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Envious Casca
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Envious Casca December 2018 Group Read Chapters 1-8
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Karlyne
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rated it 5 stars
Dec 06, 2018 08:34AM
Mine has an obviously 1970 bouffant hair-do on the cover. With somebody underneath it, but I have no idea who!
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At least the edition I first read had the courtesy to have a dead body on the cover!
I have the car cover one as well. Very slow going for me at the moment. Our lovely Irish Wolfhound is very unwell and I think we're near the end. Finding it difficult to concentrate on anything at the moment. Hoping to get most of it read the weekend. Have to say I've seldom come across a more unlikable bunch of people in one story.
Teresa wrote: Have to say I've seldom come across a more unlikable bunch of people in one story. I take it you haven't attempted Penhallow yet. ;)
Teresa wrote: "I have the car cover one as well. Very slow going for me at the moment. Our lovely Irish Wolfhound is very unwell and I think we're near the end. Finding it difficult to concentrate on anything at ..."Sorry to hear about your dog, Teresa. Yes, this book is short of warm & fuzzy feelings. I like Mathilda, I find her sympathetic, but I am wondering why she wanted to spend Christmas with these people--perhaps she's not what she seems?
Margaret wrote: "Teresa wrote: Have to say I've seldom come across a more unlikable bunch of people in one story. I take it you haven't attempted Penhallow yet. ;)"
Hahaha, Margaret! You are so right!
I was just wondering, by the way, why authors have to name their characters with the same initials. I mean, Maud, Mathilda, and Mottisfont, Stephen and Sturry, and the worst yet, Hemingway and Hannasyde (I invariably mix them up, even when only one of them is in the book). If I should ever write The Great American Novel, I shall take great care to start at "A", move on, and not repeat myself.
Karlyne wrote: "I was just wondering, by the way, why authors have to name their characters with the same initials. I mean, Maud, Mathilda, and Mottisfont, Stephen and Sturry, and the worst yet, Hemingway and Hann..."I know, Karlyne, I know--it can drive me crazy! Especially the Hemingway, Hannasyde one. What was GH thinking?!?
Margaret wrote: "Teresa wrote: Have to say I've seldom come across a more unlikable bunch of people in one story. I take it you haven't attempted Penhallow yet. ;)"
No. Guess I'm in for another treat :-)
Sheila (in LA) wrote: "Teresa wrote: "I have the car cover one as well. Very slow going for me at the moment. Our lovely Irish Wolfhound is very unwell and I think we're near the end. Finding it difficult to concentrate ..."Thanks Sheila. It's been one of those years. I'll be glad when it's gone.
Teresa wrote: "Sheila (in LA) wrote: "Teresa wrote: "I have the car cover one as well. Very slow going for me at the moment. Our lovely Irish Wolfhound is very unwell and I think we're near the end. Finding it di..."Some years are like that, but hopefully they're in the minority. So sorry your sweetheart is going.
I see the end of chapter 8 coincides with the end of Christmas Eve. I enjoyed the police interviewing the snobby butler while he Put Them In Their Place.
Karlyne wrote: "Rosina wrote: "I don't think it's a spoiler to say that this is set in England, at Christmas, with snow. My audio-book cover however has a different image
"Uh, nice..."
Maybe the illustrator thought they had to draw something Casca might be envious of.
Alison wrote: "Maybe the illustrator thought they had to draw something Casca might be envious of..."Haha!
Karlyne wrote: "Teresa wrote: "Sheila (in LA) wrote: "Teresa wrote: "I have the car cover one as well. Very slow going for me at the moment. Our lovely Irish Wolfhound is very unwell and I think we're near the end..."Thanks Karlyne, yes it's been the year from hell since way back in January. Hard to take at times. Hope the next one is a whole lot better.
Karlyne wrote: "I was just wondering, by the way, why authors have to name their characters with the same initials. I mean, Maud, Mathilda, and Mottisfont, Stephen and Sturry, and the worst yet, Hemingway and Hann..."I have the same problem with names starring with the same initial. It gets very confusing for me. Mind you, I also have problems with TV shows where people have the same color hair and similar dress sense, so maybe I'm just easily confused.
Alison wrote: "Karlyne wrote: "I was just wondering, by the way, why authors have to name their characters with the same initials. I mean, Maud, Mathilda, and Mottisfont, Stephen and Sturry, and the worst yet, He..."Maybe it's our eyesight: I'm horribly near-sighted!
Teresa wrote: "Karlyne wrote: "Teresa wrote: "Sheila (in LA) wrote: "Teresa wrote: "I have the car cover one as well. Very slow going for me at the moment. Our lovely Irish Wolfhound is very unwell and I think we..."Well, if you keep reading this one, it will make you glad that your family isn't as bad as they are. Which is a blessing of sorts, but maybe a more traditional feel-good Christmas story might be a better idea!
This is the first attempt to read the book. My copy is a 1975 Panther copy with some holly, burnt matches and a large knife inserted into a book with a cross on the cover.
Carolm wrote: "This is the first attempt to read the book. My copy is a 1975 Panther copy with some holly, burnt matches and a large knife inserted into a book with a cross on the cover."That cover sounds interesting! I looked through all of the alternate covers on GR (trying to find this cover) and there is quite a range of variations.
Do you have a photo of the cover, so that we can upload it? Oh let me consult the Google....
That's it. I couldn't find it myself.
Carolm wrote: "That's it. I couldn't find it myself."Sweet, I will upload the edition - 1975 Panther. Is it a paperback edition? How many pages does it have?
Paperback, 217 pages. Published in 1961 by Panther Books, reprinted (a lot of times) 1975.
Critterbee❇ wrote: "Is this it?"
Great cover!
Carolm wrote: "Paperback, 217 pages. Published in 1961 by Panther Books, reprinted (a lot of times) 1975."Thank you for the details, Carolm.
Critterbee❇ wrote: "Is this it?"
That's the paperback version I have - I assume the prayerbook is Maud's, unless she lost that too! The matches I am less sure about.
Alison wrote: "I don't mind people being awful as long as they're entertaining while they do it (this probably explains a lot about my marriage ;-)). So far the only character I don't like is Stephen. I've only r..."LOL, yes! Reminds me of the British comedy Absolutely Fabulous- awful people, but entertaining. I remember they tried to Americanise the show for audiences here, but it didn’t catch on, I guess they made the two lead women too nice - lost the edge!
Rosina wrote: "I don't think it's a spoiler to say that this is set in England, at Christmas, with snow. My audio-book cover however has a different image"Now that’s interesting, I’ve seen another Heyer mystery with that very same cover art
!
Susan in NC wrote: "Rosina wrote: "I don't think it's a spoiler to say that this is set in England, at Christmas, with snow. My audio-book cover however has a different image"Now that..."
It's a perfect cover for Why Shoot a Butler. Seems like it might have been erroneously picked for this book.
Teresa wrote: "I have the car cover one as well. Very slow going for me at the moment. Our lovely Irish Wolfhound is very unwell and I think we're near the end. Finding it difficult to concentrate on anything at ..."Oh, I am sorry for your dear pup - that’s a very difficult time, I know. Beloved family members, we want to take good care of them as they mean so much to us, take so little and give so much!
Karlyne wrote: "I was just wondering, by the way, why authors have to name their characters with the same initials. I mean, Maud, Mathilda, and Mottisfont, Stephen and Sturry, and the worst yet, Hemingway and Hann..."Thank you!
Teresa wrote: "Karlyne wrote: "Teresa wrote: "Sheila (in LA) wrote: "Teresa wrote: "I have the car cover one as well. Very slow going for me at the moment. Our lovely Irish Wolfhound is very unwell and I think we..."Amen, sister!
Rosina wrote: "Critterbee❇ wrote: "Is this it?"
That's the paperback version I have - I assume the prayerbook is Maud's, unless she lost that too! The matches I am less sure about."
Maybe all the smoking.
Susan in NC wrote: "Rosina wrote: "Critterbee❇ wrote: "Is this it?"
That's the paperback version I have - I assume the prayerbook is Maud's, unless she lost that too! The matches I am less sure about."
Maybe all th..."
The matches must've been part of Paula's littering!
Karlyne wrote: "Susan in NC wrote: "Rosina wrote: "Critterbee❇ wrote: "Is this it?"
That's the paperback version I have - I assume the prayerbook is Maud's, unless she lost that too! The matches I am less sure ..."
Exactly, she is a rude piggy!
Thank you for all your kind comments about my dog. We had to have him put to sleep this afternoon. We're devastated here and my husband is in bits. The poor guy was suffering so there was no choice. We were blessed to have he for so long.
Teresa wrote: "Thank you for all your kind comments about my dog. We had to have him put to sleep this afternoon. We're devastated here and my husband is in bits. The poor guy was suffering so there was no choice..."Oh Teresa, I'm so sorry to hear that.
I’m so sorry for your loss! But glad you had the courage to show mercy to your beloved companion when he needed it the most.
Thank you so much Critterbee and Abigail. Yes he was in a bad way in the end. Went downhill with speed since yesterday morning. It's so damn hard though and we're keeping fingers crossed for our little guy left behind. So far he's ok. He's a very independent chap.
So, so sorry, Teresa!
I'm sorry for your loss but we have to make the decision to end their suffering. Pet are family, no doubt.
Karlyne wrote: "So, so sorry, Teresa!"Thanks Karlyne.
I'm still reading... on and off. I find the mysteries much harder to read than the regencies, something about the style.
I agree with you, Louise--the mysteries have a harder, meaner edge.
Louise Sparrow wrote: "I'm still reading... on and off. I find the mysteries much harder to read than the regencies, something about the style."I agree - with the Regency and Georgian books, there are usually only one or two unsavoury characters, but in the mysteries there are often a lot more!
It must be a matter of personal brain waves. The mysteries tend to crack me up, and I run through them very quickly.
Critterbee wrote: with the Regency and Georgian books, there are usually only one or two unsavoury characters, but in the mysteries there are often a lot more!That's practically a necessity of the genre. When you're writing a murder mystery, you usually want a fairly large pool of potential suspects--characters whom the reader can believe to be capable of murder.
Teresa wrote: "Thank you for all your kind comments about my dog. We had to have him put to sleep this afternoon. We're devastated here and my husband is in bits. The poor guy was suffering so there was no choice..."I am so sorry, Teresa, I don’t know how I missed this whole thread.
Abigail wrote: "I agree with you, Louise--the mysteries have a harder, meaner edge."Very true, you have to be in the mood for snark!
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