Georgette Heyer (1902–1974) has long been one of my all-time favorite authors. Well known for creating the Regency romance, she also produced mysteries and historical fiction. She considered a trilogy about the House of Lancaster her master work but she was unable to complete it due to the demands of her more commercially successful efforts. While Heyer wrote more than 40 romances, she only published about a dozen mysteries, although some of her romances have a mystery running through them, see The Reluctant Widow for instance. Most of her mysteries were released before the beginning of World War II and employ the Golden Age conventions.

Her third mystery was serialized in English newspapers in 1934 under the title One Woman Who Knew. It was published as a novel by Longmans and Company the same year as The Unfinished Clue. A classic set-up: a country manor house full of guests on a long weekend, with General Sir Arthur Billington-Smith serving as an abrasive but wealthy host; his much younger second wife Fay unable to stand up to her husband’s overbearing personality; Stephen Guest, a strong silent type who loves Fay and wants her to elope with him; the Hallidays, a chance-met couple with a flighty wife who intends to exploit her host’s venal interest in her; Geoffrey, Billington-Smith’s son at odds with his bullying father; Francis, the general’s nephew who can generally extract money from his imperious uncle; and Fay’s sister Dinah Fawcett who is one of the few unafraid of her demanding brother-in-law.

The result is an ill-assorted group with little in common and underlying tensions further complicated by the arrival of the lovely but self-absorbed Lola da Silva, a cabaret dancer to whom Geoffrey has unwisely become engaged. Unable to consider anything but her own convenience, her disregard of upper class norms drives the general to breaking point, which culminates in his disowning Geoffrey. He shouts at Fay, sending her to bed with a migraine. He refuses to give Francis money and argues with Basil Halliday over the general’s inappropriate attentions to Mrs. Halliday. Having antagonized everyone in his house, he retreats to his study. His guests are happy to leave him to himself while they check the train schedules and plan a discreet but fast escape.

About an hour later a neighbor enters the study and finds the general dead from a stab wound.

Major Grierson, the Chief Constable, decides the case is too sensitive for the county constabulary and requests assistance from Scotland Yard. Inspector Harding arrives and tactfully enlists the assistance of the local police, who fill him in on the general’s enemies, which is nearly everyone in the village. Multiple motives and any number of people with opportunity are an embarrassment of investigative riches. In addition, Harding is immediately smitten with Dinah; Heyer seemed to feel a romance was essential to any story she wrote.

Heyer offers vague alibis, dishonest witnesses, red herrings, and false starts galore. I was right about the motive for the murder but I didn’t suspect the killer at all. I think Heyer was stretching credulity a bit there, but considering the overall obtuseness of the general, maybe not.

The characters were great, especially the over-the-top Lola, who is an entertaining piece of work, as is her manager, whom she called for guidance on how to use the murder to her best PR advantage. Dinah, whose sense of humor is ever present, refers to her as “good value” and she certainly is.

I have read perhaps half of Heyer’s mysteries and I believe this one may be my favorite so far. A well-thought-out plot with carefully hidden motivation and excellent characters all fitting into the framework of the standard manor house trope. A good place to start for those unfamiliar with Heyer’s crime fiction. Recommended.