Footsteps in the Dark by Georgette Heyer is the first of the books that I am reading for RIP. I read this on my little Nook, it was one of the free downloads.
I tried to find a synopsis that fit the book, but all of the sites that I checked just did not seem to match the story.
First off, while I did like this book, I am not sure if I would read another one of her writings. The book for me was like a cross between a Nancy Drew and an Agatha Christy. I did have a few problems with the book that I think were not the authors fault, but the way that I was reading it. For example, the house The Priory did not have any electricity, or a telephone, but others about them did. There are automobiles as well. So I assumed that the book was set in near modern times at the earliest the 1940’s. However half way through the story one of the male characters talked about the war and what he did in it in 1914. I should have realized from the speech patterns that this was a wee bit older than that.
So not to give the mystery away, I won’t go into who did what but I will say that by the last few chapters I knew who the evil doer was. In that I was disappointed. I did love a few of the characters. Charles and Mrs. Bosanquet are two of my favorites. When I was at the gym reading she had me laughing out loud, so much so that the man on the bike in front of me turned to look at me.
If asked for a recommendation on this story, I would give it with the advice; this is a good read that does not require sleeping with the lights on.
My favorite quotes:
“Not, I trust, like a lot of lunatics,” Mrs Bosanquet said coldly.
“I shall have to have someone to hold my hand soon,” Charles remarked. “Do I understand we’re likely to come out at the chapel?”
“Please don’t do that again!” said Charles. “It unnerves me. Of course we only want a few bats to complete the picture.”
8 comments:
I've heard good things about Heyer and bought my wife a few of her books last year. I keep meaning to read one myself but haven't gotten around to it. Not sure if this book is representative of her work or not but it sounds like it might not be the one to read if one wants to sample Heyer at her best. Need to ask around the net and see what fans recommend.
I read this one for last year's RIP and absolutely loved it. I gather though that it's not typical of Heyer's other crime books which are more serious. And of course her Regencys are another matter altogether, most of those are an absolute joy.
Carl, Cath..
I have heard that Footsteps is not a good a typical Heyer book. When I get my pile o'Books down a bit I plan on looking into a mystery or two.
I have wanted to read Heyer for years and still haven't read anything...
Kailana, I had never heard of her and the book I got was a freebie on the Nook.
I am glad that I read it.
I was surprised when I saw this cover--I didn't know that Heyer wrote any mysteries. I still haven't read anything by her yet, but I associate her mostly with historical fiction. I'll have to see if I can get it for free on my Nook. It sounds like it might be worth a try!
Shelly, this was a good easy read to get into RIP. Hopefuly you can get it free on the Nook.
I've only read one book by Heyer and it wasn't a mystery. I did enjoy the book so maybe I'll give one her mysteries a try. Nice review!
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