Bodies from the Library: Lost Tales of Mystery and Suspense by Agatha Christie and other Masters of the Golden Age. Georgette Heyer
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СКАЧАТЬ rather peevish That was what made you suspect me in the first place, wasn’t it? Jolly clever of you to think of that blank sheet scheme. I ought to have guessed, of course. Fact of the matter is, you took me in. I didn’t think you suspected me.’

      VII

      Tony dabbed at her eyes, and gave a tiny sob.

      ‘It’s so awful, Roger! I c-can’t bear to think of Charlie doing such a thing. I—I just can’t realise it. It—it seems impossible!’

      Linckes patted her shoulder uncomfortably.

      ‘And—and somehow I can’t feel angry with him. He was always such a dear!’

      ‘I know. He was just one of those people who couldn’t run straight? ’Twasn’t altogether his fault. And one must admire his courage.’

      Tony was silent for a moment, still mopping her eyes.

      A pair of soft arms stole round his neck.

      ‘No; and I can’t help admiring you!’ whispered Tony.

       GEORGETTE HEYER

      Georgette Heyer, unquestionably one of Britain’s best-loved historical novelists, was born in 1902. She began her career as an author at the age of 19 with the novel The Black Moth, an exciting story about highwaymen set in the eighteenth century, which Heyer had expanded from a short story written to entertain her brother. It was the first of what would eventually be more than fifty novels, the vast majority of which dealt with the Georgian and Regency periods of British history.

      While views differ as to the extent to which her books trod new ground rather than reviving scenarios and ideas from Jane Austen, Georgette Heyer was extremely popular and she remains so today, loved in particular for her lively and compelling characters and for the comedy and humour with which her novels are peppered. As a critic put it in 1929, Heyer’s historical novels ‘are not historical [and] they are not novel, but they are very good fun’.

      The same can be said for the dozen novel-length ‘thrillers’, as she called them. The crimes with which these are concerned were considered by some contemporary critics, among them Dorothy L. Sayers, to be largely unoriginal but, as with her much more popular historical fiction, Heyer’s crime fiction was consistently praised for her rich characterisation, vivid dialogue and warm humour. Her dozen detective mysteries are regularly reprinted and some in particular have real merit, in particular A Blunt Instrument (1933), Death in the Stocks (1935) and Envious Casca (1941), a clever locked room mystery. Unlike her historical novels, Heyer’s detective mysteries did not require extensive research, and they were for the most part based on plot outlines provided by her husband, the eminent lawyer George Rougier. Heyer’s interest lay mainly in the characters and she would routinely seek Rougier’s advice when it came to unravelling the mystery in the final chapters and ensuring she had ‘played fair’ throughout the novel.

      Heyer was a very private person, once saying that her readers would find all they needed to know about her in her books, which she considered as, ‘unquestionably, good escapist literature’. A heavy smoker, she died from lung cancer in 1974.

      Georgette Heyer’s only uncollected detective short story, ‘Linckes’ Great Case’, was first published in the very rare magazine, Detective, on the 2nd of March 1923, and I am very grateful to the bookseller Jamie Sturgeon for providing a copy.

      ‘CALLING JAMES BRAITHWAITE’

      Nicholas Blake

      CHARACTERS

      LADY ALICE BRAITHWAITE … wife of Sir James, daughter of Greer.

      LAURENCE ANNESLEY … junior partner in Sir James Braithwaite’s firm.

      LAURA ANNESLEY … his sister.

      SIR JAMES BRAITHWAITE … shipowner.

      NIGEL STRANGEWAYS … private detective.

      CAPTAIN GREER … master of the ‘James Braithwaite’.

      MR MACLEAN … first mate of the ‘James Braithwaite’.

      SMITH … a seaman.

      PART I

      THE CRIME

      ALICE: I hate him! There, I’ve said it at last, I hate him.

      LAURENCE: But, Alice—

      ALICE: No, I’m not being hysterical. I won’t—sometimes I think that’s what he wants—to drive me mad.

      LAURENCE: Now you are exaggerating, my dear. James is not—well, not one of the world’s leading charmers. But—

      ALICE: Hate. I wonder if you know what it’s like. Real hate. Oh, Laurence, what’s going to happen? I’ve stood it for nearly three years. The humiliations, the scenes, the horrible little pinpricks, all the things he does to break down my pride. You can’t imagine—

      LAURENCE: Perhaps I can, my dear. Remember, I have to work with him.

      ALICE: It’s like having a—a huge toad sitting across the path, blocking it, blocking it, blocking out the whole future. Oh God, I—

      LAURENCE: There’s one way out, Alice?

      ALICE: One way out.

      LAURENCE: My darling. I love you. You must know that. Come away with me. Leave him.

      ALICE: I wonder if you mean that. Do you realise—? No, listen. It would be the end of your partnership in the firm. Daddy would be sacked too, and James would see he never got another ship. I couldn’t do it.

      LAURENCE: My sweet, do you love me?

      ALICE: I—oh, I don’t know, Laurence. I’m fond of you. You’ve been so kind to me all these months—

      LAURENCE: Kind!

      ALICE: No, please don’t make it more difficult for me. You know I can’t. If it was just ourselves—but there’s Daddy. He set all his hopes on me. He wanted me to have the world—and he thinks I’ve got it. Lady Braithwaite! No, it’d break his heart. I am grateful to you, my dear—

      LAURENCE: Very well. I understand. I’ll not say a word more about it. For the present. Perhaps James will fall overboard during the voyage or something.

      ALICE: The voyage. I’m dreading it. Do you know why I’m so upset this morning? Why James is bringing you and Laura and me on the voyage? Do you realise what this Mr Strangeways is for?

      LAURENCE: Strangeways? He’s coming as a temporary secretary, your husband told me.

      ALICE: Secretary! Laurence, it’s vile. James suspects—shh—oh, СКАЧАТЬ