Why Shoot a Butler - Georgette Heyer

I know it;s been a while, the last month seems to have been a blur of working, sleeping, and appointments. Or hospital phone appointments not happening and the hours it takes to try and get through to the right department in an attempt to find out what happened. I don't know how the switchboard turned gynecology at the general to radiology at the royal but they did. The answer phone I landed with didn't state department, but I can testify to a very diligent radiologist who has followed up my message several times.

That wasn't the only wrong hospital or department I've been put through to, just the most helpful and possibly best staffed. It's all added to a feeling of despondency to match the fatigue which is probably related to the medical issue I'm trying to get an answer for and on it goes in an increasingly exhausting circle. 

I have at least managed a bit of reading even if it hasn't been in a very organised sort of way, but at the moment something feels better than nothing so... 

"Why Shoot a Butler" was a choice for an online Georgette Heyer reading group where we spend an hour or so on Sunday evening discussing 3 chapters of the chosen book a week via Signal. The group originated on twitter back in lock down, and whilst it's only a small core of what we once were the closed nature of the group and a now long standing acquaintance means we can be very open with opinions. 

I wanted to do a crime novel and hosted this readalong, "Why Shoot a Butler" was a popular choice of title, and it had been long enough since I read it for me to have forgotten it entirely. I read through once, quickly, to check for anything very old-fashioned and thought ot stood up well enough. 

Then we read slowly together, and the flaws really stood out. I'd never really accepted that Heyer's detective fiction just isn't as good as her romances, but this one just isn't as good. There are flashes of the things we all love about her, but the plotting and pacing is uneven, the characters often unconvincing, and in the case of the hero downright annoying most of the time. It's not a terrible book, and compares reasonably well enough with plenty of contemporary efforts, but it lacks whatever spark make her romances sparkle. 

Thank goodness then for a group who were kind enough to stick with it and share criticisms in a constructive way - if I didn't love the book I did at least love laughing about it with like minded readers. There's also a definite value to be had out of looking at a favourite author trying to do something different and only partially succeeding at it. For anyone who loves vintage crime this is enjoyable enough read at a gallop, which is presumably how it was intended to be consumed, but definitely not the best Heyer around. 

Pagans - James Alistair Henry

I haven't done as much reading as I mean to on holiday - I never do, but I have finished Pagans, which I really loved. It's a mash-up of alternative history, urban fantasy, and police procedural, so not my usual kind of book choice, though not entirely unusual either and it delivered on all levels. 

Britain is a global back water - I guess on a par with one of the less fortunate Balkan countries now, maybe a little bit more depressed. Christianity never got a strong hold on the west and the Norman conquest didn't happen. The global super power is a pan African alliance, much of Southern Europe is a caliphate, America was never colonised... Britain itself is still 3 countries - Scotland is an independent Nordic country, the east of England is ruled by the dominant and more wealthy Saxons, the west is tribal Celtic.

On the eve of another summit to unify the three nations, a Celtic diplomat is found nailed to a tree—crucified. Detective Inspector Drustan is sent from the west to work with Captain Aedith Mercia, a Saxon princess as well as policewoman (or reeve). Two cops. One Killer. Hundreds of Gods, as the strapline would have it. 

It's a brutal kind of world, though not precisely a dystopia (depending on your view of London, which might be considered dystopian at the best of times). The whodunnit element is decent if not spectacular, the relationships between the various characters are more interesting, with plenty of scope for more a series, the alternative history is really good fun. 

Henry has an excellent pedigree as a comedy writer, he uses it well here both in his world building and in the way relationship he forges between Aedith and Drustan who bounce off each other nicely. There are political parallels and points that can be drawn from this reimagined history if you want to, but expertly balanced against the comedic possibilities of the world building so I never felt it was heavy handed with the morals. 

There is quite a bit of violence or mention of violence, though it's seldom graphic in the details. If that doesn't bother you I highly recommend this. It's intriguing, provocative, and overall really good fun.