Duplicate Death by Georgette Heyer (Feb/March 24)

[Susan]

Welcome to our Feb/March 24 buddy read of Duplicate Death The third book in the Inspector Hemingway series / Book 11 in the Country House Mysteries series was published in 1951.

Inspector Hemingway has his work cut out for him when a seemingly civilized card game ends in a double murder.

The two crimes appear identical, but were they carried out by the same hand?

When Timothy Harte’s young fiancé – a put-upon secretary and suspected gold digger – becomes the inspector’s prime suspect, Harte is determined to prove her innocence.

But when he starts digging into her past, he finds it's more than a little bit shady...

Please do not post spoilers in this thread. Thank you.

[Sandy]

This is at least my third read of the book. I recognize things that are important but not who did it. Heyer's characters are always amusing: the ditzy blond who shows some culture as she reads the captions under the pictures and turns on the radio in her bedroom.

[Susan in NC]

Yes! I’m in a Heyer group, but her Regencies are more popular there than the GA mysteries - I love them for the quirky characters and humor! I’ve read them all a few times, this one is fun - the audiobooks are worth a listen if you can get them, the dialogue is witty and delightful.

Like Sandy, I remember clues, but I was mixed up with who was the killer (it had been a few years since my last read, the characters I remembered well, and the clues and red herrings they provided, I just mistook the killer!)

[Gretchen]

Hey there! Im in the Georgette Heyer group too! I like both her regencies and mysteries.
Her mysteries have all these quirky characters and like in Death in the Stocks this one had me guessing first it was this person then that person I didn't get it until the end. And everyone trying to pin it on everyone else crazy! Then the ner do well brother shows up it was nuts!

[Susan in NC]

Hi Gretchen! Yes, I appreciate the humor, characters and dialogue Heyer puts in her mysteries - and I think the mystery plots themselves are pretty good.

[Judy]

I've started rereading this and am enjoying it a lot. So far I haven't remembered much from my previous read. Sorry just realised I hadn't posted the link to the spoiler thread, below:
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

[Judy]

We previously discussed this book 5 years ago in 2019 - here's a link to the previous non-spoiler thread if anyone wants to take a look https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

[Judy]

I'm just over halfway through now and still enjoying it, but getting a bit irritated with all the Gaelic phrases that Grant says, as we don't get any translations! If there were notes at the bottom of the page, I'd be happy enough with them.

[Judy]

Miss Pickhill is a great character, I must say! I liked the mention that Hemingway was "not unappreciative of her discourse".

I laughed out loud at this: "... and I daresay the police are just as bad as the Ministry of Food, interfering right and left, and telling people how to cook cabbages, which we all knew long before they were ever born or thought of!"

[Susan in NC]

She was a great character! I’ve always admired Hemingway for having the patience to let witnesses babble on, it’s not just being patient and kind, it’s also a good way to pick up information others miss.

[Jackie]

Yes, I remember Hemingway explicitly telling someone (I don't think in this book?) that he likes it when people talk a lot. He is smart!

I'm enjoying this re-read much more than I expected to.

[Judy]

I enjoyed it more than I expected too, Jackie!

[Doris]

Are there any other readers of They Found Him Dead who are disappointed that we don't really see Sir Adrian or Lady Harte (Timothy's parents)? I wanted to hear more about Lady Harte's Parliamentary forays!

[Susan in NC]

Or any future travel adventures! But yes, I’d love to know how her campaign and service went (I assume she’d win, who’d dare vote for another?)

[Jackie]

Yes! All we get is (view spoiler)[ Lady Harte initially fears Beulah is a gold digger but at the end is convinced she was treated unfairly and now wants to protect her. (hide spoiler)]

[Frances]

I am just starting this now, having noticed that I missed this one as I was about to begin the July Heyer read. I'm only part way in and just realized on reading this thread that we've seen Timothy Harte before. Sometimes one needs a primer on all the continuing characters in a series, particularly when months or years go by between reading various books.