The Unfinished Clue

Name: The Unfinished Clue
Rating: 3.5833333333333335 (12 reviews)
Author: Georgette Heyer
ISBN: 9780099493730

by Georgette Heyer

3.6

(12 ratings)

277 pages1934ArrowISBN 9780099493730

Fiction Classics MysteryPoliceSuspense

About this book

It should have been a lovely English country-house weekend. But the unfortunate guest-list is enough to exasperate a saint, and irascible General Sir Arthur Billington-Smith was nobody's idea of the perfect host. In fact he was absolutely frightful. He bullied his wife, Fay, grumped at his guests, refused gleefully to help his financially stricken indigent nephew, and positively blew his stack when his wayward son, Geoffrey, took up with a nightclub dancer, Lola de Silva, who was definitely N.Q.O.C. (Not Quite Our Class.) Sir Arthur is an abusive wretch hated by everyone from his disinherited son to his wife's stoic would-be lover. But a houseful of people he loathes isn't his worst problem… Is it any wonder that one fine, bright, English June morning Sir Arthur quite literally became a bloody bore when he was firmly stabbed in the back with a pretty little Chinese dagger? When he is found death, no one is particularly grieved, least of all his family -- and no one has an alibi. The unhappy guests find themselves under the scrutiny of Scotland Yard's cool-headed Inspector Harding from London, who has solved tough cases before -- but this time, the talented young inspector discovers much more than he's bargained for. He confesses his feelings for her and she affirms that they are reciprocated. But he thought everyone was guilty?

Publication Details

Publisher: Arrow
Published: 1934
Pages: 277
ISBN: 9780099493730
Language: en

About Georgette Heyer

Georgette Heyer was born on 16 August 1902 in Wimbledon, London, England, UK. She was the eldest child of Sylvia Watkins and George Heyer; her brother George Boris was born four years later, and her brother Frank nine years later. During her childhood, the family lived also in Paris, France, but they returned to England before World War I. During the war, her father served as a requisitions officer for the British Army in France. Her father encouraged her to read, he never forbade her any book. At 17, she began a serial story to amuse her brother Boris, who suffered from a form of haemophilia and was often weak. Her father enjoyed listening to her story and asked her to prepare it for publication. His agent found a publisher for her book, and "The Black Moth" was released in 1921. In December 1920, she met George Ronald Rougier, a young man two years older than she, who studied at the Royal School of Mines to become a mining engineer. They became engaged the spring of 1925. By then she had published five novels. Only one month later, her father died of a heart attack, and, as he left no pension for his family, she assumed financial responsibility for her brothers, aged 19 and 14. On 18 August 1925, Georgette married George Ronald, but two months later, he was sent to Caucasus Mountains, and she remained at home and continued to write. She released "These Old Shades", during the midst of the UK General Strike of 1926; as a result, the novel received no newspaper coverage, reviews, or advertising. The novel sold 190,000 copies, and she refused for the rest of her life to promote her novels. Her husband was sent to the East African territory of Tanganyika, and she joined him in 1927. They moved to Macedonia in 1928, where she almost died after a dentist improperly administered an anaesthetic. She insisted they return to England before starting a family, and the following year they returned to England. In England, her husband started different businesses, but she