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No Wind of Blame (Inspectors Hannasyde & Hemingway, #5)

Georgette Heyer

Start date: February 14, 2023

Finish date: March 8, 2023

Discussion: Buddy reads

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What Members Thought

Nov 07, 2017 Susan rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

I had only previously read one Georgette Heyer mystery before this one, “Death in the Stocks,” and, while I enjoyed that, I was not completely overwhelmed. However, on reading this novel, the first Inspector Hemingway mystery - first published in 1939 - I was really impressed and enjoyed this much more than the previous mystery I had tried.

In some ways, this is a typical country house murder. Ermyntrude Carter is the wealthy owner of Palings, who lives with her husband, Wally, her daughter, Vick ...more

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Nov 12, 2017 Lady Clementina ffinch-ffarowmore added it · review of another edition

Shelves: dog, humour, british, series, mystery, murder, dogs, georgette-heyer, inspector-hemingway

The first of the Inspector Hemingway mysteries, I read this one for a “buddy read” with the Reading the Detectivesgroup here. This was also my first “proper’ Heyer mystery since the only other one I’ve read Penhallow while it did have a murder and some element of mystery, this lasted only for part of the book which was more a character study than a whodunit (though a very good one nonetheless).

The wealthy Ermyntrude Carter is married to Wally Carter, her second husband who sponges off her, lendi The first of the Inspector Hemingway mysteries, I read this one for a “buddy read” with the Reading the Detectivesgroup here. This was also my first “proper’ Heyer mystery since the only other one I’ve read Penhallow while it did have a murder and some element of mystery, this lasted only for part of the book which was more a character study than a whodunit (though a very good one nonetheless).

The wealthy Ermyntrude Carter is married to Wally Carter, her second husband who sponges off her, lending her money to his cronies she disapproves of, particularly Harold White, enters shady deals (with the said Mr White), and is not above entanglements either―in other words, not a very savoury person at all. Ermytrude, formerly on stage, enjoys admiration and admirers and has them in a “Georgian” Prince she has invited to stay at their country home Palings, and a neighbouring farmer Robert Steel, who makes no secret of his feelings, and neither of whom get along with Wally. But while she is quite dramatic in real life as well treating any place she is really as her stage, she is essentially a good hearted human being. Her daughter Vicky too is of the same mould, constantly in “scenes” of her own making, many to achieve her own objects. Also in the house is Wally’s cousin Mary who lives with the family and feels more for Ermyntrude (whom she calls Aunt Ermy) than for Wally. A narrow escape from a gunshot on the hunt for Wally provides only temporary respite, and he is murdered not soon after by another rifle shot, this time on the way to Harold White’s house (White lives in palings’ Dower House). With a number of suspects, most with motives equally strong (or not) (both love and money among them) and many with shaky alibis, the local police soon find themselves out of their depth sending for Scotland Yard, and Hemingway arrives on the scene, to solve the case where the who I didn’t manage to work out and the how turned out to be quite elaborate as well (I really loved how this part was worked out). The “romance” parts of it were the opposite, pretty obvious some way into the story.

This book despite being a “murder mystery” was far lighter in tone than Penhallow (that being the only one I can compare it to). There is a lot of humour throughout the book (the Inspector himself has a great sense of humour and I enjoyed his observations) making the entire book a fun read. I also enjoyed the characters, the very dramatic (actually rather melodramatic) Ermyntrude and Vicky, the sensible Mary, the somewhat silly Janet White, and the lively banter between Hugh Dering (one of the Carters’ neighbours) and Vicky, though when I think it over, I realise Hemingway reacted far more favourably to Vicky and Ermyntrude’s antics than I would have had I been in his place―considering they were solving a murder, that is. Palings is a rather “crazy” set up and when the Inspector says something to the effect that he doesn’t wonder why Wally’s aunt (who is in an asylum) landed there, I found myself inclined to agree. The mystery itself was also very enjoyable though I did feel it took a lot longer getting “started” than I would have liked. Still it gave one an opportunity to know all the characters and their antics better. A pretty good and fun read. I look forward to the next Hemingway mystery which I will be reading with the same group next month. Hope it is as much fun! Four and a half stars. ...more

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May 21, 2021 Lady Wesley rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: mystery-with-a-touch-of-romance, listened

Review of the audiobook narrated by Ulli Birvé

Apparently, I bought this audiobook some time ago and never listened to it until today. I quite enjoyed it, as the circumstances of the murder plot make it appear that nobody could have killed no-good Wally. It was quite complex and kept me guessing until the end; my knowledge of mechanics was not sufficient to figure out whodunnit.

The victim's fabulously wealthy, not-so-grief-stricken wife, Ermyntrude (and where did Heyer find that name?), is most a ...more

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Nov 13, 2017 Leslie rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: audiobooks, mysteries

This review is for the audiobook edition only.

Ulli Birve did a fine job narrating this mystery overall. In particular, her voice for Ermentrude was excellent. However, for a few of the male characters (such as the butler Peake and Inspector Cook), her narration was at times wooden.

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Feb 20, 2023 Jackie rated it really liked it

a 4 or maybe 4.5 star read and over the years it's really improved for me. I enjoyed the characters and the humor very much and thought the mystery was good, as well. Hemingway is a favorite of mine and watching him solve this one was a lot of fun. ...more

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Nov 04, 2017 Jill rated it really liked it

Shelves: georgette-heyer

Much preferred this book to the other book I read by this author.(Death in the Stocks). This still contained a really stroppy young woman (Maybe Heyer believed all young women were stroppy), but I could forgive it, as her mother was an actress and they had a huge amount of money, so her upbringing would have had a lot to do with it. The victim was someone that nobody liked, although I didn't think he was too bad, and the murder was nicely complicated. Will read more in this series, as although t ...more

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May 20, 2021 Andréa rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: mystery-thriller-crime, british-isles, classics, digital

Vicky's my favorite in this one. I wouldn't necessarily want to know her, but boy is she entertaining to read. ...more

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Feb 11, 2019 Cindy rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Fun and Witty!!!

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Nov 24, 2017 Sandy rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: mystery-classic, mystery-detective-grp, kindle-unl-read, rread-2023, rread-2017

I've read this at least twice and love Heyer's characters and humor. Hemingway is a fine detective and solves the mystery despite the 'help' he gets from the family. ...more

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