, as I would be very reluctant to abandon my project of reading Heyer's entire oeuvre, and equally displeased at the show more prospect of suffering through ten more tedious novels. Happily, this time I found the narrative engaging and the characters amusing. The exchanges between Kenneth and his sister Tony (Anotonia) had that Heyer flair, so lacking in No Wind of Blame. I can't say, in all honesty, that I found Death in the Stocks terribly suspenseful, as I guessed the solution almost from the beginning, but I did care about what happened to the characters, and that made a big difference.

On another note, it is pure luck that I picked up these two titles first, as they happen to be the first books in Heyer's two ongoing series about their respective sleuths, Inspector Hannasyde and Inspector Hemingway. I had no notion of this, when selecting them, but am certainly glad that it chanced to be so. show less

When a dead man wearing evening dress is found locked in the stocks on the village green, the local police are only too happy to turn the case over to Scotland Yard. The corpse is Arnold Vereker, a universally despised man who kept a tight hold on the family purse strings. When Superintendent Hannasyde questions Vereker’s young relatives, they all declare themselves extremely happy that their unpleasant half-brother is dead at last. Hannasyde doesn’t know what to make of Antonia, Kenneth, and their various love interests, but he suspects that there are secrets hidden beneath their lighthearted jokes. He sifts through the muddle of motives and alibis with help from Giles Carrington, the Vereker family’s solicitor, who has his own show more reasons for wanting to uncover the murderer.

I’m a longtime fan of Georgette Heyer’s romances, but I’m quickly coming to love her mysteries as well! As someone who loves a good period piece, I found this an extremely fun book to read. The mystery is perfectly fine, with some interesting little twists and red herrings; I figured out some pieces of the puzzle but didn’t ultimately guess whodunit. However, the real pleasure of this book is the characters, their witty conversations and their blossoming romantic attachments. While the Verekers and their friends take center stage, though, Superintendent Hannasyde is also an intriguing sleuth, and I look forward to reading about more of his cases in subsequent Heyer novels. show less

Death in the Stocks - Heyer
4 stars

This book has the feel of a drawing room comedy. There’s a great deal of rapid fire nonsensical banter between the young, frivolous, upper class characters. They give every impression of being superficial, selfish, and completely amoral. Strangely, Heyer still manages to make them mostly likable.

Despite the title, the setting is probably 1920-ish. The victim’s body was discovered on a village green with his feet secured in a set of historic stocks. This is not a spoiler. It occurs within the first two pages. The limited action of the story shifts immediately to the apparent heirs to the victim’s fortune. They are a brother and sister pair of twins, Antonia and Giles. Additional suspects include show more the fiances of each twin who are clearly not good marriage prospects. A final suspect, Roger, a half-cousin who has been presumed dead for many years adds further confusion to the chaos.

It’s a circus.

I was trapped with it on a 6 hour plane flight. It was just right. The pages turned easily. It kept me mildly entertained but didn’t require strenuous thinking or a great deal of my attention. show less

I liked the mystery but disliked the characters. The entire Vereker family was so flippant, conceited, and annoying that it`s a wonder they hadn't all bumped each other off years ago. I was ready to do it myself by page 56 (and wouldn't that have made for a unique fictional mystery!). Superintendent Hannasyde was refreshingly normal, but every time he appears the Verekers get even more cloyingly 'clever'. Murgatroyd (their faithful family retainer and former nurse) obviously spoilt them too much in their infancy. It's clear that Ms. Heyer enjoyed writing the 'witty' dialogue and developing the eccentricities of the characters, but she didn't provide nearly as much enjoyment for the reader.

When Arnold Vereker is found dead, stabbed in the back and placed in the village stocks, Superintendent Hannasyde of Scotland Yard has no shortage of suspects; everyone, it seems, has reason to hate the man, most especially his own half-siblings. As he investigates the family, each person seems more and more likely to be the murderer and nobody has much in the way of an alibi. It’s a tall order for the Superintendent, and one he hopes to fill before more deaths occur…. I had only known Georgette Heyer’s work through her Regency romances, of which my mother owned many titles, but some months ago I ran across one of her four detective novels featuring Superintendent Hannasyde. Written between 1935 and 1938, these are classed as show more “country house” mysteries, as each takes place in one remote house or another. “Death in the Stocks” is the first of these and it’s quite enchanting, although considering that 90% of the story takes place in London, calling it a “country house mystery” is a little odd. In any event, our detective is both intelligent and full of good humour, and the various characters he encounters along the way are quite eccentric and entertaining. I now own three of the four books in this mini-series, and will pick up the last one in fairly short order; quite stylish and fun! show less

This was a fun listen. It feels as if it is set in the 20s, and focuses on a family that is well to do. Antonia and Kenneth's half brother Arthur is discovered sitting in the stocks on the village green and stabbed. There are more possible motives than you can shake a stick at, pretty much any of them could have done it. My money was on the black sheep brother, Roger, who was believed dead for 7 years but turns up just in time to inherit a mine and rather a lot of dosh in one go. Unfortunately he turns up dead as well, so that was the end of that theory. The crime is investigated by Inspector Hannerside and by the family's solicitor, Giles Carrington. Hannerside puts in some solid detective work but he's hardly helped by the show more eccentricity of the family themselves. They were generally difficult and too clever for their own good, with Giles struggling to keep them all on the straight & narrow. It all turns out well enough and as the first in the series, I imagine I'll be back for more. show less

Not bad, not a favorite. A plethora of highly annoying characters - good thing it was Superintendent Hannasyde and not me dealing with them, I'd have arrested most of them out of pure exasperation. Silly people quite convinced that they couldn't possibly be misinterpreted or accused...However, the only one who was really unsympathetic turned out to be the murderer, which is...weak (though it's possible I felt that character was totally unsympathetic primarily because of a faint memory of a previous read of the book). And Heyer's obsession (reasonable, of course, in a primarily romance author) with pairing people off by the end of the book got just a trifle annoying here. I do like Hannasyde, the mystery/ies are interesting (if somewhat show more sordid), and there are a few characters I liked (and more I enjoyed, when I wasn't exasperated with them). But not a favorite. And the rushed ending feels like Heyer was still getting her feet under her in the mystery genre. show less