A Christmas Party (Envious Casca) by Georgette Heyer

This is the second book that I've bought double copies of. I rely on book covers far too much but in this instance, it's because the title has been changed. It's okay though. I don't really adore either covers as I've become quite fond of the super art deco covers with gilded flourishes. 

No matter what cover, the editions are the exact same inside. 

This is not quite a romantic story, which Heyer is famous for. It is part of her "country house mysteries,"  which are slightly cozy but more so a comedy of errors. I've really enjoyed the ones I've picked up in this genre (although her romances are fun little romps too). 

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Title: A Christmas Party (original: Envious Casca)
Author: Georgette Heyer
Page Number: 400 
Genre: fiction, mystery, romance
Publisher: Sourcebooks, Inc
Year: 2016 (my book) and 1941 (original)

'Tis the season-to be dead...

Resigned to spending Christmas at Lexham Manor, Mathilda Clare wasn't sure what she dreaded most--the foul temper of Nat Herriard, the filthy-rich old Scrooge who owned the place, or the sweetness-and-light of his brother, Joseph. Joseph had concocted a guest list brilliantly headed for mayhem... acid-tongued young Stephen, his sly sister Paula, and Nat's sharp-dealing partner, with a finger in some strange pies. "There'll be murder before we're through," Mathilda laughed. And she was absolutely right. This it is no ordinary Christmas, when the holiday party takes on a sinister aspect when the colorful assortment of guests discovers there is a killer in their midst. The owner of the substantial estate, that old Scrooge Nathaniel Herriard, is found stabbed in the back, and the six holiday guests find themselves the suspects of a murder enquiry.

For Inspector Hemingway of Scotland Yard, 'tis the season to find whodunit. Whilst the delicate matter of inheritance could be the key to this crime, the real conundrum is how any of the suspects could have entered the locked room to commit this foul deed. The investigation is complicated by the fact that every guest is hiding something-throwing all of their testimony into question and casting suspicion far and wide. The clever and daring crime will mystify readers, yet the answer is in plain sight all along....

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​There is a large cast of characters, with many being related in some form. I ended up creating a family tree of sorts to keep up although I just do that when the number of book characters get large as I lose track of people. 

This is an old country house murder mystery and the cast of characters stays the same except for the police. We start with Inspector Colwall and then switch to Inspector Hemingway and Sergeant Wave. 

The family Herriard (whose house the mystery takes place in) is described in detail in the first few chapters. The family is descended from three brothers. The first brother is named Nathanial, he's rich and owns the house. The second brother mentioned has died and has two children, Stephen and Paula. The third brother is named Joseph and is married to Maud. 

So two brothers alive (Nathanial and Joseph) with a nephew and niece (Stephen and Paula), plus one wife (Maud). 

Stephen Herriard has brought his newly affianced lady with him to the Christmas party, she's named Valerie Dean. Valerie is flighty and beautiful but quite a mismatch for Stephen who comes off cold and aloof towards her. Valerie has brought her formidable mother, Mrs. Dean, with her to the first family Christmas. Mrs. Dean seems to be the main instigator in the marriage between her daughter and Stephen. 

Stephen  (and his sister) are presumed heirs to Nathanial but they're both quite flippant towards their possible fortune or staying in Nathanial's good grace. Some of this is because Nathanial is grumpy, curmudgeonly, and hard to please. 

Stephen's sister, Paula Herriard, has brought an aspiring (and timid) playwright with her. The playwright is named Willoughby Roydon and Paula is enamored of him and the theatre. She would like her Uncle Nathanial to become the patron of Roydon although Nathanial has no interest in the theatre or Paula's Roydon. 

We learn more about Joseph, who is jovial and broke. His wife Maud is a bit absentminded and only wants to find her book that is missing. She tries to get the detectives trying to solve the murder to stop doing that and find her book. 

Their are two other people invited to the Christmas holidays. One is Mathilda Clare, who is a distant cousin to the Herriods and knows Paula and Stephen quite well. She's the main character for the story. The other person invited is Nathanial's business partner, Edgar Montisfort. 

The unnamed staff, under the purview of butler Sturry, make up the rest of the house populace. 
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​I'm glad they changed the title as the original one has a massive clue as to who the killer was. Well, it was obvious when you read a certain scene in the book. 

The mystery itself is a locked door mystery. It is one of her least well-devised mysteries as it is heavily reliant on fate and luck. That's unfortunate as normally Heyer produces an interesting whodunnit, but here, too many things happen by happenstance. 

There were some things that went over my head, for instance, the group played paper games and Black Maria. I'm not sure what paper games are, maybe a parlor game? Or something like tic-tac-toe? It's mentioned in passing as entertainment. Black Maria seems to be a card game.

​Heyer brought out some new (to me) words or words that I haven't seen in awhile. I really enjoyed that but I'm a nerd. The ones I wrote down were attestation, intestacy, saturnine, waggish, imbroglio, desultory, badinage, exigencies, ebullient, doyenne, bugbear, oustiti, gibing, officiousness, Torquemada, aphasia, sapiently, insensate, solecism, cross-grained, untrammelled, infelicitous, meiosis, roseate (mist), interpolated, malignity, Teutonic, fatuous, propitiating, anodyne, and inimical.



While there are quite a few quips in this book, my absolute favorite quote is from Mathilda, upon having her fingerprints taken by the Inspector and Sergeant. It's to the right: "Of course, I quite see that this will seriously cramp my style if I ever decide to take to a life of crime." 

There is a slight romance, it's not unexpected as far as it all goes. I found the writing around it purple and verging on overwrought, but that might be the style as well. 

I don't know why these books aren't turned into theatre productions and masterpiece mysteries. They're brilliant. I mean  seriously, Hollywood please stop with the super hero movies! Do this instead! Granted, I don't think I've been to the movies in awhile...mostly because they keep doing movies I'm not keen on. 

For this one, after the cast of characters is introduced, the murder occurs (about a quarter of the way in) and the police are called. In general, none of the characters is really likeable and they all have some form of motive (mostly money). Also, as one of them is a killer and they're locked in the house together, they're all in danger...which leads to all sorts of chaos as they mostly don't seem to care too much. ​

This was a 3.5 to 4 star read. I knocked it down because the "how" the murder occurred was not really plotted out realistically. Other than that, it was a fun read once it got going.