Why Shoot a Butler? by Georgette Heyer (Book Review)

Title: Why Shoot a Butler?
Author: Georgette Heyer
Publisher/Publication Date: Originally published in 1933 by Georgette Rougier - Reprinted in 2009 by Sourcebooks Landmark.

First sentence: The signpost was unhelpful.

From the back cover: 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 last 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.

My thoughts: I am not a huge fan of this genre, having just read my first Agatha Christie novel last fall, but since I liked the Christie novel thought I would give it a shot. This one was just okay for me. It did start to pick up towards the end and I got more engaged in the story, but not sure that I would have stuck with it if I hadn't promised to read it! I am glad that I did though, as I have been wanting to try out some Heyer novels. By the end of the book I did have an idea of who the perpetrator was - but wasn't clear on why he was doing what he was doing. As Amberley began to lay out all the clues, it became clearer to me - and that is when you say -"Oh yeah, how could I have missed that?!" I do have some of her romance books to give a go next and am interested in seeing how they will differ from this mystery.

Read an excerpt of Why Shoot a Butler?

Why Shoot a Butler?
Publisher/Publication Date: Sourcebooks/April 2009
ISBN-10: 1-4022-1795-1
ISBN-13: 978-1-4022-1795-1
329 pages

Teaser Tuesday 5-19-2009

TEASER TUESDAYS asks you to:
Grab your current read.
Let the book fall open to a random page.
Share with us two (2) “teaser” sentences from that page, somewhere between lines 7 and 12.
You also need to share the title of the book that you’re getting your “teaser” from … that way people can have some great book recommendations if they like the teaser you’ve given!
Please avoid spoilers!

It has been troubling me a good deal, if Imay say so. The young gentleman attempted to shoot me, as you, sir' - he bowed to Amberley - 'will no doubt remember. (Why Shoot a Butler? p143)

The Friday 56 3-27-2009

Rules:
* Grab the book nearest you. Right now.
* Turn to page 56.
* Find the fifth sentence.
* Post that sentence (plus one or two others if you like) along with these instructions on your blog or (if you do not have your own blog) in the comments section of Storytime with Tonya and Friends.
*Post a link along with your post back to Storytime with Tonya and Friends.
* Don't dig for your favorite book, the coolest, the most intellectual. Use the CLOSEST.

She followed him, half angry, half amused. 'Look here, I admit I owe you a debt of gratitude for not making trouble the other night, but that doesn't give you the right to force your presence on me. Please go. (From Why Shoot a Butler? by Georgette Heyer p56)