De fandt ham død

by Georgette Heyer

Paperback, 1969

Status

Available

Call number

823

Publication

[Kbh.] Carit Andersen [1969] 187 s. De trestjernede kriminalromaner. Heyer, bind 3.

Description

Classic Literature. Fiction. Mystery. HTML: One heir after another turns up dead... Silas Kane's sixtieth birthday party is marred by argument and dissension amongst his family, and then the next morning, Kane is found dead. The coroner's verdict of death by misadventure would seem to confirm that Silas accidentally lost his way in the fog. But then his heir is shot, and threats are made against the next in line to inherit his fortune. The formidable Superintendent Hannasyde is called in to investigate. All clues point to an apparently innocuous eighty-year-old woman, but as the Inspector delves further into the case, he discovers that nothing is quite as it seems....

User reviews

LibraryThing member sensitivemuse
I find that when I read Georgette Heyer novels, I keep on thinking; "Okay this one was better than the last one I read..." then I read this one and it's like: "Okay nevermind, this one was THE BEST one I've read so far!" I have a feeling that's going to keep happening whenever I read one of her
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mysteries (I still have yet to try her regency ones). I absolutely loved this one and will put this one up as one of my favorite mysteries from Heyer as of yet.

As usual, there is a rather large list of suspects and everyone seems to have some sort of motive for the murder. However, what's different from this book and the others is, I found there was quite a bit more action and the characters in this book have much more personality and are "fleshed" out, and they have their own distinct personalities. The action added a lot more intrigue to the book and kept me interested. I had a hunch who was behind the plot, but because of the frequent twists and the suspicion being thrown all over the place I kept on second guessing myself. However, even though my first guess was right, the way it was solved was interesting and never the way I expected it to be. The plot was engaging and intriguing. It's not a thriller per se, but it's got the feel of a classic whodunit mystery which will keep the reader interested. There's a bit of comedy included, with witty backtalk and remarks that will induce a chuckle or two.

As I have mentioned previously, the characters in this book were one of the most interesting I've ever read from Heyer's works. Rosemary has to be one of the most annoying and most self absorbed I have ever read. Although she was extremely irritating, she also made me laugh the most because of her stupidities, and the fact that although other characters have told her to be quiet, it just doesn't faze her. I liked Lady Harte even though her arrival in the book is a little too late. She was sharp and the way she had spoken to Rosemary was funny and to the point (Eventually, I think Rosemary got the hint).

The only complaint I had with this book is, it got a little dry towards the end of the book. You don't literally find out who was behind the murders until the last few pages. It went in a mini circle for no reason. Otherwise, this is one of Heyer's better mysteries.

Overall, an enjoyable read filled with mystery and intrigue. Greatly recommended for Georgette Heyer mystery fans everywhere.
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LibraryThing member cbl_tn
The head of the Kane family business dies on the night of his 60th birthday. It's assumed he fell off a cliff in the thick fog while taking his nightly walk. Then the heir is unquestionably murdered, and suddenly the first death looks like murder, too. Is the next in line also in danger? Or is he
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the culprit? Recognizing that this kind of murder is beyond their ability, the local police call on Scotland Yard. Inspector Hannasyde and Sergeant Hemingway have several theories to investigate, and it seems that everyone in the household could be the culprit in at least one of these theories. They are “assisted” by a 14-year-old boy who has seen so many gangster films that he fancies himself a detective.

This is a typical country house mystery from the Golden Age of detective fiction. Heyer shows that her skills at characterization and slang aren't limited to the Regency era. Although one of the deaths comes close to being a classic “locked room” puzzle, the resolution of the crime doesn't rest as much on the cleverness of Scotland Yard as it does on their thoroughness. I think Heyer's aim with this book was to entertain readers, and she succeeded. Recommended for Heyer's fans and for classic mystery readers.
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LibraryThing member celticlady53
They Found Him Dead by Georgette Heyer is a delightful little read with an equally delightful cover. I can't say that I judge a book by its cover but I really like these cute little mysteries and their covers. The cast of characters in this mystery are a great mix. You have the two deaths at the
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beginning of the story Silas Kane and his cousin Clement Kane. Everyone is suspicious of everyone else and everyone comes under suspicion. Clement Kane's wife Rosemary is spending her husbands money like it is going out of style. Emma Kane is the crotchety old matriarch of the Kane family and really not liked by anyone so she is numero uno suspect. Stepbrothers Jim Kane, who is the next heir and "young Mr. Harte" Timmy are suspects also. Sir Adrian Harte who is the father to Timmy and stepfather to Jim is another quaint character. Lady Harte (the mother) is somewhere in the Congo but does show up eventually. Timmy insinuates himself into the investigation with his own theories and has his own mishap with a sinking boat that also makes him suspicious.So Superintendent Hannasyde and Sergeant Hemingway(characters in other Heyer mysteries) have their work cut out for them in investigating the deaths.. Miss Patricia Allison, assistant to Emma, is engaged to Jim Kane and they also have a mishap with a car so it almost looks like Jim could be next on the murderers list. Mixed in with the suspects are Silas and Clement Kane's business partners, Joe and his son Paul Mansell along with Oscar Roberts who have a scheme to what they call "the Australian deal". The Kanes, deceased, did not really like the deal that Oscar had and did not want to participate. So with this colorful cast of characters this story is a who dunnit that keeps you hooked to the end to find out who the killer is. There are other minor characters, the maid, butler and some nosy neighbors. All this comes together nicely so that I was surprised at the end as to who the murderer actually was. No the butler didn't do it..

It is refreshing to read books that are entertaining and suspenseful and witty. I liked this book so much I have three more mysteries to read. If you want a light fun read, this is it. I highly recommend it...

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Sourcebooks for read review. I am not compensated monetarily for my opinion.
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LibraryThing member riverwillow
I love Heyer's Regency novels, but had been warned that her crime novels were just OK and quite dull in comparison. I love crime fiction, especially period crime fiction and I'm glad I ignored the advice as this is a perfectly well-executed murder mystery with a satisfying resolution and lots of
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twists and turns and red-herrings along the way. Perfect Sunday evening reading.
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LibraryThing member JulesJones
Third of the Superintendent Hannasyde mysteries. Silas Kane is the senior male member of the Kane family, childless owner of the Kane family fortune. When he's found dead at the foot of a cliff one morning' his family are distressed, but most of them suspect nothing more than the obvious -- he
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insisted on having his usual evening walk along the clifftop path in spite of it being a foggy night, and must have missed his way. But when his heir is found shot dead not long after moving into the family residence, Silas's death takes on a more sinister aspect. And it's not as if there's a shortage of motives. A nice obvious one is that the other partners in Silas's business wanted to go into a risky but potentially profitable deal, one that could only go ahead with a capital injection from Silas, which Silas wasn't willing to give. And of course, Silas's nephew and heir Clement needed the money he inherited, and Clement in turn has the next oldest cousin as his heir. Then there's pure personal animosity as a motive for an eighty-year-old lady, of all people, to have committed one of the murders.

Hannaysde's problem is that there are several good candidates for each murder, but anyone with good motive and means for one is a poor candidate for the other. If, of course, the death of Silas really was a murder and not just an unfortunate coincidence of an accident. And that's before it becomes clear that someone is now targeting Clement's heir.

I spotted the murderer fairly early on, when the second murder took place, although I didn't work out how he'd done it. It took me a little longer to make the connection on what his true motive was. This is no criticism of the book, because Heyer kept me guessing almost to the end as to whether I was right. That's just as much fun as not spotting the clues until near the end. And there's plenty of entertainment along the way, with ample red herrings, a cast of characters large enough to provide plenty of character interaction without being too large to keep track of, and some sparkling dialogue.

Hannasyde is a recurring character, and there are references to earlier cases, but he's actually something of a cypher in comparison with the one-off characters he encounters. There's no real development of him as a character from book to book. Instead, what shines here are the character studies of the people caught in the backwash of murder. They're often stereotypes or exaggerations, but still are nicely drawn caricatures of certain personality types, and the way they react to stress.

Great fun, and I'm looking forward to the next one.
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LibraryThing member otterley
I think I'll be sticking to her period romances. Unfortunately this book uses a very familiar Agatha Christie plot device and the moment you spot this, the murderer is perfectly obvious (unlike Christie who manages to twist and turn the reader even if they are sure they know the answers!).With the
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suspense out of the way, the characters were stock and the setting mildly interesting.
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LibraryThing member KimMR
Another fun 1930s mystery and a very entertaining read. I loved Terrible Timothy and laughed a lot at the perfectly dreadful Rosemary and the character (whose name I no longer remember) with appallingly behaved children. I also liked the fact that Superintendent Hannasyde had a bit more to do than
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he did in his last outing. It wasn't hard to guess whodunnit, although a bit harder to work out how it was done. This didn't make the book less enjoyable, though. I'm looking forward to the next Heyer mystery on my list.
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LibraryThing member kathleen586
Good mystery, but it seemed really slow-moving for some reason.
LibraryThing member the.ken.petersen
This book shows its age in a way that, say an Agatha Christie doesn't. It is an interminably slow moving whodunit which, fails to hold a modern mind.
LibraryThing member jjmcgaffey
A bit better than the previous ones. Only one utter idiot as a main character (several others, but they're only occasionally evident). The mystery is clever in several ways, and the villain is well-disguised - the one who was never considered. Timothy is another idiot, but a cute one, so I'll give
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him a pass (and if I recall correctly, he shows up again in a later mystery. That will be fun). I like Jim and Patricia quite a bit, and I even like Emily (not Ogle, though). And Adrian and Lady Harte are fun, if odd. Mostly pleasant, interesting characters, beautiful plot twists, and an interesting setup to start with. Though I must admit that I was completely bewildered about who was who at the opening party - the brother of the ex-sister-in-law's son by her first husband...ghahh! The characters established themselves pretty quickly, but I was drawing a complete blank at the party (and didn't feel like going back and re-re-reading to figure them out). Fun, in general. And while there is a romance that's important to the characters, it's not particularly important to the story, nor does it spring up at the end - well-established early on, and thereafter part of the background. I like this book better than the first two in the series.
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LibraryThing member wyvernfriend
A fun mystery where all the the characters have alibis for the murder (or is it murders, that's never really resolved).

First Silas Kane is found dead. He falls off the cliffs near his house and his nephew Clement inherits his fortune. When Clement turns up dead things start to get a bit dicey for
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his inheritor in turn.

The characters are a bit too much of characture but they are full at the same time. Still an engaging story that kept me guessing until the end.
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LibraryThing member librisissimo
Nothing can be said about the plot without giving away the solution, but Heyer makes use of "modern technology" to gather evidence once the Inspector's suspicions are aroused.
Style: the airy persiflage and light romance of Heyer's Regency novels are evident, but the narrative is unnecessarily
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complex and the identification of characters muddled.
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LibraryThing member jillrhudy
Very fun read if you like country house mysteries that aren't too terribly cerebral and complex (I like English country house mysteries of every conceivable variety), with Heyer at the top of her snappy-dialogue game.
LibraryThing member bekkil1977
"They Found Him Dead" is one Heyer's mysteries. First, Silas Kane turns up dead, and it looks like a simple accident. But after his heir is murdered and threats against the next heir are coming fast and furious, the police must conclude that someone is after the money. I actually had this one
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figured out before the ending, so yay me!!
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LibraryThing member Auntie-Nanuuq
Silas is hedging on a business deal that his business partners want him to fund. After a dinner party with family; the Mansells, his business partners; & their family: Silas goes out for his usual nightly walk along the cliffs and is found the next morning dead from a fall at the bottom.

His heir,
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Clement, was all on board w/ the Mansells, until becoming the head of the family. Clement's wife wants to be rich and indolent, Clement being the heir she becomes rich and decides not to leave Clement for her lover.

When Clement is found murdered in his study, Joe Kane, much to his surprise, becomes the head of the family. Joe was always under the impression that after Clement would be his female cousin in Australia, but because she is female she is excluded from inheriting...

As Joe becomes the next target his younger 1/2 brother Terrible Timothy (who grows up to help detect in later books) is there to help investigate.

Oscar Roberts, is the odd American w/ the Australian business, who stands to lose should the family turn down the business deal and who just happens to be around at odd moments to seemingly rescue Joe & Timothy from danger.

I figured out who did it, by one early clue....

I liked the story, but of course Heyer's characters are rather ridiculous, especially Clement's boorish self-centered wife & Joe's mother....
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LibraryThing member JBD1
Better than the last couple Heyer mysteries I've read, anyway. A few more entertaining characters than those at least, and a couple excellent set pieces.
LibraryThing member Vesper1931
Having celebrated his sixtieth birthday with a party, Silas Kane is found missing the next morning. Nearly everyone occurs that his death was an acident, until another body is discovered, murdered.
Superintendent Hannasyde investigates all the red herrings in the story.
The style of writing is
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certainly indicative of it being written 1937.
An enjoyable mystery but not with a lot of depth as far as the characters were concerned, and admittedly a couple of annoying ones.
A NetGalley
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LibraryThing member smik
It takes quite a while for Superintendent Hannasyde to make an appearance, in my estimation about half the novel has passed before he is called in, and then only after the second death.

Meanwhile the reader has explored the Kane family. I may have found this less confusing if I had been reading with
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my eyes rather than my ears. The author has the tendency to refer to characters sometimes by first name and sometimes by surname. It took me quite a while to work out they were not two different people. I think perhaps which name is used depends on the character's role in the family and applies particularly to Mrs Kane (senior)'s companion.

We accept the interpretation that Silas Kane was murdered while on his evening walk, pushed over a cliff in the fog, readily enough but all theories are confounded when his heir is shot while sitting at his desk in the study. His distraught wife has a lover but as she will not inherit there seems no reason to suspect him or her. Attention focusses on who will now be the heir, and a dodgy investment scheme lurks in the wings.

As I noted in my review of an earlier Heyer detective novel, the language seems a bit dated but the plotting is tight, and the characters, although some are abysmal people, or perhaps because they are, are quite realistic.
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LibraryThing member kaulsu
Pretty good for Heyer. I don't expect too much in the way of absolute suspense from her, but this one threw me off, for sure! I laugh at the person who I thought "dunnit" clear up to the very end. I had a few humorous moments, which is why Heyer is a delight to read.

Subjects

Language

Original language

English

Original publication date

1937

Physical description

187 p.; 18.2 cm

Local notes

Omslag: Jørgen Jørgensen
Omslagsfoto: Jørgen Jørgensen
Omslaget forestiller en mand, der kigger ud mod tilskueren
Indskannet omslag - N650U - 150 dpi
Oversat fra amerikansk "They found him dead" af Poul Ib Liebe

Pages

187

Rating

½ (170 ratings; 3.6)

DDC/MDS

823
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