Why shoot a butler

I have seldom met people to whom I have taken so violent a fancy from the word "Go"' Dorothy L. Sayers 'The wittiest of detective writers' Daily Mail.

Related titles. Better off Dead. Lee Child , Andrew Child. The Man Who Died Twice. The Jealousy Man. A Slow Fire Burning. Jailhouse Lawyer. The Sentinel. The Night She Disappeared. Cutters End. In Death in the Stocks I rather wanted to throttle the outspoken brother-sister pair. On the other hand, I found the characters more likable and very funny in No Wind of Blame. Envious Casca has so many classic elements: locked room, house party, Christmas. In Blunt Instrument I liked the police characters quite a bit, the others, on rereading, less so.

Interestingly, most of her tec books were plotted by her husband, an attorney and mystery fiction fiend. Fascinating Curt — I hope the Barrister lead in Butler is not meant to be a protrait of him! Thanks very much for all the advice — much appreciated. Another thing: I recall when buying this book about fifteen years ago in Baton Rouge the store clerk suppressing a sneer at what I think struck him as a rather arch and snobbish title!

On the evidence of one heyer book read, this would appear to not be an unreasonable response — or at least, well in keeping with the way many of the characters are likely to behave in her fiction! I know my Mum and my Nan had plenty of her books on the shelves. I would term myself a fan of Golden Age mysteries but this book sounds like it has roped in all the least attractive aspects of that form.

To be fair, it does depend on your tolerance for some of the more conservative conventions of the genre, especially during the Golden Age.

Others may feel quite differently. There is some funny dialogue and I do think Aunt Marion deserved a whole series devoted to her — and a lot of my criticisms could probably be leveled at a slew of mystery writers of the Golden Age. That is why I love his stuff but I also like the fact that, although he was basically fairly conservative in some respects and left the country after the War he was so anti-Labour , he was enough of an individualist to eschew the obvious national and racial stereotypes that plague many of the writers of the time, like Christie and Sayers.

And yet they are far more loved than Carr ever was and probably ever will be. From what Curt and John have said, I suspect that Heyer is not really for me but I will try some of the others just in case.

Carr is a great favourite of mine too — the locked rooms, the ingenuity of his plotting, the air of utter menace that pervades some of his best work, all offset by some marvellously comic moments or lines. I may not share his innate conservatism but I greatly respect his ability to avoid the casual racism that other writers fell prey to.

Overall, I think he was a much better writer than Christie at his peak. Christianna Brand was worthwhile too; her plotting and characterization give herstuff a definite boost. I completely agree with you and I think we are very much on the same page here — I definitely prefer the Carr and Ellery Queen novels of the 30s and 40s to virtually any other author of the period. Indeed, I ought to have mentioned Queen in there too.

Good call on the opening of Sleuth. Have you read any Herbert Brean? He came along a little later but his stuff is pretty good; The Clock Strikes Thirteen is a cracking read. Listen to a sample. Sample Amazon Audible Apple Icon-book-depository.

An award winning writer of short stories, poetry, fiction and non-fiction, Graeme has also been a pioneer in teaching creative writing having founded…. Watch Now. Favourite Links. Heyer Today. Heyer Society. Liberta Books. Word Wenches. Austen Prose. This Itch of Writing. The Grand Sophy. Free 2-Day Shipping. Same Day Delivery. Please select a store. Deliver to Edit zip code. Ship it. This item isn't sold in stores. Help us improve this page. About this item. Specifications Number of Pages: Series Title: Country House Mysteries.

Format: Paperback. Publisher: Sourcebooks Landmark. Age Range: Adult. Book theme: Traditional. Author: Georgette Heyer. Language: English.