Why Shoot a Butler? (Country House Mysteries)

I just love English novels written during this period. Totally different world from today. Likening Ms. Heyer to Agatha Christie is apt but falls short. Heyer's books are much more atmospheric and sophisticated. (And I totally LOVE Dame Agatha!)

Georgette Heyer mysteries are so much fun! There's always a love interest and a great plot that keeps you turning those pages as fast as you can. This was no exception. And what a beautiful cover here too!

This was a humorous and delightful story centered around the mystery of the butler who was shot. I will be happy to read another novel by Georgette Heyer. I loved the characters and the slow, easy way the story was told! Very good!

This novel is reminiscent of Agatha Christie. While I have always been an Agatha fan, Heyer cannot pull it off. It is set in the English countryside and, as Agatha always did, the reader is left without vital clues to solve the mystery yourself. The story itself is so predictable down to the characters themselves.The hero is a stuffed shirt named Amberley and he is as insufferable as can be.There is the dolt of an English lord with his passive wife and not too bright daughter. Of course you have to have the idiot constable to make the hero look great.. I've read this story so many times before by other authors and am bored with it as I was with this book.

Structured on the old Sherlock Holmes format, this is an easy read except for some of the British nouns that I did not recognize. Her repeated use of "ejaculated" instead of "shouted" was designed to renew my attention and remind me that this was a British novel. The romance element was not plausible and neither of them was loveable.

I ordered the book because price-wise it seemed like a good idea and sounded like an entertaining book. If I had known in advance how boring it would be you could not have given it to me. I've ordered many good books that I have thoroughly enjoyed through Kindle, but this certainly was not one of them.

I am having such mixed feelings and luck with each new mystery that I pick up by this author. Overall, I enjoy these, but there are also bits that keep them from being perfectly satisfying.

This one returns to one of my favorite mystery settings- the country house/village- and had the usual range of quirky, colorful, and secretive characters. However, the characters are introduced and go about their business without being drawn with any depth. The plot is introduced and I loved the creative turn that had the murder in the first scene and a startling choice for victim- hence the title. All was looking good, but I confess that it lost its sparkle and intensity when I worked out out early. I read on because I wanted to get the ongoing story which can be equally as entertaining as the mystery element when it comes to this author.

Frank Amberley is the hero. He has biting wit, keen intelligence, and generally is a good guy, but he is also rather arrogant and wanted smacking now and then. He has it all worked out and it is obvious he does, but he has to wait for the proof. He left things to chance a few times because he chose to go a lone-hand.
But that is also what frustrated me about the heroine who also tries a lone hand, but the difference is the danger is close and she truly is alone. I get it- she's got troubles and can't see her way clear, but she pulls a stupid stubborn thing when she always refuses help and unnecessarily puts herself in danger. I think my biggest frustration was that I didn't see the dire need for her to keep away from Frank. The police- yes because of what she was doing, but she carried on way to long alone. Pretty sure two deaths and some other stuff along with her own near death were avoidable if she would have been a little smart with her choices.. At first, she was interesting the way the author put her at the murder scene, but I got impatient after that because...all that I just said.

The whole story was an exercise in patience because I felt it had the bones of a better story than it was. Still, for all that, it was mildly enjoyable and worth my reading time.

There are many similar upper class inanities uttered as the title of this review, that being in reference to the butler being murdered. This book title caused me to think of the phrase "The butler did it," and I wondered where that actually came from. I've read and watched mysteries for years, and never once did the butler do it. Concluded it must have come from old plays where that was often the case. Another, among many others, was Lady Matthews saying to a young lady she was inviting to stay at her home for her protection. "No danger at Greythorne, said Lady Matthews. Lots of burglars, but we can take care of you!" That wonderful lady was capable of much gratifying speech, along with being quite a sport.

The attorney sleuth performed rather amazingly, keeping his insightful observations to himself until the very end. This is the first time I've noticed this author using that method - the tell-all at the end. We just follow along like everyone else as it goes and make our observations as we may. He was a gratifying speaker as well, with more of an ironic bent to say the least. The girl involved was a puzzle, her actions and reactions odd to me. She acted like a criminal, but wasn't. Her non-reaction to her brother's death was inadequate, and she never really gained much personality. However, it wasn't surprising that the protagonist detector fell for her. She's the atypical kind of girl that that type would like. He, himself, with his rather smug style wouldn't attract the mainstream kind of girl, one would think.

You know, in reading these books and others of this period, I can recall much of the same type conversations from some old movies like "The Saint," Marlowe and others. Charteris and Chandler wrote during the same period as Heyer. I do know that Chandler wrote much more hard-boiled books. The opening of this with the girl out on the lonely road with the car and its passenger, the way Amberley talked to her and handled it, later conversations between them at her place and in the hall by the tallboy were just the kind of exchanges you found in those. And Charteris bandied the same kind of raillery with his characters. It's just interesting to me.

Good fun book.

When they re-issued the dozen or so Georgette Heyer mysteries recently, I was taken in by their appealing vintage cover artwork. What I discovered - to my surprise and delight - were wonderful English manor mysteries, similar in the Agatha Christie style.

These books blend a nice, cozy, old-fashioned mystery with Ms. Heyer's wonderfully snarky and dry wit, which adds up to genuine reading pleasure. I've plowed through nearly all her mysteries and will be sorry when I read the last. I wish she wrote as many myseries as she did Regency romances!

I am a huge fan of mysteries, particularly British mysteries but I was not overly impressed with this book. I was enticed enough to finish it but I think it was at least a quarter longer than it needed to be. Detail is necessary for the reader to easily imagine the scenes of the book but many parts of this book are unnecessarily detailed and just plain long (and boring). When I would reach some of those parts, I skimmed it very quickly and do not feel I lost anything if I missed something in the quick skim of a section. Although I suspected how the book would conclude (and was right, though if you pick up on the clues the writer leaves, it's not difficult to figure it out), I did want to find out the actual conclusion and found myself considering skipping to the end (I did, however, read the book in its entirety).

The characters were developed enough but I did also find some of their actions to be a bit contradictory. I also felt some elements were far fetched.

I had never read anything by this author previously and had been hopeful that I had found a new favorite but it is not likely that I will read anything by her again.

This is only the second Heyer mystery I have read and thought I enjoyed it, I'm not sure I liked it as much as Detection Unlimited. With Why Shoot a Butler? Heyer takes a different approach by having law enforcement officials that border on incompetent and an amateur who is much more talented in the sleuthing department. That particular device provides for many humorous exchanges between the officials and Amberley. Of course, I also liked the idea that instead of "the butler did it," the butler was the victim, or one of them, anyway.

Once again, Heyer's talent for witty banter and dry humor does much to make this an enjoyable read. There is also quite a bit of action, with no less than three murders and one more attempted before the ultimate culprit is found out. My biggest issue with this story was that it was not very obvious to the reader what was actually going on, and what the real mystery truly is, beyond the initial murder of the butler. I did have an inkling as to who the "bad guy" was, but no clue as to the motive. Of course, when the case is explained at the end, Heyer does manage to tie it all up neatly. As is typical with Heyer there is a romance, but unfortunately it is thrown in so suddenly towards the end that she was not able to exercise her true talents in this area. I suppose I could see it coming but it really wasn't worked into the plot as well as it could have been.

Overall, this was a quick, enjoyable read and one I think that most cozy mystery-lovers would enjoy. While I had some issues with the plot, that did not hamper my enjoyment of the story and Heyer's writing and humorous dialogues. I do wish, however, that some of the typos had been taken care of by Sourcebooks--there were two or three that were glaring and should never have made it through.

Georgette Heyer's Why Shoot a Butler? is different from most of the other Heyer mysteries I've read because it does not feature either Inspector Hemingway or Inspector Hannasyde. This is not a huge loss because Heyer is one of those mystery authors for whom the detective is not the most interesting or important character. Both inspectors are pretty forgettable and indistinguishable, and she focuses much more on the murder victim's family and friends and their dynamics.

In this outing, Mr. Frank Amberley, one of those fashionably bored and witty society types that Heyer writes so well, comes across a beautiful woman on the side of a road one night. She's standing next to a car with a dead man in it (the butler from the title) and she's holding a gun, but she insists she did not commit the murder. Amberley believes her, and when he tells the police about the murder, he does not mention seeing her. He has very little faith in the police solving the murder correctly, and he comes to realize that the murder is just one part of a much larger puzzle. As he delves deeper into the mystery, his lovely and mysterious friend seems more and more unwilling to trust him. But as more people turn up dead, Amberley realizes it's essential to solve this mystery as quickly as possible.

What I like most about Heyer's mysteries is just how witty she is. Just think of the context. We're post-WWI, so the aristocratic population has been decimated. They have also lost most of their political clout, and perhaps most of the money they inherited from their American title-hunting ancestors. They really are just hanging by that thread of social mores, in which people defer to and respect them just because of their names and mannerisms and the fact that the men were members of clubs and went to public school. I think that's where so much of the tension comes out. In Why Shoot a Butler?, particularly, there is an ever-present class conflict because, well, someone shot a long-standing retainer with a pretty unblemished reputation. It's fascinating to see the class interplay. And Heyer really plays up the indolence of the upper crust, too, making Amberley's cousin very dim, his aunt quite lazy (on the surface, at least), and his uncle a complete curmudgeon. This book is an engrossing and interesting mystery, but it's also a great social commentary on the class system of the day.

The only thing that kept this book from being a complete success, in my opinion, was the fact that readers really had no idea what was going on. There was so much information Frank had that we didn't. I think generally, this is something that Heyer does in her novels. It results in a fairly tiresome summary of about 18 pages at the end, in which Amberley has to reveal exactly how he knew everything (though there were still moments of pure omniscience that seemed far-fetched). I would have preferred it if the readers had access to all those clues, too, though then I guess we'd know right at the start what was going on, much like Amberley did.

But a Heyer read is nearly always a good read, in my opinion! And I enjoyed this one enough to finish it in the span of a few hours, curled up on the couch.

The story opens with our hero, the barrister Frank Amberley, lost in the countryside, attempting to find his uncle's house where he is visiting for the weekend. He happens upon a car, pulled over at the side of the deserted road, and a pretty young woman standing by the car. Gentleman that he is, he stops to see if he can be of assistance..and finds a recently shot and deceased man in the car and a young woman with a very feeble explanation of what she is doing there. Turns out the dead man is the butler of one of his uncle's neighbors and really, why would anyone shoot the butler. Well, you will have to read the book to find out now, won't you! As Frank says, the murder is the least of the mysteries.

Amberley refers to himself as the rudest man in London, and with some cause, and I find him totally wonderful because of it. His banter with the cast of characters, especially the police who take him on as an unofficial detective on the case, is one of the strengths of the book. Honestly, the mystery was a little weak...it must have been because I figured it out and some of the characters are a little undeveloped, but it is still a very enjoyable read. I love a nice mystery, set in the 30's in a country manor house, with servants lurking about, listening behind the doors and chases across the countryside.
If you are up for a clever, witty romp, with even a touch of a romance thrown in you should give Heyer a try.

This is a mystery novel set around 1933 in Britain. It's also a romance since Frank Amberly, our hero, falls in love with a certain young lady. I will mention, though, that the author likes to make matches that are not exactly destined for peaceful, blissful marriages.

I'd actually label this book a suspense novel rather than a straight mystery. After just a few clues at the beginning, I was able to correctly guess why the murders were happening and who was doing them. The hero quickly figures it out, too, though he doesn't tell anyone. However, his main problem is getting firm evidence to back up his ideas while keeping the next targets alive.

The pacing is excellent, the mystery was interesting, and the tension was kept up throughout the book. However, it's the characters that really shine. They're varied, interesting, and entertaining. Though Frank Amberly can be a bit rude and doesn't always stick to the rules, he is charming, persistent, and clever. I enjoyed every minute I spent reading the book.

I think there are a few swear words in the book. There is no sex or gore. Overall, I'd rate this as "very good, clean fun."

Genre Reviews
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I had never read anything written by Georgette Heyer before, but about a third of the way into this book I was on-line checking to see what else she had written. The description written on the back of the book sums up the book nicely: "Every family has secrets, but the Fountains' are turning deadly... On a dark night, along a lonely country road, barrister Frank Amberley stops to help a young lady in distress and discovers a sports car with a corpse behind the wheel. The girl protests her innocence, and Amberley believes her--at least until he gets drawn into the mystery and the clues incriminating Shirley Brown begin to add up... In an English country-house murder mystery with a twist, it's the butler who's the victim, every clue complicates the puzzle, and the bumbling police are well-meaning but completely baffled. Fortunately, in ferreting out a desperate killer, amateur sleuth Amberley is as brilliant as he is arrogant, but this time he's not sure he wants to know the truth..."

This book had me guessing all the way until the murderer was revealed. (Every clue really does seem to complicate the puzzle!) After the crime was solved, the last chapter has Amberley going through all of the clues that led up to his solving the crime(s).

I had to read the book in several sittings due to my busy schedule, but I found it harder and harder to put down after each reading. I even stayed up late two evenings trying to discover the clues to help me solve the crime(s). A real who-done-it! I don't recall any really bloody/gory detailed descriptions of the dead, and there were no sex scenes (gratuitous or otherwise). There were a few words left out here and there which caused me to re-read the sentences a time or two to try to figure out what was missing, but these didn't spoil the reading experience for me.

I don't like to read books twice, but my name is going into this one, and it is going to stay on my bookshelf so I can enjoy it again sometime in the future. The only thing I regret is that this wonderful experience is over ... for now. I recommend this book highly!

Read the paperback version, ISBN-13:978-1-4022-1795-1 or ISBN-10: 1-4022-1795-1. Published by Sourcebooks Landmark.

My objection is the cover art. It shows an artists rendition of what might be a 1953 Bentley, but the book has a copyright of 1933 so it should be a 1932 at the latest. Bentley made an exceptional automobile for its time and was well suited for the story. This was just before Rolls Royce bought them out because of financial problems caused by the Great Depression.

I love Georgette Heyer's writing. She specializes in witty dialogue and has good characterization, both things that are important to me. Her novels, largely because of the time they were written, are "clean." No more than one or two kisses mentioned, and that when the couple is engaged. Only a few uses of d*** and no other language. And no significant violence. That makes this classic mystery different from many written in modern times. Several characters are killed, and we are given the basics of how, but we are not taken into every gruesome detail. This is more than fine by me.

This brings me to my point that this is more a book for those who like Georgette Heyer's writing (including her regency novels) than it is one for mystery lovers. Personally, I didn't feel there was enough information shared with the reader to be able to figure it all out. Much of the information that our hero detective used to solve the crime is only revealed to the reader at the very end when he explains all to his family and friends.

This isn't a romance, unlike many of her books. There are two characters that end up in love, but not much focus is given to that, and honestly it didn't seem that believable to me when their feelings were revealed. Not that it contradicted anything in the book and couldn't be, but there hadn't been any focus on inner feelings or that much focus on actions that would have led to a belief that such feelings existed.

This is one of my favorite Heyer novels. I thought it a fun romp, with plenty of Heyer's wit, and plenty of intrigue without gory details. I'd highly recommend this book to Heyer fans.

I have absolutely no experience with mysteries. None whatsoever. I have had Agatha Christie's books on my shelves for years but have never touched them even though I keep telling myself I should. I figured that if I was going to skip over Agatha I might as well start with Georgette Heyer. She is, after all, the regency author I love the most after Jane Austen.

I was a bit apprehensive when I picked this up that I would miss some of the nuances that other readers more familiar with this type of mystery might pick up on. That was not the case. I found Why Shoot A Butler? to be a witty and funny novel. It seemed to be a satire. I loved the humor and sarcasm. It took me a few pages to catch on to the humor but I finally did. I thought that Frank Amberley and Shirley Brown were awesome characters. Their interplay was amazing and enough to keep me interested in the novel. There were also a bunch of twists and turns and surprises.

There were points in the middle of the novel that I sort of lost interest in the story and the mystery. I found my mind wandering as I was reading. That rarely happens with me. The interest returned in the last bit of the book but I can't help but feel that the middle section of the novel was a bit weak for me. It could also be because I was reading this part of the book on the subway, during rush hour, on a Friday. This is a novel that should be read on a comfy chair, drinking a cup of hot tea and preferably, with as little noise as possible.

The Sourcebooks edition is really great. It is a smaller edition. Almost like a little pocket paperback. The cover image is also really beautiful. Sourcebooks is doing a really great job bringing back this Georgette Heyer books.

A good mystery from the Golden Age of Mysteries. Heyer is better known now for her Regency romances, but her mysteries are very good too. This one starts with a dead butler - a twist on 'the butler did it'. Then you go on to the typical English manor house and meet lots of possible suspects. It's fast-moving and fun, set in the 1930's. If you love Christie or Sayers, you'll like Heyer's mysteries.

This suspenseful mystery is most enjoyable for its dialogue and character development, much like a Dorothy Sayers novel. The hero is a very realistic, dynamic young lawyer. He finds himself in love with an enigmatic young woman who is a central figure in very mysterious circumstances, including a murdered butler. The plot and pace of the book are excellent, as is the ending.

In addition to the cozy mystery, this book has some wonderfully witty dialogue. If you like Agatha Christie, Patricia Wentworth, or Ngaio Marsh and haven't tried a mystery by Heyer yet, this would be a great place to start.

A young lawyer on the way to visiting friends makes the mistake of trying a short cut. He gets lost, and as he tries to find his way comes across a dead body (a butler) in a car. A woman is standing beside it - did she kill him? Characters aren't really likeable in this one.