They Found Him Dead is the 3rd mystery I've read right in a row by Georgette Heyer, featuring her favorite Scotland Yard detective, Inspector Hannasyde and his sidekick Sergeant Hemingway.
We have the same theme going as in the last two mysteries, the head a of rich family dies and the family is thrown into a tizzy with much questioning about heirs. In this case, Silas Kane has just turned sixty and goes out for one of his nightly walks along the seaside cliffs, except this time they find him dead at the bottom of a cliff. Is it an accident or not? The heir is Clement Kane, an unhappily married man whose beautiful wife is about to leave him for another. But now he's rich, so selfish Rosemary decides she'd rather stay with a rich husband then throw it all away on a tempestuous affair. Alas, Clement is shot dead while sitting at his desk in the study. Someone must have shot him from the garden.
Lots of characters again and lots of wonderful dialogue, though I have to say I didn't think the characters were quite as well fleshed out in this one as in the former two books. We have Mrs. Emily Kane the old lady and matron of the house, her snippy but loyal maid, Ogle, and Miss Patricia Allison, who works as Emily's secretary and companion. Miss Allison becomes engaged to Jim Kane, the next heir in line and Emily's favorite. We also have Silas Kane's business partners, the Mansells, who seem bent on investing the Kane money in a risky business scheme. And then there's also Jim Kane's 14 year old half brother (my favorite character in the book) Timothy, Oscar Roberts, a visiting Australian business man who takes great interest in trying to find out who the murderer might be, and Jim Kane's delightfully eccentric step father, Sir Adrian Harte, and intrepid world traveler mother (who returns from her exploration in Africa to run for parliament), Norma Harte.
Usually I just read mysteries for the pleasure of seeing the story line unfold. I'm terrible at guessing who did it (unlike my husband who nearly always guesses right). This time I tried to guess and was completely wrong. Looking back though I can see plainly that there were definite clues I just didn't put together. Alas, I will never make a good detective!
Two thumbs up! I am highly enjoying these wonderfully written mysteries, but right now I'm going to take a break from them and go back to my Anthony Trollope challenge. However, I am looking forward to spending the summer reading all of Heyer's mysteries. I believe she wrote eight of them.
For more book reviews, go to Read 52 Books in 52 Weeks.
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