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Contents (80)
  1. CONTENTS
  2. ACTING ON IMPULSE
  3. CONTENTS
  4. INTRODUCTION
  5. “A PROPOSAL TO CICELY”
  6. INTRODUCTION
  7. A PROPOSAL TO CICELY
  8. THE END
  9. READING “A PROPOSAL TO CICELY”
  10. “THE LITTLE LADY”
  11. INTRODUCTION
  12. THE LITTLE LADY
  13. I.
  14. II.
  15. III.
  16. THE END
  17. READING “THE LITTLE LADY”
  18. “LINCKES’ GREAT CASE”
  19. INTRODUCTION
  20. LINCKES’ GREAT CASE
  21. I.
  22. II.
  23. III.
  24. IV.
  25. V.
  26. VI.
  27. VII.
  28. THE END
  29. READING “LINCKES’ GREAT CASE”
  30. “THE BULLDOG AND THE BEAST”
  31. INTRODUCTION
  32. THE BULLDOG AND THE BEAST
  33. THE END
  34. READING “THE BULLDOG AND THE BEAST”
  35. “ACTING ON IMPULSE”
  36. INTRODUCTION
  37. ACTING ON IMPULSE
  38. I.
  39. II.
  40. III.
  41. IV.
  42. THE END
  43. READING “ACTING ON IMPULSE”
  44. “WHOSE FAULT WAS IT?”
  45. INTRODUCTION
  46. WHOSE FAULT WAS IT?
  47. THE END
  48. READING “WHOSE FAULT WAS IT?”
  49. “THE CHINESE SHAWL”
  50. INTRODUCTION
  51. CONT
  52. THE CHINESE SHAWL
  53. I.
  54. II.
  55. III.
  56. IV.
  57. V.
  58. VI.
  59. VII.
  60. VIII.
  61. THE END
  62. READING “THE CHINESE SHAWL”
  63. “THE OLD MAID”
  64. INTRODUCTION
  65. THE OLD MAID
  66. THE END
  67. READING “THE OLD MAID”
  68. “LOVE”
  69. INTRODUCTION
  70. LOVE
  71. I.
  72. II.
  73. III.
  74. THE END
  75. READING “LOVE”
  76. THE SEARCH FOR “ON SUCH A NIGHT”
  77. GEORGETTE HEYER’S BIBLIOGRAPHY
  78. FURTHER READING
  79. COMING SOON!
  80. OCTOBER 29, 2019

The culprits are in many ways the most compelling characters of this narrative, for all that they are terribly incompetent and only get away with it for so long because Linckes is even more so. Sir Charles Winthrop is a smooth devil, and there are shades of the supercilious Duke of Andover/Avon model about him – it is understandable that Linckes falls into something of an infatuation with him, and we know that Heyer was very into male friendship narratives at this time, given The Great Roxhythe’s central pairing of the Marquis and his devoted secretary, Christopher. Far better developed than Linckes/Tony is Linckes/Sir Charles, especially since the morose Alec constantly keeps Linckes guessing, making it seem that Winthrop is blowing hot and cold, and making him all the more fascinating to a young and easily-impressed ingenu like poor Roger Linckes as a result.

I’ve read more than my share of pulp detective fiction of this era, and Linckes’ Great Case is not wholly unlike much of what was being published at the time – in fact, it’s something of a cut above even the other stories published even in the very same issue of Detective Magazine in which it appeared. (“The Karlovna Jewel Mystery” by T. B. Donovan is especially dire.) The characters are two-dimensional, certainly. But they do have their charms, and occasional witticisms, and they’re not entirely inconsistent with Heyer’s later works. If only the mystery at the centre of this tale had been solved over the course of days and weeks rather than weeks and months, it might stand as an impressive first attempt at the field.

But it’s not Heyer¸ not yet anyway, and that is what leads to the speculation that she didn’t write it entirely by herself – we don’t want to believe that someone so remarkable could have turned in something so relatively ordinary.

But I think she probably did.

And think that’s… fine.

“THE BULLDOG AND THE BEAST”

INTRODUCTION

Heyer returned to The Happy Mag for her fourth excursion into short fiction. “The Bulldog and the Beast” was published there in March 1923, the same month that “Linckes’ Great Case” was published in The Detective Magazine, although the two stories are completely different from each other. Unlike “Linckes”, “The Bulldog and the Beast” is a romantic tale, and there is a noticeable difference between the two stories in style, tone, and execution. “The Bulldog and the Beast” is more tightly plotted than “Linckes” and the story is far more engaging. It is also a decided step up from either “A Proposal to Cicely” or “The Little Lady” for here it seems, Georgette Heyer had found her short story “voice.”

From the first sentence we are amused and a little intrigued. Beginning with: “Upon the stairs which led to his flat, Hugh Ruthven met the bull-dog,” the story quickly evolves into a clever three-hander with Hugh, Mr. Sykes (the engaging and intelligent canine), and Katharine Testram, the bulldog’s adoring owner, all becoming inextricably linked. Mr. Sykes is instantly lovable and the way he directs the action is comical and clever. Sykes is the lynch-pin of the story and Heyer’s pithy romance is lifted above the average by his presence. Though there is instant animosity between the man-hating Miss Testram and the cynical Mr. Ruthven, both protagonists love Mr. Sykes and in Heyer’s world this is a sign of both good character and intelligence.