Detection Unlimited September Group Read 2021 NO SPOILERS thread

[Carol She's So Novel꧁꧂]

I'm so sorry to be late putting these threads up! I fell asleep watching TV last night. :(

This is the no spoilers thread. Please either use the spoilers thread or use spoiler tags. We don't want to spoil a first read for anyone. This goes for other GH titles as well.

This title has never been read by this group before.

Is this anyone's first read? If not, how many times have you read it? What format are you using?

I think I have only read this one once or twice before.

[Carol She's So Novel꧁꧂]

I started yesterday afternoon. My edition has a helpful little map & I am enjoying the scene setting.

[Teresa]

I don't think I've ever read this one before. I'm not overly mad about her detective fiction but I'll give it a go. Won't be starting till later in the month as I'm swamped at the moment.
It'll be a paperback for me.



Not the nicest cover.

[Barb in Maryland]

This is my first time with this book. I bought this edition

earlier this summer in anticipation of this group read.

Carol--I am envious of your map! (view spoiler)[I found the first chapter heavy going due to the lack of one. (hide spoiler)]

[Carol She's So Novel꧁꧂]

I've just added my cover. Last time I read this one I either borrowed from my Heyer loving friend or got a copy from the library.

Here is my current copy - well it was going to be! Search on GR unavailable now. :(

When adding my copy I noticed the default description for this book was done by our spoiler loving friend. Be careful checking the English descriptions for this book! I'll fix up today.

[Carol She's So Novel꧁꧂]

I haven't read your spoiler Barb, but I have scanned my map. I've made it reasonably big & hope it is readable for all!

I've taken a quick look at the blurb of the five most popular editions on GR. Three of them had our friend's spoiler filled description, one was ok, one was ok but had excessive spacing between paragraphs - which I have fixed. I will check the others over the next few days.

[Barb in Maryland]

Carol She's So Novel꧁꧂ wrote: "I haven't read your spoiler Barb, but I have scanned my map. I've made it reasonably big & hope it is readable for all!


Carol
Thank you! The size is just fine.

[Susan in NC]

Barb in Maryland wrote: "This is my first time with this book. I bought this edition

earlier this summer in anticipation of this group read.

Carol--I am envious of your map! [spoile..."

I have the same paperback, and this was my first read - I would have appreciated a map for that first chapter! I often feel like that with Heyer’s first chapter in any of her books, several characters introduced at once, not sure I grasp relationships, personalities, etc., but I usually pick up on them soon enough.

[Susan in NC]

Carol She's So Novel꧁꧂ wrote: "I haven't read your spoiler Barb, but I have scanned my map. I've made it reasonably big & hope it is readable for all!



I've taken a quick look at the blurb of the five most popular editions on ..."

Thanks for scanning that, Carol!

[Carol She's So Novel꧁꧂]

Thanks for scanning that, Carol!

That's ok. I'm tempted to sit in front of my computer while I read, so I can look at it!

This is my cover from 1967.

[QNPoohBear]

Hooray! I haven't read this one yet so thank you for the map. I'll have to hit the library soon to pick up a copy.

[Jackie]

I've read this many times. I used to have a paperback and now that I am reading the kindle version I missed the map. thanks for posting it, Carol.

[Critterbee❇]

I am excited about this one - I have never read this before! I have found her mysteries to be hit or miss, and wonder how I will find this one.

I have the book on my kindle and will start it today or tomorrow.



Thanks for the map scan, Carol - I love a map in a book.

[Jackie]

Critterbee, I always enjoy your comments but I am especially excited to read them as it's a first read for you.

[Margaret]

Just wondering ... why is this book labeled as "October Group Read" when it's September?

[Carol She's So Novel꧁꧂]

Margaret wrote: "Just wondering ... why is this book labeled as "October Group Read" when it's September?"

Sorry my mistake. Corrected now.

[Barb in Maryland]

Ah, the local police have called in Scotland Yard. Hemingway is wonderful and Harbottle makes a perfect straight-man. The pace of the story-telling is really picking up. I'm having fun at this point.

[Susan in NC]

Barb in Maryland wrote: "Ah, the local police have called in Scotland Yard. Hemingway is wonderful and Harbottle makes a perfect straight-man. The pace of the story-telling is really picking up. I'm having fun at this point."

Yes, I was waiting for that part, too - Hemingway was very entertaining, I thought!

[Jackie]

Barb in Maryland wrote: "Ah, the local police have called in Scotland Yard. Hemingway is wonderful and Harbottle makes a perfect straight-man. The pace of the story-telling is really picking up. I'm having fun at this point."
I love the humor! but I think I'd better head over to the spoiler thread.

[Teri-K]

I've read this several times - I'm a big fan of her detective novels, they are all I read of her for many years. I also found on rereading this that there were too many initail characters for me to keep straight, but I don't worry about it; I've found that most of them will sort themselves out. (This is how I approach everything I read.) At first I just look for the person everyone else is talking about, and a few people who stand out to me, like Mavis.

The list-lover in me wants to make lists of everyone and locate their homes on the map and add personal details, but for me that would take away from the pleasure of watching the book unfold as I read. That's not true for everyone, I'm sure. It's just my approach.

[Critterbee❇]

I am enjoying the introduction to both the village and the characters - so far quite a cast of characters has been spoken of in the first few pages!

[Teri-K]

One of the elements in Heyer's mysteries that nobody else seems to have is the way her detectives play off of each other humorously.

Hemingway to Harbottle: (view spoiler)['When you first came to me, you used to think I was heading for the looney-bin every time I got a hunch,'
'I didn't because Sandy Grant warned me not to be misled,' retorted the Inspector. 'He told me-'
'I don't want to know what he told you, for I'll be bound it was something insubordinate, not to say libellous, besides having a lot of that unnatural Gaelic of his mixed up in it.' (hide spoiler)]

This had me laughing out loud.

As an aside, I've often wondered if Grant is the only Scotland Yard detective in the books whose last name doesn't start with H. I don't know if it's significant, but you can't help but notice it.

On the not-at-all-amusing front, I feel so sorry for the Squire and his wife. What a mess things are in there! To (view spoiler)[lose your only child in the war (hide spoiler)] and then have to face such a situation! No wonder her health is weak and he works all the time. It's just so sad.

[QNPoohBear]

The 1961 American edition has the map. (And a lot of dust). I may have to switch to the e-book. I could only get through one chapter and coughed my way through it.

I didn't appreciate the pampered Pekinese pups. NO KICKING! P.G. Wodehouse uses them too in the Bingo Little books. The alliterative names are funny but weird.

The snootiness of the village newcomers vs. long standing residents is awful too. Reminds me of where I grew up. By the time we moved, all the old timers had died or moved on too. Now everyone is a newcomer except for the one family that were newcomers in my teen years!

[Teresa]

I'm loving the comments I'm reading here. I don't know if I'm going to get to this at all. I have a couple of books I have to read first and I can't seem to find any extra time this month.

[QNPoohBear]

I'm on Chapter 9 already. It was slow to start and all the characters were confusing but I think I got it now. I was happy when Hemmingway was called in. I love his sense of humor. I think he should listen more carefully to what Gavin is telling him. I was thinking along the same lines myself but I don't think that person had the means. I think his second choice is closer to the mark.

Interesting how she has another character with a hip disease making his leg shorter than the other. (Aubrey inVenetia had a diseased hip). Aubrey is selfish but much nicer than Gavin.

I love the Ultimas. They're cute, spoiled, and in need of training but a good dog or two or several always makes the story much better. Mummy is batty but she doesn't seem to have anything else to do but make these pups her children.

[QNPoohBear]

Quick question: is anyone reading the e-book? Did they change the word "plantation"?

[Jackie]

QNPoohBear wrote: "Quick question: is anyone reading the e-book? Did they change the word "plantation"?"

I read the ebook and it says plantation.

[Doris]

QNPoohBear wrote: "Quick question: is anyone reading the e-book? Did they change the word "plantation"?"

No, my ebook has the word "plantation".

[Barb in Maryland]

Re: the word 'plantation'

Definitions :
an estate on which crops such as coffee, sugar, and tobacco are cultivated by resident labor*.
an area in which trees have been planted, especially for commercial purposes.
historical : a colony.
GH was obviously using the second definition when describing the Squire's newly planted trees.
* historically, resident labor usually = enslaved people, but not always. However, it is the word's connection to slavery that has given 'plantation' its bad odor.

[QNPoohBear]

OOh this book was good! I'll post my final thoughts in the spoilers thread.

Barb in Maryland wrote: "Re: the word 'plantation'

Definitions :
an estate on which crops such as coffee, sugar, and tobacco are cultivated by resident labor*.
an area in which trees have been planted, especially for co..."

Yes I know that but many people are now saying the word brings up negative connotations, like Gone With the Wind and the word has been BANNED in some circles.

[QNPoohBear]

Barb in Maryland wrote: "Re: the word 'plantation'

Definitions :
an estate on which crops such as coffee, sugar, and tobacco are cultivated by resident labor*.
an area in which trees have been planted, especially for co..."

Yes I know that but many people are now saying the word brings up negative connotations, like Gone With the Wind and the word has been BANNED in some circles.