Re-reading my Georgette Heyer crime fiction novels in the order of publication, I’ve just finished ‘Death in the Stocks’. First published in 1935, this is the first of her books to feature the wonderful Inspector Hannasyde of Scotland Yard. I first read it (aloud to my teenage sons) back in 2003, but had quite forgotten that I re-read it as recently as 2017. That might explain why I did recall some of the story, and had no trouble working out the protagonist.
But Heyer’s novels, as with her historical fiction, are primarily character-based, and that’s what I appreciate the most. The novel opens with an unpleasant scene, nicely described, as the shadows change revealing a bizarre sight: a man in the village stocks. Further investigation by a police constable reveals that the man is dead, after having been stabbed.
It doesn’t take long before we learn that the victim, Arnold Vereker, was a very wealthy but highly unpopular man who had a holiday cottage nearby. His half-sister Antonia (known as Tony) is there in the morning when the police call; she had gone to visit him and was surprised that he had not turned up. However she didn’t like him at all, and makes no attempt to hide her antagonism. She lives with her brother Kenneth, who is a rather vague but talented artist and both of them are engaged to be married - but neither of the intended spouses is particularly likeable, and - more importantly - neither is on the same wavelength as the somewhat eccentric Tony and Kenneth.
Tony calls her solicitor, who is her cousin Giles, and he’s an excellent addition to the characters. Giles has a sense of humour, but is less wacky than his cousins, and tries to mediate between them and the police, who don’t know quite what to make of them. Both Tony and Kenneth are suspects in the case: Ken stands to inherit his half-brother’s wealth, and Tony was very close to the scene of the crime. But Tony’s fiance Rudolph worked for Arnold and was being investigated for some fraud, so he’s another suspect… and there could be others.
All in all it’s quite a baffling crime at first, and everyone is beginning to think that it might never be solved… when another murder happens. At this stage I could see where the story was going; whether I worked it out from the clues (and there are some) or recalled it from my last reading, I don’t know. But while there are several suspects and things look bad for a couple of them, one person stood out to me as the most likely perpetrator - and I was correct.
With Heyer’s novels there’s usually some kind of low-key romance, and this is no exception. I could see that coming too, and it’s nicely done, but really only a sideline of the story.
All in all I liked re-reading this very much, and would recommend it to anyone who likes the ‘cosy’ style of crime fiction that was popularised by Agatha Christie in the first half of the 20th century.
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