This is a book made for December reading; it takes place in an English country house, with a group of fractious relatives gathered together to celebrate Christmas (chiefly by getting into loud arguments with each other, as they are, for the most part, exceedingly ill-tempered). When the cantankerous head of the family is found dead in a locked room, the house party is, more than ever, at each other’s throats. Among others, there’s a merry but annoying uncle, a sullen nephew, a gold-digging fiancé, an aspiring avant garde playwright, and a shady business partner. Inspector Hemingway of Scotland Yard does his best to investigate the crime, while the quarrelsome suspects all seem to have a distant relationship with the truth.

Georgette Heyer is most famous for her historical romance novels (in fact, she essentially established the genre, as well as the “Regency romance” subgenre), but her contemporary “thrillers” are also entertaining, and quite clever. I find there to be something rather comforting in detective fiction of this classic type: the mystery is investigated and resolved, the villain punished, and the moral order again restored. Good reading if you happen to be snowbound, or if you need a little escape from your own difficult relatives.

How to purchase: Amazon

NOVEL: The Christmas Party (original title: Envious Casca)

AUTHOR: Georgette Heyer

YEAR OF PUBLICATION: 1941

IMAGE: Book cover, Sourcebooks Landmark