December 19, 2019
Envious Casca by Georgette Heyer
My last holiday book of the season.
Nathaniel Herriard owns a country
manor in rural England. His brother
Joseph and Joseph’s wife Maud, both former actors, live off of Nathaniel’s
generosity. Nathaniel tolerates having
them live with him until Joseph gets it into his head to organize a Christmas
house party consisting of a variety of people who, general speaking, detest
each other. When Nathaniel is found
murdered in a locked room, the guests realize that there is a killer in the
house.
Envious Casca was written in 1941 and also published under the title A Christmas Party. This is a perfectly acceptable holiday mystery that ticked a lot of boxes for me: English country house, locked room murder,
Christmas, a clever crime. It has the
usual suspects: the old rich curmudgeon
who hates Christmas and house parties, the meddling uncle, poor relations, the pushy niece, the heir apparent and his airhead fiancée, the put-upon detective. If you are interested in a little light reading over the holidays, this is a good choice.
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