From the Bookshelf of Reading the Detectives…

Death in the Stocks (Inspectors Hannasyde and Hemingway, #1)

Georgette Heyer

Start date: November 13, 2021

Finish date: December 7, 2021

Discussion: Buddy reads

Why we're reading this: Next in our series of Georgette Heyer buddy reads.
[close] Next in our series of Georgette Heyer buddy reads.

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Buddy reads

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last updated Sep 20, 2025 02:26PM

* Vale of Tears (Bradecote and Catchpoll #5) - SPOILER Thread - (Sept/Oct 25)
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last updated Sep 21, 2025 08:01AM

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What Members Thought

Jan 09, 2015 Carol She's So Novel꧁꧂ rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: mystery-murder-crime-20th-century, georgette-heyer

This is the cover picture of the copy I read but it was a cheap edition - small font, closely spaced, only 174 pages. Through no fault of GH's, this made it quite a tiring read.

On to my review! This was my favourite of GH's mysteries when I first read it, & all these years later it still is. I probably wouldn't like Kenneth much in real life (in fact I probably wouldn't be able to stand him) but the dialogue between him & his sister as they argue that they could each of them have been the murder ...more

47 likes · Like · see review

Jul 25, 2018 Tania rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: mystery

The story opens with the discovery of a body in the stocks on the village green. Arnold Vereker was an unlikable man, with plenty of enemies. They cast of suspects is relatively small; there is his half-brother Kenneth or half-sister Antonia, Antonia's fiance and one or two other possibilities.
It is an enjoyable little mystery, but as with her other mysteries, it is not particularly tightly plotted in the way of an Agatha Christie, what makes it so entertaining is the characterisation. This, I ...more

6 likes · Like · see review

Nov 23, 2017 John Frankham rated it really liked it

Shelves: crime-detective

A pretty good whodunnit from the 13 (?) Georgette Heyer whodunnits. I think I found the core of the book - the vituperative banter among members of the dead man's family and their entourage - more unlikeable than amusing, although it was among these relationships that the key to the mystery lay. Good fun.

The GR blurb:

'Beneath a sky the colour of sapphires and the sinister moonlight, a gentleman in evening dress is discovered slumped in the stocks on the village green - he is dead. Superintendent ...more

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Aug 07, 2025 John rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: georgette-heyer

Always good to read a Heyer. My first detective one featuring Superintendent Hannasyde investigating the murder of Arnold Vereker whose family of half brothers and sister stand to inherit a fortune. Who killed him and put his body in the stocks. Lots of red herrings but quite a strong suspect.

Enjoyable read.

1 like · Like · see review

Nov 07, 2018 Jazz rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: mystery-british, series, golden-age-mystery-pre-1950

This was my first sampling of a Georgette Heyer mystery and I did enjoy it. It opened in an intriguing way with a victim found in the stocks on a village green with a knife in his back. How did he get there? How did a murderer get him into the stocks? Many questions arise. The mystery was competently told. My main quibble was that, in the end, the motive of the murderer seemed somewhat weak, but perhaps I missed something. I will certainly read more Heyer.

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Jul 06, 2017 Doris rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: z-2024-challenge, mystery, reread

Not one of my favorite Heyers (by which I mean it's one I seldom re-read!). In particular, I find most of the characters annoying. Kenneth and Antonia (Tony) are spoiled brats, Violet is a vapid gold-digger, Rudolph is an embezzler, Murgatroyd is a cliche, (view spoiler). Aside from Hannasyde and Hemingway, the only character I come even close to liking is Giles, and even he doesn't have much going for him. (view spoiler) ...more

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Dec 28, 2015 Sandy rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: rread-2021, series-completed, mystery-classic, rread-2016

The main suspects (family of the victim) are annoyingly flippant and that grates very quickly. However the detective, who will appear in the series, is calm and intelligent, and handles the family pretty well. Good mystery plot but it is often lost in the witty chatter.

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