They found him dead (by Georgette Heyer)

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I’ve decided to finish re-reading Georgette Heyer’s crime fiction novels in chronological order. I picked up ‘The Found him Dead’ a couple of days ago, and found it quite compulsive. I last read it in 2011 and had entirely forgotten the story. Heyer’s characterisation is always excellent, with just a hint of caricature to make people all the more memorable. These books were written as contemporary novels in the 1930s, somewhat in the style of Agatha Christie’s ‘cosy crime’ fiction. 

The book opens with a dinner party to celebrate Silas Kane’s 60th birthday party. Sixty is not old, or even elderly, but he has apparently had some problems with his heart. His mother Emily is 80, and she’s quite frail although very strong-willed and mentally acute. Silas has a nephew, Clement, whom he doesn’t much like; Clement is married to the over-dramatic self-centred Rosemary.  

Silas also has a great-nephew, Jim, whom he likes very much, and Jim has a half-brother, fourteen-year-old Timothy. Invited to the party are Silas’s business partner Joe Mansell, as well as Joe’s wife, and their daughter Betty with her husband. And the whole is observed, initially, by Emily’s companion Patricia Allison.  From Patricia’s inclusion in the dinner party it’s clear that she’s a close family friend rather than a servant.

I found the number of people a bit overwhelming at first and had to backtrack over the first chapter to write down their names, and who was related to whom. But it’s a testament to Heyer’s writing that by the end of the book I could recall (and distinguish) them all. Right at the start, there are clearly undercurrents and tensions, but nobody expects that, the following morning, someone will be found dead. 

Everything points to an accident, until, just a few days later, someone else is killed: this time it’s obvious what happened, as there’s a loud noise, and then the character is found slumped over, with a bullet hole in his head. The local police are stumped, after interviewing everybody concerned - including a few extra characters who are in or around the house at the time - so Scotland Yard is called in. 

Inspector Hannasyde and Sergeant Hemingway are an excellent pair of sleuths, introduced first in ‘Death in the Stocks’, which I re-read in July 2022, and then used again in ‘Behold, Here’s Poison’, which I re-read in October 2022. Hannasyde is highly intelligent and resourceful, with a sense of humour. Hemingway is more gregarious. He’s meticulous in his research, but doesn’t always reach conclusions as rapidly as his boss. 

Just to make things even more stressful, a third character is apparently at risk… more than one person warns him that he’s likely to be the next victim, and a couple of ‘accidents’ look as though they were attempts to take him out too. I had guessed, about a third of the way through the book, who was the most likely perpetrator of the second death; I’m not sure if it’s ever established whether or not the same person was responsible for the first. 

The first time I read Heyer’s crime novels, I very much liked the way her characters are so three-dimensional and believable, even with those with some exaggerated traits. However I felt that her novels weren’t as cleverly plotted as those in similar vein by Agatha Christie, who always keeps me guessing right to the end. But re-reading this book, it occurred to me that perhaps it’s deliberate that the reader is pretty sure ‘who did it’ early in the book. Heyer was brilliant at writing in an ironic style, revealing so much by conversations and events that take her characters’ minds in different directions. 

I knew, of course, that it would all be sorted out in the end, but I still found the last few chapters quite stressful. I was certain I knew the perpetrator by that stage - it became increasingly obvious as events unfolded, but the people concerned were entirely unaware. Most of them, anyway. There are one or two extra cast members who arrive a bit later in the book, whom I appreciated very much. 

Alongside the tension there’s some low-key humour, much of it involving the teenage Timothy who loves gangster movies, and is thrilled to be in a house where so much criminal activity is happening. There’s even a low-key romance. The whole makes for a very enjoyable read.  Definitely recommended if you like this style of book. 

Review copyright 2024 Sue's Book Reviews