Monday, April 11, 2016

A Blunt Instrument - Georgette Heyer

When I was looking for something to read for the 1938 book club I though it might be interesting to see what Georgette Heyer produced in that year and what it could tell me about 1938 generally. Luckily one of the two books she published in 1938 (the other is 'Royal Escape' which I might get to later in the week) was a contemporary crime novel.

Heyer's detective fiction aren't generally as well regarded as her historical romances but I've always enjoyed them, albeit uncritically. Even so 'A Blunt Instrument' isn't necessarily one of her best, there are a couple of romances thrown in but I couldn't really warm to any of the protagonists. It's also hard to care much for the victim or the eventual culprit - and it does help if you can care about the characters a little bit.

On the other hand, even though I had remembered who did it the fun Heyer has with bible quotations and her general lightness of touch still made it an enjoyable re read and the puzzle she creates for her detective to solve (it's all about timing) is enjoyable too.

What it tells me about 1938 is how many servants people still had. The background is a wealthy London suburb, nice houses in big gardens owned by business men who routinely employ butlers, cooks, house maids, boot boys, valets, ladies maids, and presumably gardeners. I assume this would have read as enviable but quite feasible at the time but it sounds like a lot of household help to me.

There is also a troubling to the modern reader streak of anti-semitism. Thete is a corrupt Jewish broker and what's bothersome is the way that his hand gestures are referred to as betraying his race, and a description of him having a certain oily quality to his skin. It betrays a deep seated prejudice that I'm perfectly aware my grandparents shared, but which is disturbing to read now, probably because I find the descriptions de humanising. Something more deliberately offensive might not be as shocking as this implication that readers naturally shared these prejudices.

Finally there's lots of talk about travel - business of some sort in Berlin (what could that be I wonder) and travel for pleasure to Bulgaria and Yugoslavia which to a child of the Cold War era seems terribly exotic.

If anything I'm surprised this book was written as late as 1938, it looks back to older certainties of the social order, and Neville and Sally strike me as characters who would be more at home with the bright young things of the previous decade than the rather more serious 30's. Now I need to find something to compare it with.

8 comments:

  1. Thanks so much for this contribution - perfect! I've still not read any Heyer, believe it or not, but I am actually more drawn to her detective novels than her others.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. She's not Agatha Christie, but they're classic golden age crimes and perfect for lazy Sunday reading. Give one a go!

      Delete
  2. I quite like this one - I like most of Heyer's detective novels, actually - but am not a huge fan of Royal Escape (whenever she moves away from Regency in her historical novels she loses my - otherwise fervent! - admiration).

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I seem to remember not loving Penhallow so much, but I'm very fond of all the others. They Represent many happy hours of reading and re reading and have never let me down!

      Delete
    2. Yes, I'm not so keen on Penhallow, but particularly like Footsteps in the Dark and Behold Here's Poison. We're just packing up the house for the move to Rutland and I've got rid of about 10 boxes of books, but my G Heyers (regency and crime) are coming with us :-)

      Delete
    3. I live in Leicester, so if you ever fancy meeting for tea and Heyer chat let me know!

      Delete
  3. Still haven't read any of Heyer's mysteries but am certain, as a lover of her romance novels, I'll get to them one day. Do love the idea of all those servants - I'd settle for one just now!

    ReplyDelete
  4. they have all her trademark wit, sensible detectives who are actually policemen, and lots of contemporary detail - I really like them so think you might be in for a treat.

    ReplyDelete