Book Review - Georgette Heyer's Envious Casca
Envious Casca by Georgette Heyer
Published by: Arrow
Publication Date: 1941
Format: Paperback, 384 Pages
Rating: ★★★★
To Buy (different edition than one reviewed)
Joseph Herriard wants a real English Christmas. With family, friends, and figgy pudding. After years abroad treading the boards he's returned home to Lexham Manor and his older brother Nat. While Joseph embodies the spirit of Christmas his brother embodies that of Ebenezer Scrooge. Needless to say, Nathaniel is not thrilled with having people descend on his home for the holidays. The holidays are just an excuse to force people whose only connection is blood to get together and argue. But Joseph has high hopes, even if his guest list might be a bit problematic being heavy on the relatives. First there's Joseph's wife, Maud, then there's their deceased brother's children, Stephen Herriard and his gold-digging fiance Valerie Dean, Paula Herriard, who brings a young playwright, Willoughby Roydon, in tow hoping her uncle will fund his new play which she will star in, Mathilda Clare, a distant cousin, and Edgar Mottisfont, Nat's old business partner. All these people don't get along at the best of times and they all want something from Nat. In particular, they all want what he's worked hard for; money. But why should he fund the bad play of a nobody? Why should he give his nephew funds against his expectations? Mathilda is the only one who can see what's coming, "[t]here'll be murder before we're through." Nat misses dinner. This isn't like Nat at all. His bedroom door is locked. Stephen and Joseph break it down to find that Nat is dead, stabbed in the back, though the murder weapon is missing. And all six guests, not to mention the inhabitants and servants of Lexham Manor, all have a motive. Inspector Hemingway of Scotland Yard isn't pleased to be called in on Christmas Day during a snowstorm. But murder is murder no matter when it happens and he has one to solve. A locked room whodunit with way too many suspects.
I don't completely know why it is that murder fits the bill around the holidays. I bookmarked an article to read the other day talking about this phenomena and then I promptly forgot to go back and read it. Probably because I know why they are comforting to me. It's not just the vicarious thrill of watching relatives be murdered, though perhaps this is a nice release of the pressure valve that has stopped you from committing familicide. They just make it feel like everything is right in the world. It's a small little world we can inhabit for a short while where everything makes sense and everything is under control. Sure there's death, but it's a death that makes sense. They were murdered for a certain reason, it's not the capricious nature of fate but someone with a score to settle. Murder mysteries literally are like comfort food to me and during the holidays is when we all turn to comfort food and cookies. Like how Midsomer Murders is cozy while still having the highest body count of any murder mystery out there. Seriously, I think in one episode we didn't just hit double digits, but somewhere around twenty people died if you took into account a historical tunnel collapse. Here's the thing, give me a country house, a murder, and something that forces everyone to stay put and I'm a happy camper. Therefore Envious Casca fit the bill perfectly. And it had the added bonus of being a locked room mystery taking place during a snowstorm. It ticked all the boxes. Sure, the cast of characters aren't the nicest lot. In fact any one of them could have been killed and I would have been fine with it. But I just loved the puzzle of it all. Who was where when. All the different rooms, all the preposterous alibis, this was a very cleverly engineered piece of malice and murder. And unlike the previous book involving Inspector Hemingway that I read the atmosphere and the environment added so much that I couldn't help but enjoy it. Savor it this holiday season!
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