Georgette Heyer
"My favourite historical novelist." — Margaret Drabble
A tale of love at first sight, based on the true story of Brigade-Major Harry Smith and the very young Spanish noblewoman he met and married during the Peninsular Wars, when the Duke of Wellington's forces fought Napoleon's army in Spain and Portugal.
After marrying Harry Smith when she was 14 years old, Juana Smith "followed the drum," marching at the back of
...46) Envious Casca
'Tis the season—to be dead...
A holiday party takes on a sinister aspect when the colorful assortment of guests discovers there is a killer in their midst. The owner of the substantial estate, that old Scrooge Nathaniel Herriard, is found stabbed in the back. While the delicate matter of inheritance could be the key to this crime, the real conundrum is how any of the suspects could have entered a locked room to commit the
...One heir after another turns up dead...
Silas Kane's sixtieth birthday party is marred by argument and dissension amongst his family, and then the next morning, Kane is found dead. The coroner's verdict of death by misadventure would seem to confirm that Silas accidentally lost his way in the fog. But then his heir is shot, and threats are made against the next in line to inherit his fortune. The formidable Superintendent
...A Moonlit Night, a Sleeping Village, and an Unaccountable Murder...
In the dead of the night, a man in an evening dress is found murdered, locked in the stocks on the village green. Unfortunately for Superintendent Hannasyde, the deceased is Andrew Vereker, a man hated by nearly everyone, especially his odd and unhelpful family members. The Verekers are as eccentric as they are corrupt, and it will take all Hannasyde's skill
...49) No Wind of Blame
"Miss Heyer's characters and dialogue are an abiding delight to me... I have seldom met people to whom I have taken so violent a fancy from the word 'Go.'"—Dorothy L. Sayers
Everyone had a motive, but who had the means?
Wally Carter's murder seems impossible—not one of the suspects was anywhere near the weapon at the time the shot was fired. The superlatively analytical Inspector Hemingway is confronted with a neglected
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