The Talisman Ring by Georgette Heyer

 

Title:  The Talisman Ring

Author:  Georgette Heyer

Narrated by:  Joe Jameson

Publisher: Penguin Audio

Length: Approximately 9 hours and 39 minutes

Source: Purchased from Amazon.com

Are you a fan of Georgette Heyer?  I randomly discovered her books at the Kewaunee Public Library fifteen or so years ago.  I read Frederica first and I was hooked.  Her Regency romances are a delight and the next best thing to a Jane Austen novel.

In October for my JASNA Northwoods Book Club, we read and discussed The Talisman Ring by Georgette Heyer.  I had not previously read The Talisman Ring.  It is truly a delight and fun story.  It seemed that everyone in this book club enjoyed it.

Sir Tristam Shield has been called to the deathbed of his great uncle, Baron Lavenham.  It is the Baron’s dying wish that Sir Tristam marry his granddaughter, Eustacie Lavenham.  She has been raised in France and is looking for an adventure in life.  She is silly and full of ideals, while Sir Tristram is, to her eyes, a bit boring.  They resign themselves to a marriage of convenience.  Eustacie meets another cousin, Basil, or Beau Lavenham, who is a renowned dandy, and she learns of her mysterious cousin Ludovic.  Ludovic is the baron’s heir and whom she was originally intended to marry. Ludovic had allegedly committed a murder over a gambling debt and a missing heirloom Talisman ring.  He has been on the run since that time.  Eustacie decides that Tristam is very boring and does not understand her.  Naturally she runs away.  One the road she meets highwaymen, Cousin Ludovic, and Miss Sarah “Sally” Thane.  Sarah is a woman who is “on the shelf” and traveling with her brother, but she is also up for a bit of adventure.  Will true love prevail?  Will the talisman ring be found?  Did Ludovic really commit the murder?

This was a fun romantic mystery and screwball comedy.  I found myself laughing out loud at some of the antics.  I greatly enjoyed the witty dialogue.  I loved all the characters, and I especially enjoyed it when Sarah Thane and Ludovic joined the story.  This book is set in 1793 so it is in the Georgian era rather than Heyer’s usual Regency era.  The Talisman Ring would be a great first Georgette Heyer book to read.

This was fun to listen to on audiobook and Joe Jameson is a good narrator.