Envious Casca

Mathilda Clare has reluctantly agreed to spend Christmas at Lexham Manor, and she cannot decide which is worse: the short temper of Nat Herriard, the wealthy old miser who owns the house, or the relentless cheerfulness of his brother Joseph, who drew up the guest list. The guests include Stephen, a young man with a cutting tongue, his scheming sister Paula, and Nat's shrewd business partner, whose dealings are of questionable character. Mathilda jokes that someone is bound to be murdered before the holiday ends.

Nat is found stabbed in the back, and the six guests quickly become suspects. Inspector Hemingway of Scotland Yard takes charge of the enquiry, and it soon becomes clear that a dispute over inheritance may lie at the heart of the matter.

The case turns on a puzzle: the room where Nat died was locked, so it is hard to see how any of the guests could have reached him. Each person has a secret of their own, which makes their accounts unreliable and points suspicion in several directions at once.

This is the sixth mystery featuring Inspectors Hannasyde and Hemingway. Georgette Heyer is best known for her Regency romances, but she also wrote a long run of detective novels, and this one is built on a carefully constructed puzzle whose solution is hidden in plain view.