Georgette Heyer (1902-1974) published more than 50 novels, the first when she was 19 years old. She wrote a dozen country house mysteries, eight in the 1930s, two in the 1940s, and two in the 1950s. The remaining books are historical fiction and historical romances. Her Regency romances are legendary for their research, their humor, and their characters. She is the accepted master of a genre that remains wildly popular, although none of her imitators come close to Heyer’s style. Her books have been translated into multiple languages, including German, Italian, French, Spanish, Hungarian, Polish, Swedish, and Vietnamese. Much of the attraction of her romances is in the wordplay; I’ve often wondered just how well it conveys in another language.
Heyer wrote The Reluctant Widow (Heinemann, 1946) as she was leaving the mystery genre; she would write only two more mysteries. However, intrigue is a prominent part of this romance and it takes place in a country house, Heyer’s chosen location for her mysteries. I like to think that she could not decide if she was writing a romance or a mystery and it ended up being both.
Heyer’s heroines are often in financial straits because of the male members of their families, and Miss Elinor Rochdale is an excellent example. Her father committed suicide after losing his money, rendering the family destitute. She becomes a governess and eventually accepts a position in West Sussex. Through a misunderstanding she arrives at the country house of Eustace Cheviot, a dissolute drunkard. There she meets his cousin Edward, Lord Carlyon, who is seeking a lady to enter a pro forma marriage with Cheviot to subvert the terms of their grandfather’s will in relation to Cheviot’s estate. The news that Eustace has been critically injured in a barroom brawl makes Carlyon bully Elinor into marrying Eustace on his deathbed. Eustace dies hours later, leaving a substantial if neglected estate to her.
As Carlyon explains the episode to his brother John, a secretary in the Home Office, John relays a bit of gossip about a missing memo that describes Wellington’s campaign plans. The reference sets the story early in 1815, after Arthur Wellesley’s brilliant performance during the Peninsular Wars earned him the title of Duke of Wellington in 1814 and before the Battle of Waterloo in June 1815. This missing memo becomes a recurring background theme to Elinor’s story.
Elinor takes up residence in her late husband’s house, as she and Carlyon undertake to put the neglected estate in order for sale. Her stay is more exciting than anyone expected, as strangers wander in and out of the house, and one leaves a bullet in Carlyon’s younger brother Nicky. What they want and how they are gaining access are questions that Elinor urgently wants answered.
The dialogue as usual in Heyer’s books sparkles, and the anxiety of Elinor’s situation is leavened by droll interactions with Nicky and his untrained dog. Of course the verbal sparring between Carlyon and Elinor is incomparably witty as the two realize they are an excellent match for each other. Immensely readable with far more suspense, bloodshed, and criminous activity than most of Heyer’s romances, this title is a more than acceptable addition to her roster of mysteries.Â