strange and random happenstance: No Name

No Wind of Blame by Georgette Heyer
Published by: Arrow
Publication Date: 1939
Format: Paperback, 352 Pages
Rating: ★
To Buy (different edition than one reviewed)

Ermyntrude Carter is hosting a shooting party at her home, Palings. Little does she realize that it won't be fowl that is shot. She is a former actress and a wealthy widow with a precocious daughter, Vicki, who likes her ensemble to match the moment and the character she is emoting. A flair for the dramatic runs in the family. Ermyntrude made the mistake of choosing the feckless and philandering Wally Carter as her second husband and it has caused her no end of headaches. But if her guest, the Georgian Prince Alexis Varasashvil, has anything to say about it Wally won't be Ermyntrude's husband for much longer. She has put up with Wally's scheming and his sighing and his complaining, but knocking up a local girl might just be the last straw. And as for the blackmail letter.... Well, the Prince's offer of marriage is looking better and better. Who cares if he's also a fortune hunter? He's better than the one she's got. But then the one she's got claims that someone has taken a shot at him. No one believes Wally and what's more, no one cares. But then attempted murder because murder when Wally is shot and killed. He was crossing over a little bridge to the neighbor's house to discuss a new get-rich-quick scheme he's thought up and that, as they say, was that. But no one was near the weapon and it just doesn't seem possible. How can a weapon fire without someone on the trigger? The only evidence of a crime really is Wally's corpse. The local police see this murder as way beyond their pay grade and call in Scotland Yard. Inspector Hemingway arrives on the case and sees that everyone has a motive, from the misused wife, to the courting prince, to the quirky step-daughter, to the ward, to the neighbor, all the way down to the brother of the pregnant girl. And each and every one of them isn't being very cooperative or honest. But if Inspector Hemingway is honest he realizes that first they need to figure out how Wally was killed before they can come to a who. The method will reveal the murderer. Or at least that's the hope.

I picked up No Wind of Blame for one reason and one reason only, I wanted to read Envious Casca. I have a deep seeded need to read holiday themed murder mysteries during the month of December. If it's set up as a locked room murder mystery with the snowbound residents of a country estate as the only suspects, well, all the better. And that in a nutshell is the glory of Envious Casca. But I saw it was the second book in the Inspector Hemingway series so obviously I felt I had to read No Wind of Blame first. I really shouldn't have done this because this book was truly awful. And to add insult to injury, Inspector Hemingway is hardly in it. So really, what was the point? Plus now that they've renumbered the series and this is the sixth in the "Inspectors Hannasyde and Hemingway" series I don't think if I had had four more books to read before getting to Envious Casca I would have ever made it. In fact most Georgette Heyer fans have a strict policy of not reading her mysteries. I can kind of see why if this was the only one I'd read. But my main problem was that the blurb on the back cover basically gave away the whole plot. AKA, why I write my own blurbs for my reviews. They're the blurbs books should have had in my mind. I remember years ago in his book The Polysyllabic Spree where he recounted his love of reading Nick Hornby called out whomever wrote the blurb to his copy of Wilkie Collins's No Name. The book has an ingenious twist that the blurb gave away. His advice was to buy the book but read nothing on it and I did just that. I mean I'm very anti spoilers, but if someone blurts out something in the heat of the moment it's far less egregious an error than writing it out, getting it approved, and then getting it printed on the back of a book. Did no one go, hey, perhaps we shouldn't say this? Maybe they assumed as the book was written in World War II that spoilers no longer mattered. Spoilers always matter! But more importantly is unique characters, kindness to fellow humans, oh, and not having a twist out of a Bond movie!

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments

Labels: Envious Casca, Georgette Heyer, Inspector Hannasyde, Inspector Hemingway, Murder, Murder Most Foul, Nick Hornby, No Name, No Wind of Blame, Scotland Yard, Spoilers, The Polysyllabic Spree, Wilkie Collins

The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton
Published by: Sourcebooks Landmark
Publication Date: February 8th, 2018
Format: Paperback, 458 Pages
Rating: ★★★★
To Buy

Doctor Sebastian Bell loses all memory of who he is while in the woods with the name "Anna" dying on his lips. Soon he hears a reply calling for help and then the air is split by the sound of a gun being discharged. Not knowing who he is or where he is, he knows a crime has been committed and must find help. He stumbles for what seems hours until he finds a house. He is let inside and up to a room that is supposedly his. He finds an invitation addressed to a "Doctor Sebastian Bell" requesting his presence at Blackheath House for the return of Evelyn Hardcastle from Paris. So that is who he is, Doctor Sebastian Bell. He tries to compose himself while sloughing off the filth of the forest. While he knows he might not remember anything beyond this morning he knows a crime has been committed and he fears Anna is dead. He must solve this mystery no matter what obstacles are put in his path. And currently his path is blocked by someone dressed as a plague doctor. Someone who tries to convince him Anna isn't his concern. Someone who tries to tell him his only goal for the moment is to get the lay of the land. Yet his concern and curiosity is insatiable and he goes in search of Anna, finding a note from her that is oddly prescient and requesting a meeting later that night. Sebastian starts to not only fear for Anna's life but his own. Soon the prodigal daughter herself, Evelyn, is helping Sebastian in his search for Anna. It appears Blackheath House isn't a stranger to murder, Evelyn's own brother was killed years before down by the lake. Anna misses their appointed meeting, making Sebastian fear the worst, and when he returns to his room everything goes black. And then he wakes up again. And again. And again...

So, a fair amount of book reviews start with a little summery of the book, like this one here does. But whereas most reviewers are doing it to give you an overview of what to expect my reasoning is far different. I do it because it's me writing what I think the blurb on the back of the book should have been. So many book blurbs give an entirely erroneous description that I feel a need to fix it. Likewise so many book blurbs spoil important plot twists that I feel I have to shelter everyone from the spoilers. Unless I really hate the book than I'll probably spoil away. I remember a book review Nick Hornby wrote about Wilkie Collins's No Name and how under no circumstances should you read the blurb because it revealed a huge plot twist and royally pissed him off. No one wants their enjoyment spoiled by a reckless copywriter! While yes, the "original" blurb for this book is part of the reason I picked it up, I felt that it just gave too much away. In fact it's hard to write a review for this book because so much of what I loved, the twists and turns, I want you to experience and enjoy for yourself. This isn't a book to be passively consumed, you become a part of it, working out all the tiny details and trying to solve all the mysteries before the final curtain. I might have considered flow charts at one point, but decided that was taking it too far. But to find a book that you actively want to be a part of, that you can't wait to pick up again, to dig into the story, that is a blessing. This book just doesn't take you away, it asks you to come along for the ride of a lifetime, part Agatha Christie, part Quantum Leap, and totally mind melting. PS, Stuart Turton is a total Quantum Leap geek whereas I'm still pissed at the show's ending.