Written in Georgette Heyer's lightest vein, this is the story of the adventures in Regency London of the Merriville family: Frederica, riding the whirlwind and directing the storm; Harry, rusticated from Oxford and embarking with enthusiasm on the more perilous amusements pursued by young gentlemen of ton; the divine Charis, too tender-hearted to discourage the advances of her numerous suitors; Jessamy, destined for the Church and wavering, in adolescent style, between excessive virtue and a natural exuberance of spirits; and Felix, a schoolboy with a passion for scientific experiment. In Frederica, Georgette Heyer created one of her most engaging heroines; and in the Marquis of Alverstoke — a bored cynic who becomes involved in all the imbroglios of a lively family — a hero whose sense of humour makes him an excellent foil for Frederica.

Uncle Henry has a history of heart trouble and doesn't wake up one morning. No one, even his physician, is surprised. But dear Aunt Gertrude, listening to Intuition, suspects Foul Play and insists on an autopsy. Since Aunt Gertrude is a cross between a battleship and a Victorian bulldog, an autopsy she gets. Surprise! Uncle Henry was, indeed, poisoned. The problem is that all of his relations have a motive. You see, Uncle Henry was not well liked at all; he took positive delight in thwarting his erstwhile relatives. They included two sisters, one sister-in-law, a niece, two nephews, and an attending physician who all had reason to hate him, and all benefited in one way or another from his unlamented passing.

The superlatively analytical Inspector Hemingway is confronted by a murder that seems impossible—no one was near the murder weapon at the time the shot was fired. Everyone on the scene seems to have a motive, not to mention the wherewithal to commit murder, and alibis that simply don't hold up. The inspector is sorely tried by a wide variety of suspects, including the neglected widow, the neighbor who's in love with her, her resentful daughter, and a patently phony Russian prince preying on the widow's emotional vulnerability and social aspirations. And then there's the blackmail plot that may—or may not—be at the heart of the case…

The future of a reckless and adventure-loving captain of the Dragoon Guards appeared very hum-drum and tedious in those days when Waterloo was both a recent, glorious victory and an end to the joys of soldiering. Big, handsome Captain John Staple left the Army because he feared boredom, and was immediately plunged into the kind of exciting hazards his temperament demanded. John Staple soon found himself involved in perilous activities in which participated such varied and colourful personalities [some extremely honest—others less so] as Jeremy Chirk the highwayman, Gabriel Stogumber the Bow Street Runner, and Nell Stornaway with whom the Captain's heart was soon deeply entangled.

Affairs of honour, affairs of the heart, and all the gallantry, villainy and elegance of the age that Georgette Heyer has made her own are exquisitely revived in these eleven short stories of the Regency.

Eleanor's adventure begins when she inadvertently mistakes the carriage waiting at the coach stop for one sent by her prospective employer, Mrs. Macclesfield. She finds herself carried to the estate of one Ned Carlyon, whom Eleanor mistakes for Mr. Macclesfield. Carlyon, meanwhile, believes Eleanor to be the young woman he hired to marry his dying cousin, Eustace Cheviot, in order to avoid inheriting Cheviot's estate himself. Somehow, Eleanor is talked into marrying Eustace on his deathbed and thus becomes a wealthy widow almost as soon as the ring is on her finger. What starts out as a simple business arrangement soon becomes much more complicated as housebreakers, uninvited guests, a shocking murder, missing government papers, and a dog named Bouncer all contribute to this lively, frequently hilarious tale of mistaken identities, foreign espionage, and unexpected love set during the Napoleonic Wars.

A diffident young man of 24 years, easily pushed around by his overprotective uncle and the retinue of devoted family retainers who won't let him lift a finger for himself, the Duke sometimes wishes he could be a commoner. One day he decides to set out to discover whether he is "a man, or only a Duke." Beginning with an incognito journey into the countryside to confront a blackmailer, he encounters a runaway school boy, a beautiful but airheaded orphan, one of literature's most appealing and well-spoken comic villains, and a series of alarming and even life threatening events from which he can extricate himself only with the help of his shy and lovely fiancé…

Impetuosity is Arabella's only fault. An enchanting debutante and the eldest daughter of a country parson, she should know better than to allow herself to be provoked by Mr Beaumaris, the most eligible nonpareil of the day.

Venetia is a satisfying combination of comedy and the vein of deeper feeling which counterbalances Heyer’s clear-eyed realism and satirical pen. Venetia is one of Heyer’s most liberated heroines: she is a great realist about men, and about her own situation as a rich but isolated young woman, nearly too old for marriage, destined to marry a dull farmer or dwindle to aunt-hood, deep in the Yorkshire dales. When bad Lord Damerel returns to his neglected estates, the scene is set for an encounter of true minds. Yes, sexual attraction runs like a thread of fire between him and Venetia, but sense of humour and shared interests are more important in the meeting of soul-mates. Love changes everything, and the heartbreak is as real, because the hearts are real, as any you could read, just as the ending has all the satisfaction for the reader, as well as for the characters, of being truly earned.

When young, plain Horatia Winwood informs the Earl of Rule that her beautiful older sister, Lizzie, doesn't want to marry him and offers herself instead, the Earl, surprised and intrigued by the spirited, unconventional Horry, agrees, setting the stage for a romp rife with misadventure, jealousy, plots, duels, and romance.