Duplicate Death

 

By Georgette Heyer

Mrs Haddington has finagled an introduction to London society through her association with Lady Nest Poulton.  Lady Nest is one of the leading figures of London society, the perfect person to introduce Mrs Haddington's stunningly beautiful teenage daughter, Cynthia to the world.

Mrs. Haddington's desire is to see her daughter established in London society by marriage to a man of wealth and breeding. Unfortunately, Cynthia is smitten by Lord Guisborough, who, though he is a member of the peerage, is not wealthy and is a Communist besides. Mrs. Haddington's sights are set on Timothy Harte, a wealthy, personable young barrister. What Mrs. Haddington doesn't know is that Timothy has fallen in love with her secretary, Beulah Birtley, a young woman with a mysterious past.

In order to throw Cynthia and Timothy together, Mrs. Haddington holds a bridge party, inviting as many upper class bridge players to her home as its rooms will hold. But during the course of the party, one of her guests ends up dead, strangled with a length of wire while taking a phone call in another room. 

The victim, Dan Seaton-Carew, had close connections to Lady Nest and to Cynthia Haddington. His position in society is strange but it becomes more understandable when the police discover he was a drug dealer, providing illegal drugs to people like Lady Nest.

Some of Mrs. Haddington's guests may have had reasons to murder Seaton-Carew. There's Mr. Poulton, Lady Nest's husband, who may have discovered his wife is an addict. There's Sidney Butterwick, who desperately loves Seaton-Carew and who had a heated argument with him at the bridge party. And there is Beulah, whose mysterious past may have given Seaton-Carew some kind of hold over her.

Georgette Heyer was better known for her historical romances. But she also wrote several mystery novels. Her mystery novels were not as popular as her romances though. I have read a few of the mystery stories and they just don't seem to have that light humorous touch found in most of her romances. Another thing is that the characters are generally more crass, more unpleasant, more unappealing than those in the romances. That is certainly true of this story, starting with the heroine, Beulah, who spent time in prison for forgery. 

This book was written in the early 1950s and the language used concerning Stanley Butterwick may be quite unpleasant for modern readers. However, it is how people thought and spoke back then. 

Lots of times, when I am reading a novel, I will just skip over passages of boring descriptions or of speeches that seem to be filler. But with Heyer's books, I virtually never do that. Every word is worth reading, every word builds the story and never feel like a chore to wade through. So even though I don't enjoy her mystery stories as much as I do her romances, I still found this one engrossing and worth reading.