A Blunt Instrument (Inspector Hannasyde, #4)

by Georgette Heyer

When Ernest Fletcher is found bludgeoned to death in his study, everyone is shocked and mystified: Ernest was well-liked and respected, so who would have a motive for killing him?

Enter Superintendent Hannasyde who, with consummate skill, begins to uncover the complexities of Fletcher's life. It seems the real Fletcher was far from the gentleman he pretended to be. There is, in fact, no shortage of people who wanted him dead.

Then, a second murder is committed, with striking similarities to the first, giving a grotesque twist to a very unusual case.

• ISBN10: 058602669X
• ISBN13: 9780586026694
• Publish Date: 23 January 1969 (first published 1938)
• Publish Status: Out of Print
• Out of Print: 9 October 1997
• Publish Country: GB
• Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
• Imprint: Grafton
• Format: Paperback
• Pages: 192
• Language: English

Reviews

[annieb123]

Originally published on my blog: Nonstop Reader.

A Blunt Instrument is the 4th of 4 Inspectors Hannayside & Hemingway mysteries. Originally released in 1938, this reformatting and re-release on Sourcebooks Landmark imprint is 352 pages and due out 2nd April 2019.

Golden age mysteries are my favorites. I love the settings, the characters, and the (usually) civilized dialogue. Georgette Heyer isn't my absolute favorite golden age author, but I've read (and often re-read) most of her books. Though this is the 4th book to feature Inspector Hannayside, it works well as a standalone and there are no spoilers from earlier books with the inspectors.

As other reviewers have stated, this is less of a 'whodunnit' (the culprit is heavily foreshadowed) and more of a procedural with very droll and witty dialogue. I loved Neville and Sally (a monocle wearing mystery writer!), there were several places they had me smiling and chuckling out loud.

A worthwhile and diverting read. The plotting is straightforward and the book makes a nice 'commute' read in that it can be picked up and put down without struggling to remember where you were.

Four stars.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes+

[MurderByDeath]

Here's the thing about most Golden Age mysteries:  the puzzle is all.  No matter how witty or clever or brilliant the writing is, it's almost never about the characters themselves, but about the murder mystery puzzle.  Which is, of course, why I read mysteries; I love the puzzle and I love trying to solve it.  But unfortunately, if the reader does solve the murder/puzzle, there's not a lot of characterisation to fall back on; solve the puzzle and the remaining story can be tedious.   

I solved this one on page 88-89.  I don't think I did anything particularly clever, just that a certain passage hit me a certain way and it all became clear to me.  

The only thing I ended up getting wrong was the relation of the murderer to one of the characters and then only because I imagined the murderer to be the wrong age.   

I didn't dnf, or skip to the end to see if I was correct solely because, when Heyer is 'on' with her writing she is on, and this is one of her better writing efforts, even if the plotting went astray (and I've found out her mysteries were all plotted by her husband).  The story behind the mystery plot is a farce and Heyer thoroughly caricatures everyone except Hannasyde.  

The dialog was electric and even though I was thoroughly impatient with Neville at the start, I thought him wildly entertaining by the end.  I wanted to keep reading just to see what he'd say and do next.    

So, 2 stars for the plotting because... page 89.  There was never any doubt on my part that I was wrong.  But an extra star because the characters are Heyer at her wittiest and most hilarious.

[wyvernfriend]

I was right!! During the last third of the book I had a sudden conviction of who was the murderer, and I was right.I feel rather chuffed about that, pleased with myself over it.
 
And I will spend the next few days thinking, writing and speaking in early 20th Century English. Some authors do that to one.
 
Ernest Fletcher (and yes, the Murder She Wrote theme music was a regular feature of my reading of this) is found bludgeoned to death. Most of the people around him describe him as well-liked but this is on the surface only.  When he's found dead and there doesn't appear to be a very long window of opportunity Superintendent Hannasyde has to investigate, helped and hindered by his bible thumping Constable Glass and the indolent nephew of the deceased Neville.  As the layers begin to be scraped off the stories a lot of suspects begin to mount up and things get more and more complicated. Then a second body turns up...
 
I enjoyed it, inter-war fiction is some of my favourite reads and this was a good example, yes the characters behave in strange-to-a-modern-reader manners but I just let the story flow and enjoy.  While I did work out the murderer it was still interesting to see what would happen with the main characters.  I found it enjoyable.
 
This could fall into Terrifying women and Murder most foul and I've used those.