Duplicate Death

Timothy Harte from "They Found Him Dead" is all grown up and a very eligible man about town, but he has an eye on a secretary who has a shady past, much to his family's displeasure. Post war London is finely portrayed as characters struggle to hold on to the past and acclimate to the present. Timothy must turn to his old friend Sargent Hemingway to clear his fiance of being charged with murder and restore her good name. The inner workings of Scotland Yard are shown in greater detail as the Yard adopts new methods of detection. False leads abound until the final pages of little known mystery by Georgette Heyer, which is an early exploration of the use of drugs among the upper crust. Nash Black, author of "Qualifying Laps" and "Sins of the Fathers."

A better detective story than others by this author we have read. Inspector Hemingway does a good job of discovering the persons who strangled a blackmailer / drug-dealer and his mistress. The identity of the first murderer comes as a distinct surprise, although the alert reader will latch onto the second murderer as soon as the Marriages and Legitimacy Act is mentioned. Several good red herrings, a nice use of the drug trade, and plenty of wit and amusing characters (Insp. Grant, Cynthia Haddington, Lord Guisborough) make this a memorable tale.

Duplicate Death is a wonderful mystery of the kind that Goergette Heyer excells at--witty, cleverly plotted, and with a strong inclination towards social satire. She paints a delightful picture of London high society in the 1930s, and it's great fun to get lost in the details of balls, chaperones, debutants, etc. Amid the social whirl, there's a crafty killer at large, and two deserving young people who must do their best to solve the mystery if they are to avoid being suspected of murder--or become victims themselves.