The Quiet Gentleman by Georgette Heyer

Gervase Frant, Earl of St Erth, has recently inherited an estate and title after the death of his estranged father.  His half-brother and stepmother are not happy that he survived the war with Napoleon, but he tries to console them by allowing them to continue to live in the castle/mansion that he now owns, but which was never his home. Then someone starts making attempts on his life.  Everyone suspects the step-brother, Martin, who is next in line to inherit, but Gervase and his stepmother's companion, the plain but canny Miss Drusilla Moreville decide they ought not jump to conclusions. Gervase is determined to stay alive while preventing a family scandal. With Miss Moreville's help, he tries to unravel the mystery of who is really responsible for the the attempts on his life. 

I checked out this book to read on the airplane on my trip to Italy.  It is not one of Heyer's most famous books and doesn't seem to be available in audio, so I hadn't read it already. It is ok, but not my favorite of the Heyer books.  Gervase is an interesting protagonist. He is wealthy, smart, and a bit of a dandy, but he is also very patient and fair with his unfriendly extended family. That being said, he doesn't let them bully him and he knows his own mind. The focus of the story is the mystery of who is trying to kill Gervase, and the character of Drusilla, and her growing regard for Gervase, almost seems like an afterthought. It is as if Ms Heyer wrote a mystery, and then someone told her she should add a romance, so she quickly added in the Drusilla character. Still, I generally like Heyer's writing style and enjoyed the book well enough to make an extra effort to finish it before the lone expired. It wasn't a bad choice for an airplane trip.