Mini Reviews - XVII (Georgette Heyer)

The Toll-Gate

  - Georgette Heyer

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I read this for the second time, while on a spree of re-reading the Heyer novels I enjoyed most. This time I revised my review of this from 4 to 3 stars.

I found it rather slow, and skipped paragraphs of mundane and irrelevant details through out the book. The romance was hardly worth the interest, though the plot - a mystery - was different from the other Heyer works I have read. I love the Heyer heroines that are strong characters with a ready wit. But Nell seems to be rather passive and subdued, though we are told that she is very efficiently managing the estate. And the basis of attraction - the larger-than-life size of the lead pair - seems rather ridiculous.

 

 

The Reluctant Widow 

  - Georgette Heyer
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Quite a bland offering from GH. I find tiresome the kind of her heroine who is so 'excessively good natured' that she is not disturbed much even when she is aware that she has been manipulated and terribly imposed upon. She is upset for only a moment before dissolving into a smile or giggle. She is 'just the right sort' to agree to schemes and pranks that the least bit of common-sense will counter. And her vocabulary is limited enough to describe most people and events as 'odious' or 'horrible' (I counted 25 of the former and 20 of the latter - thanks to kindle search).

 

Frederica

  - Georgette Heyer
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I have been re-reading some of the Georgette Heyer books I enjoyed the first time, and this is the only book that I loved as much the second time as well.

It is a thoroughly entertaining book, full of humor and witty exchanges, and a cast of many endearing characters who are not such paragons of virtue as to become insipid. Of course there are some dim-witted and repulsive ones, but the novel would be no fun without them! My favorite characters in this, or perhaps the whole of Heyer, are the irrepressible Felix and the irreplaceable Trevor - the former for his unconscious enthusiasm, and the latter for his quiet, sharp efficiency which doesn't preclude subtle humor.

Death of an Expert Witness

Adam Dalgliesh #6: Death of an Expert Witness

  - P.D. James

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This is one of the better mysteries so far in the series - with a lot of suspense and tension, inevitable red herrings, and more plausible motives. However, it continues the tradition of the previous books - elements I didn't like - a full cast of unlikable characters, a detestable victim, and a rushed solution derived from intuition rather than reasoning. It deviates in the way the characters are introduced. In earlier books, the setting is introduced first, and then the backstory of the characters is built up through conversation or inner thoughts. Here, the main characters and their stories are introduced first, one after the other, and by the second or third you have a pretty clear idea of who is going to be killed. It also makes the initial 20% of the book rather bland, because it only serves to underline the depravity of the would-be victim.

Even though Dalgliesh's character is more sympathetic in this book than before, and the mystery is good, I am not inclined to continue with this series. I feel it doesn't say much for a mystery series if you cant care about the characters or even the lead. The characters are almost all mean or shallow. As for the hero, I find him inconsistent and unsympathetic, with no endearing personality traits. He may be publishing poetry, but investigating officers are no celebrities and poets are even more obscure, but in this series everyone seems to know of him and his poetic tendencies. There is no continuation of characters, not even a young subordinate or a bungling constable.
Contrast (unfair, I know!) it with the two most famous fictional detectives - despite Poirot's vanity and Holmes's detachment, they are both kind. Even though they may not respect the intelligence of Dr Watson and Captain Hastings, they have a fondness for them. They are not uncivil even to Lestrade and Japp.

The writing is good, but the solution of the mystery leaves much to be desired - critical pieces of evidence are withheld from reader and only brought out at the end, and the logical process of deduction is missing. So, I am leaving it here, and I don't think it will make it to my favorite murder mysteries list.

The Black Tower

Adam Dalgliesh #5: The Black Tower

  - P.D. James

My rating: 2 of 5 stars

This was quite bland and tedious. The setting and the atmosphere were both bleak, while the character cast was unlikable as ever. Dalgliesh's role is unofficial for a second time. It restricts the investigation a bit, because even though people are willing to talk for the most part, he cannot exercise his authority much. His deductions, as presented to readers, continue to lack the logical process of reasoning based on facts. The revelation of the poison-pen is totally like pulling a rabbit out of a hat, while the murderer's identity and motive are arrived at through a lengthy speculation with a theory.

The build up of the mystery is actually fine, despite the grim setting and the boring details. What pulls it down is the way the solution is presented - pages of conjecture and a gut-feel of antipathy towards the criminal. I think that is why this series has failed to impress me much, even though I like the writing - the solutions is based more on intuition than on logical deduction or pursuit of clues.
I'd have rated it 2.5-3 had the denouement been better.

Shroud for a Nightingale

Adam Dalgliesh #4: Shroud for a Nightingale

  - P.D. James

My rating: 3.5 of 5 stars

The mystery in this book is more intriguing than the previous books in the series. Yet, it is surprising that I liked this better than the earlier ones, because I did not find much else to like.

The author repeats her formula - a closed setting, a victim much disliked by everyone, and a number of red herrings (obviously, for otherwise it would be difficult to make a novel out of a murder mystery). Further, most of the characters are unpleasant and I didn't care for them, and this includes the detective Dalgliesh. I found him unsympathetic, cold and prejudiced; what makes it worse is the kind of people he has a bias against - sick, disabled, and even plain-looking ones. Dalgliesh, and several others, are quick to judge people based on their looks and demeanor, and are often unaccountably correct. I found his assistant on this case rather repulsive - he is a lazy sycophant, who has a derogatory attitude to women.

The modus operandi of the first murder was fairly straightforward, and I was surprised to see Dalgliesh take so long to figure it out. I had also guessed the identity of the murderer, though not the motive for it, which made me uncertain of my guess. The reason behind the second murder was tangential, and it was perhaps quite unnecessary. (view spoiler)[ The library book, if at all it was be a reasonable cause, could have been returned without the murder, with the same result. (hide spoiler)].

The author continues to withhold crucial information from the readers, at the same time revealing that the detective has obtained or inferred some vital clues (by means of his though process or discussion with the subordinate). And finally, when the mystery is disclosed to the reader, there is no insight into the process of reaching this conclusions. I feel that this is the one big reason no other author is able to match the works of Christie or Doyle - their detectives are quite likeable despite their eccentricities, their is a clear logical process to the solution and it is revealed to the reader at the end.

What I did like about it was the atmosphere and the tension throughout, that kept me on the edge. I like the way the background and nature of the characters is slowly uncovered, through their talks with the detective, or among themselves, though it becomes a bit confusing when their thoughts are related in lengthy paragraphs.