“Death in the Stocks is rare and refreshing.” The Times A Moonlit Night, a Sleeping Village, and an Unaccountable Murder… In the dead of the night, a man in an evening dress is found murdered, locked in the stocks on the village green. Unfortunately for Superintendent Hannasyde, the deceased is Andrew Vereker, a man hated by nearly everyone, especially his odd and unhelpful family members. The … family members. The Verekers are as eccentric as they are corrupt, and it will take all Hannasyde’s skill at detection to determine who’s telling the truth, and who is pointing him in the wrong direction. The question is: who in this family is clever enough to get away with murder?
“Miss Heyer’s characters act and speak with an ease and conviction that is refreshing as it is rare in the ordinary mystery novel.” Times Literary Supplement”
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So I turn again to old favorites. If you’re a fan of Georgette Heyer, you probably know that in addition to her famed Regency romances she also wrote a number of clever and humorous mysteries. Rather in the style of Agatha Christie, Heyer’s mysteries are peopled with wonderful characters who drive the stories often set in “country estate” …
A thoroughly enjoyable read, with witty, flippant characters, unexpected twists, plenty of suspects, and a romance. Read it on a lazy Sunday afternoon. For those readers who love Heyer (and this cozy historical mystery genre, set in England), try Dianne Freeman’s books, beginning with *A Lady’s Guide to Etiquette and Murder.*
Before the Thin Man
Hannasyde may be the Inspector but the Vereker family members are the focus of this interestingly staged plot. Written in the 1930s by a highly literate author with an extremely light and humorous touch, we are treated to the manners and mannerisms of the black and white movie era. I patted myself on the back for correctly …
Did somebody play a bad trick on Arnold Vereker while he was drunk and put him in the stocks on the village green? Looks like someone disliked him more than playing a trick since they killed him. On the other hand, he wasn’t a local in Ashleigh Green so maybe it doesn’t matter so much. Poor Inspector Jarrold seems about to pull his hair out since …
4.5 Stars
PC Dickenson is returning from night patrol finds a corpse in evening dress locked in the stocks on the village green. He identifies the body immediately. Andrew Vereker was not a well-loved man, and narrowing down the suspects is not going to be an easy job. The Vereker family are corrupt and eccentric and hardly cooperative plus they …