Death in the stocks, by Georgette Heyer

I became familiar with Georgette Heyer as a writer who wrote in the style of Jane Austen. I enjoyed her romance novels very much, especially as they were Regency Period novels and thus had a special flavor to them.

This novel is a crime mystery. It is set in the early 1900’s in England. It has a much different flavor to it than her Regency pieces. The work is well written and developed, but keep in mind that it is not a modern crime novel that uses new exciting forensic science to solve crimes. Instead these are solved the old fashion way through detailed interviews, logic and at times some luck.

Heyer does a great job of developing each of the characters in the story. The family of the deceased is painted at first with some broad brush strokes that gives us a bit of insight into a dysfunctional family. But as the story develops the brush strokes become more refined and detailed and each character takes on in-depth personalities that you will either love or hate. For me I found that I disliked many of the characters and that made for a trying read until I realized that was her intention. You love some characters and you hate some characters.

This was a pleasant novel but it did seem to drag on a bit long and I was surprised at the ending. That is good and bad. Surprised at how it ended, but disappointed that it seemed abrupt.

All in all I enjoy Georgette Heyer’s writings and will continue to work through her 56 novels.