First I have to say thank you Sourcebooks for giving me a review copy of this book. I have never ever read Georgette Heyer novels. I’ve heard of her, and have seen blogs reviewing her books and I was curious. I knew she was very well known for her historical accuracy and her historical fiction novels. Why not give her a try I thought. So I was glad to have a chance to receive and review a copy of this book. First thing I noticed, I love the cover. It’s nice, simple and minimal but there’s just something about her that just draws me to it. It’s actually perfect for a murder mystery story.

No Wind of Blame is a murder myster/whodunit. It’s about the murder of Wally Carter, who was mysteriously killed while walking to his friend’s house. Inspector Hemingway is now put on this case to find out who had killed him. What’s very puzzling about this murder are a couple of things: every character who knew Wally had a motive to kill him. Also, no one was near the weapon when it was fired. The story takes you through each of the suspects motives, and you’re left literally until the last few pages of the novel to find out who had done it and why. It will keep you guessing right until the end.

Mind you, I have never read any of the Agatha Christie novels and from what I hear, Georgette Heyer is known for having similarities with Agatha Christie novels. I was curious as lately I’ve been going through a mystery suspense phase and thought this would be a great addition. I have no regrets. It’s certainly a very “English” mystery and I wouldn’t be surprised if this book was made into one of those “Masterpiece Theatre” movies you see on Sunday evenings. (If there is a movie about it, please let me know because I would love to see it). I liked this book because it seemed to have captured the very essence of English society of the time and it was just so accurately done I had no problems picturing the setting, the characters, and as I progressed with the story it just got more interesting.

I loved the mystery aspect of this, it certainly did keep me guessing! you’re actually left until nearly the very end to learn who the culprit was. I found myself always changing my mind on who might have done it (some of my guesses were so outrageous I’m actually laughing about it now) but it was nice how it was written to make it look like as if each of the suspects could have possibly done it since they all had a motive to do it. Each suspect was explained with their possible connection to the murder and it was done in such a clever way you’re left jumping from one character to another pointing the finger as to who did it. Definitely a job well done in that aspect of writing.

Character wise, I liked most of them. With a name like Ermyntrude what’s not to like! I have to admit I liked Mary from the start. She just seemed so steady and had a serious head on her shoulders I enjoyed her character a lot. I thought Vicky was one of the most annoying characters in the book. I couldn’t really stand her and her melodrama and immaturity just made you hate her even more, especially when she started pointing the finger and trying to get Inspector Hemingway to go to other possible suspects to take the blame off of her (in many ways I had it set in my head that she was the one who committed the crime and she was my main suspect, but only because I just couldn’t stand her and wanted her out of the way). Hugh doesn’t really help much with telling Vicky to be quiet and I really don’t see what he sees in her but to each his/her own, right? (I rather wanted him to be with Mary). The Prince was such a stereotypical charming character but had a phony side to him that made him enjoyable to read, especially his behavior towards Ermyntrude, it was obvious he was after her, but it was just funny to see him try and get her attention.

A few criticisms about this book, well the plot is a little slow but it’s to give you a proper introduction to the characters and a way to get you to know them more so the mystery will work out perfectly. I understand that and think it was a necessity otherwise if you were just to read about the suspects and their motives without really getting to know their character it just wouldn’t be a fun read at all. It could have moved a little more quickly though. Another thing, because this book was written in the 30’s, it’s a very different style of writing and I found it a little hard to get used to. Plus Inspector Hemingway got so analytical about the case, and if you combine that with the style of writing it got hard to follow and understand sometimes. I had to reread some passages to get the understanding of it.

Overall, a wonderful mystery read if you have the patience to get through the writing and a slow moving but interesting plot. It’s certainly a lot like watching those Masterpiece Theatre mystery movies! If this is the same as Agatha Christie novels then I’m willing to give her a try and hope I enjoyed reading it as much as this book.

I give it a 7 out of 10.