No Wind of Blame [Paperback]

Georgette Heyer (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1, 2009

The superlatively analytical Inspector Hemingway is confronted by a murder that seems impossible—no one was near the murder weapon at the time the shot was fired. Everyone on the scene seems to have a motive, not to mention the wherewithal to commit murder, and alibis that simply don't hold up. The inspector is sorely tried by a wide variety of suspects, including the neglected widow, the neighbor who's in love with her, her resentful daughter, and a patently phony Russian prince preying on the widow's emotional vulnerability and social aspirations. And then there's the blackmail plot that may—or may not—be at the heart of the case…

PRAISE FOR GEORGETTE HEYER:

"Our Georgette Heyer display of the Sourcebooks reprints has been a huge success, not only to those early fans like myself, but to many new readers who appreciate her style and wit."
Nancy Olson, Quail Ridge Books, Raleigh, NC

"Reading Georgette Heyer is the next best thing to reading Jane Austen."
Publishers Weekly

"Wonderful characters, elegant, witty writing, perfect period detail, and rapturously romantic. Georgette Heyer achieves what the rest of us only aspire to."
Katie Fforde

(20091005)

Editorial Reviews

Review

Heyer may have been the Queen of Regency Romance but she sure could write a good solid mystery. (Gayle Surrette Gumshoe Review 20091109)

Just the right mixture of entertainment and secrets to keep a reader intrigued and hooked until the last page. (Lilly Reading Extravaganza 20091110)

A rollicking murder mystery full of colorful players and numerous plot twists. (Christine Zegelis Book Tumbling 20091111)

A hysterically funny murder mystery... Heyer's talent is incredible. (Lucy Bertoldi Enchanted by Josephine 20091116)

If you enjoy mystery, humour and a pinch of romance, you'll be entertained by No Wind of Blame. (Christina MacLean Book-a-Rama 20091117)

Of the Georgette Heyer mysteries that I've read so far, No Wind of Blame is one of my favorites. (Kristen M. We Be Reading 20091123)

A most entertaining story for a rainy afternoon with a pot of tea. (Maya Missani Apprentice-Writer 20091130)

I'm so glad a Georgette Heyer novel has returned to my life! (CJ Harris Mystery Librarian 20091201)

If you are a mystery fan, especially of the witty, clever English country house sort, you do really owe it to yourself to check out No Wind of Blame. (Caite A Lovely Shore Breeze 20091201)

A brilliantly crafted murder mystery as only the late Georgette Heyer was able to craft. (Jennifer Higgins Rundpinne 20091216)

A flurry of witty dialogue and comical conversations. (Melanie Heiser Lit Chick Cafe )

Mmemorable, quirky and a bit eccentric. (Wisteria Leigh Wisteria Leigh )

About the Author

The late Georgette Heyer was a very private woman. Her historical novels have charmed and delighted millions of readers for decades, though she rarely reached out to the public to discuss her works or private life. It is known that she was born in Wimbledon in August 1902, and her first novel, The Black Moth, was published in 1921.

Heyer published 56 books over the next 53 years, until her death from lung cancer in 1974. Heyer's large volume of works included Regency romances, mysteries and historical fiction. Known also as the Queen of Regency romance, Heyer was legendary for her research, historical accuracy and her extraordinary plots and characterizations. Her last book, My Lord John, was published posthumously in 1975. She was married to George Ronald Rougier, a mining engineer, and they had one son together, Richard.

Product Details

• Paperback: 368 pages
• Publisher: Sourcebooks Landmark (September 1, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 140221801X
• ISBN-13: 978-1402218019
• Product Dimensions: 7.1 x 5.1 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #269,745 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Author of over fifty books, Georgette Heyer is the best-known and best-loved of all historical novelists, making the Regency period her own. Her first novel, "The Black Moth," published in 1921, was written at the age of fifteen to amuse her convalescent brother; her last was My Lord John. Although most famous for her historical novels, she also wrote eleven detective stories. Georgette Heyer died in 1974 at the age of seventy-one.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Light-hearted romance with a bit of mystery, December 12, 2000

By 

A. Woodley "Patroness, Janeites, the Austen list" (New Zealand) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: No Wind of Blame (Hardcover)

This is one of Heyer's most complicated murder mysteries. It is absolutely stuffed full of red-herrings.

As usual Heyer takes us to a classic English village, sometime in the 1930's, and into the home of Ermintrude, her daughter Vicki, Ermintrude's second husband Wally Carter and Wally's young relative - Miss Cliffe. Add to that mysterious Russian Princes, strange goings on in various shrubberies and unexpected shooting and you do have a very nice base for a mystery in the usual ironic Heyer-style.

In classic Heyer way she also mixes in a little romance, but in very un-Heyer-like move she does a switch in the romance which never ceases to annoy me each time I read it. In the beginning we are made to think that Mary Cliffe is the lead heroine and Vicki, daughter of the singularly eccentric Ermintrude, as the flaky it-girl. Somewhere in mid-book things suddenly do a volte-face and we are expected to accept Vicki as the heroine....anyway...

I don't know that this is one of Heyer's best mysteries, I rather like Behold Here's Poison - best - but it does deliver in wit and substance. It also offers a very satisfying mystery to try to work out.

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A period piece mystery that deserves a second look., August 23, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: No Wind of Blame (Hardcover)

Georgette Heyer was considered an excellent mystery writer when she began writing her stories in the 1930's. No wind of blame was written in 1939 and tells a neat story of murder and social manners of the time. There is an inspector and his superintendent, many clues spread throughout the story and a little love story all rolled into one. A great read if you enjoy English village mysteryies.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Audio Book Review-- A Spanking Good Mystery, September 19, 2005

By 

Sires "I enjoy mysteries, historical and proc... (Chesapeake, OH, United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: No Wind of Blame (Audio Cassette)

Michael Barnes does a stellar job of reading this book on the Chivers audiocassettes. His voices are perfect and very period (1930's England). And I actually caught things that I had not remembered from my first reading of this book a decade or so again.

If Heyer does anything well she has an ear for slang. I laughed out loud when Wally Carter (who had just confessed to some very bad behavior) was complaining about the fact that his neice and step daughter had found out about the behavior by reading a letter addressed to him. "It's not," he said sternly, "the clean potato." Never heard that saying before.

Then there is the Prince, not to be mistaken for Prince the dog, and the histrionic former actress turned lady of the manor, Ermintrude.

I agree that Heyer seems to have changed sympathies in main stream, but how could one not rather spend time with the imaginative Vickie than Mary who does have Solid Worth but is not nearly as much fun.