Murder by Death

That first paragraph was so clunky; I re-read it a couple of times before just ignoring it and moving on - of course as soon as I read the second paragraph, it made sense.  But still an awkward way to start.

I like Venetia, mostly.  She's made the best of a less-than-ideal situation and I like her attitude, given that as a woman she has very few options available to her and her father reduced them even further.  I'm having a hard time remembering Aubrey is 17 and I really dislike Edward intensely, which is probably Heyer's intent.

The bramble scene where we are introduced to Lord Damerel left me surprised, I have to admit.  I haven't read a Heyer that has taken this approach before and I didn't care for it much.  Beyond the ethical implications it felt heavy-handed and abrupt; to have the scene then evolve into a witty exchange of literary banter (which was cleverly done) left me irritated, not charmed.  I'm not a fan of victim blaming, but I wanted to smack her: she found herself in a dangerous situation, had a chance to retreat and chose to stay.  Idiotic.  But I guess the story couldn't have gone much further if she'd done what she should have: kicked him in the groin and stalked off.  

Anyhoo... the story does get better from this point.  I'm even warming to Lard Damerel a bit and while I just know that his reputation is going to have some logical explanation that will likely make him look gallant, I'm interested to know how Heyer is going to bring him back from his objectively boorish behaviour in that first scene.

And I am enjoying the writing style...