Customer Reviews

Death in the Stocks (Isis Series)

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4 star:		(7)
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"Death in the Stocks" was a delightful read. I have long been a fan of Georgette Heyer's Regency Novels but only recently discovered her mysteries. The mysteries are light reading - much like Dorothy Sayers - but with the marvelous character developement and amusing dialogue charateristic of Heyer. I found myself laughing out loud whenever two of the main characters (brother and sister) had a chance to analyze the mystery or have any discussions exploring the various characters' possible motives.

I advise reading this title before reading "Behold, Here's Poison" since some characters appear in both stories.

Georgette Heyer's "Death in the Stocks" has all the elements of a classic Heyer "whodunit." The dialogue is brusque, the characters off-the-wall, as a cousin treads his way between his wayward cousins and a growing friendship with the Inspector assigned to discover who murdered Arnold Vereker. Then placed his body on public display, dressed in evening clothes, in the stocks on Ashleigh Green. Every person has a motive without an alibi, outside the fact the deceased was heartly disliked and avoided by his step-relatives.
Brother and sister try to protect each other and lead Scotland Yard astray, as each suspects the other. Then they turn detective and examine the clues with some of the finest dialogue in mystery fiction. To the very last the murder remains a puzzle. First published in 1935, it remains a tale to prop your feet up and enjoy.
Nash Black, author of "Qualifying Laps" and "Sins of the Fathers."

Heyer wrote mysteries to read more for the fun of watching the various suspects run around than to admire the structure of the puzzle. Here we have a dead man found in the stocks on a quiet village green but the solution isn't found due to forensic work or a careful checking of alibis or schedules, but a sort of bumbling around until the murderer is impelled to strike again and again. Even so, I found the story entertaining and even plausible.

Wealthy Arnold Vereker had a family full of enemies. We're plunged into their lives, starting with his half-sister Antonia who had come down to the same town to argue with him about the forbidding of her marriage to an embezzler, and who soon brings in her attorney, cousin, and potential love interest Giles Carrington. We proceed through half-brother Kenneth, heir apparent, his girlfriend Violet and the female friend-of-the-family Leslie. Then we add on missing-and-presumed dead brother Roger who pops up to claim the fortune, throwing turmoil into everyone's schemes.

On the whole I think this would have worked better if the suspects had been snowed in somewhere but I still enjoyed watching the antics of this socially outrageous family and the poor villains they tempt to try to get their wealth one way or another.

If you would like to finish out your year with a funny, entertaining, cozy mystery, then once again I have a very nice Georgette Heyer book to offer for your consideration.

In the very early hours of the morning, the body of a dead man, dressed in evening clothes, is found on the village green, his feet in the stocks. The murdered man turns out to be the wealthy weekend visitor Andrew Vereker, and once police start to investigate the crime they soon determine that there are many people who, for various reasons, are not unhappy to find that Vereker has been sent on to his just rewards. Relatives, soon to be in-laws, business associates...all whom it seems greatly disliked the dead man and none of whom have an alibi. The very clever Superintendent Hannasyde is called in to solve the crime and he certainly has his work cut out for him with this cast of characters. Lucky for us, there is a lot of very funny and entertaining goings on for us to enjoy as that is accomplished.

Once again, as with the previous two Heyer mysteries that I have reviewed, I can totally recommend Death In The Stocks to fans of the genre, especially if you are a fan of these sort of English country house mysteries. I am not totally convinced if the culture she describes in her books ever really existed, and surely it does not now, some 60 or more years later, but it certainly is very entertaining. Heyer is the queen of witty, funny dialogue and the queen still reigns here. Great characters and great dialogue is what she excels at. If you have read and enjoyed the mysteries of Agatha Christie or Dorothy Sayer and are not familiar with the perhaps lesser known Heyer, you need to check her out and Death In the Stocks is a great place to start.

I also must mention once again...because I love to repeat myself when I say something true...that I just love the look and feel and quality of these editions reissued by Sourcebooks. They are some of the nicest, high quality paperbacks that I have ever read.

If you are looking for a nice cozy to cozy up to on a cold winter night, perhaps with a cuppa tea and a slice of fruitcake, run out and grab yourself a Heyer!

When they re-issued the dozen or so Georgette Heyer mysteries recently, I was taken in by their appealing vintage cover artwork. What I discovered - to my surprise and delight - were wonderful English manor mysteries, similar in the Agatha Christie style.

These books blend a nice, cozy, old-fashioned mystery with Ms. Heyer's wonderfully snarky and dry wit, which adds up to genuine reading pleasure. I've plowed through nearly all her mysteries and will be sorry when I read the last. I wish she wrote as many myseries as she did Regency romances.

I am a great fan of mysteries and a great fan of Georgette Heyer, but not always together. This time I laughted at the wickedly characters, while trying hard to solve the mystery. I would recommend this book to anyone with an odd ball sense of humor or mystery fan. It is not typical Georgette Heyer as it is not set in the Regency era, although some elements of her best stories are there. If you've never read a Georgette Heyer Mystery, give this one a try, you'll love it. If you love Georgette Heyer, but have read a mystery you didn't really enjoy, give it a try, you might just love it, I did.

"Death in the Stocks" was a delightful read. I have long been of Georgette Heyer's Regency Novels but only recently discovered her mysteries. The mysteries are light reading - much like Dorothy Sayers - but with the marvelous character developement and amusing dialogue charateristic of Heyer. I found myself laughing out loud whenever two of the main characters (brother and sister) had a chance to analyze the mystery or have any discussions exploring the various characters' possible motives.

I advise reading this title before reading "Behold, Here's Poison" since some characters appear in both stories.

Arnold Vereker has been found murdered and his body has been left in the stocks on the village green. Vereker was wealthy and as the police investigate, they discover many characters who had a motive to kill him, most of them his relatives.

There are his half-brother and half-sister, Kenneth and Antonia Vereker. Arnold was their guardian and kept them on a very short lease. Antonia is engaged to Rudolph Mesurier, the accountant at Vereker's business. Arnold had just discovered that Mesurier had been embezzling funds and was ready to prosecute him. Kenneth is also engaged, to a venomous but beautiful woman named Violet Williams. She flirts with every man she encounters, and makes it clear that her affections can only be bought and paid for, never freely given.

Then there are the investigators. Superintendant Hannasyde, finds the case perplexing, specifically because it seems so simple. Giles Carrington is Kenneth and Antonia's cousin, and also their lawyer. He helps the superintendant understand the relationships that exist, and they discuss the case over drinks and dinners. A further wrench is thrown in the case when another half-brother emerges; Roger, who the family had thought dead for years.

Readers who enjoy cozy mysteries such as those written by Agatha Christie will enjoy Georgette Heyer's writing. The character's speech and personalities place the setting firmly in England, and the mystery gets untangled satisfactorily. This book is recommended for all readers

Did I enjoy this intriguing mystery. Did it hold my attention till the end?. I would have to give a resounding yes to both these questions. I dont really know why I enjoy these books so much except to say they are written about another time and place and written so well that you think you are there or at least wish you were. Another great Heyer novel

I've been a fan for years and love Heyer mysteries. This was a good one.