This book was a re-read for me. I know I've read Envious Casca fairly recently. So recently, I actually remembered the murderer, which is pretty good for me, who can never remember a punchline to a joke or the conclusion of a mystery for very long. However, I looked back at all my Read 52 Books in 52 Weeks which I have been keeping since 2011 and I could not find Envious Casca listed anywhere! I am sure I read it and I really thought I had written a review for the 52 Book Challenge, but alas, I can not find it anywhere. So I must have forgotten to count it. I bet I wrote a draft that I never got around to publishing. I don't feel like combing through my very long list of unpublished posts, so I'll rely on my assumption.
Anyway, second time around, even knowing who actually did the murder, it was still a thumping good read. And now I think the next book I read will be Poirot's Christmas. I know it is odd to be planning to read Christmas books in June, but Envious Casca is set on Christmas Eve. Agatha Christie wrote her story in 1938. Envious Casca was written in 1941 and I think Heyer was playing off of Christie's story. Even the title which comes from Shakespeare kind of riffs off of Christie's opening of her Christmas murder mystery with a quote from MacBeth. Only Envious Casca is from Julius Caesar. Also the main suspect is named Stephen in both. And most astonishingly, the murder in both books takes place in a locked room so no one can figure out how to the murderer got in or out.
Here's a link to a review of Envious Casca, which is interesting, though I don't think I actually agree with some of it.
Another good read from Georgette Heyer! For more book reviews go to Read 52 Books in 52 Weeks.
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