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{{creator}}
{{Needs Image}}
One of the most successful romance novelists of the 20th century, '''Georgette Heyer'''{{'}}s books were famous for her intelligent comedy, [[Official Couple|the genuine sweetness of her romances]] and [[Shown Their Work|her meticulous research on the Regency period]]. She also wrote a few detective novels here and there, but these aren't nearly as well-known, [[Needs More Love|which is a shame]].
Heyer's heroes and heroines (occasionally dubbed [[Fan Nickname|Heyeroes and Heyeroines]]) tended to come in two types each:
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Heyer was not above mixing and matching types, as well as subverting the expectations of her readers. In ''Sylvester'', for example, the eponymous hero appears to be a Hero #1, whereas he's actually a Hero #2 (he merely has an unfortunate pair of eyebrows).
{{creatortropes}}
Heyer used a lot of tropes in various ways, so listing them by novel seems the best way to go.
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''{{smallcaps|The Black Moth}}''
* [[Aloof Big Brother]]: Tracy.
* [[Annoying Younger
* [[Aw, Look -- They Really Do Love Each Other]]: {{spoiler|Two-for-one example, as Tracy [[Magnificent Bastard|arranges]] for Lavinia and Richard to [[Love Epiphany|stay together]], and [[Meal Ticket|keep him in reach of the Carstares' money]].}}
* [[Beta Couple]]: [[The Dutiful Son|Richard]] and [[Spoiled Brat|Lavinia]], whose subplot is arguably more entertaining than the main's.
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* [[Handsome Devil]]: Tracy
* [[I Have You Now, My Pretty]]: [[Villain Ball|Tried twice]]. [[What an Idiot!|Failed.]] [[Just in Time|Twice.]]
* [[Impoverished Patrician]]: The Belmanoirs.
* [[Poor Communication Kills]]: Justified; they're [[Upper Class Twit|idiots]].
* [[Love Makes You Dumb]]: and HOW.
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* [[Childhood Friend Romance]]
* [[Damsel in Distress]]: But not the heroine herself.
* [[Just Friends]]
* [[The Ingenue]]: Cherry, who is even referred to as such at one point.
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''{{smallcaps|Devil's Cub}}''
* [[Actually, I Am Him]]: Avon ... after Mary tells him how "sinister" she's heard he is.
* [[All Girls Want Bad Boys]]: Although Mary mocks Vidal as being no more than bratty and not nearly as bad as he thinks he is.
* [[Continuity Nod]]: Avon deplores Vidal's [[Deadpan Snarker|lack of finesse]] in methods of daylight abduction.
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* [[It Seemed Like a Good Idea At the Time]]: See [[Twin Switch]] below.
* [[Parent Ex Machina]]: {{spoiler|Avon}}.
* [[Parental Marriage Veto]]: Mary fully expects one of these from Vidal's parents, {{spoiler|so she runs away before they get there
* [[Poirot Speak]]: Leonie.
* [[Rescue Romance]]: Averted: Vidal is what Mary needs to be rescued ''from''. And he's determined to protect her from himself.
* [[Troubled but Cute]]: Vidal.
* [[Twin Switch]]: Sort of: Mary, although not Sophia's twin, swaps places with her in her elopement with Vidal in order to put him off.
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* [[Cleaning Up Romantic Loose Ends]]
* [[The Chessmaster]]: Sophy, of course.
* [[Licked by the Dog]]: Everyone thinks Charles is a domestic tyrant, but Sophy knows better...because every animal in the novel loves and trusts him, of course!
* [[Locked in a Room]]: Subverted: Eugenia and Augustus are locked in a wood, but emerge only extremely annoyed.
* [[Love At First Sight]]: Parodied with Celia and Augustus.
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* [[Poirot Speak]]: Sancia.
* [[Slap Slap Kiss]]: Sophy and Charles.
** The last dialogue in the book is Charles refusing to cooperate with another of her schemes. Sophy exaggerates, saying it's proof that he doesn't love her (her phrasing makes plain that she isn't serious), and he, between kisses, agrees that he dislikes her "excessively." Followed by more kissing....
* [[Triang Relations]]: Sophy/Charles/Eugenia, Celia/Augustus/Charlbury.
* [[Wrong Guy First]]: Celia and Augustus.
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* [[Attractive Bent Gender]]
* [[The Chessmaster]]: Lord Barham
* [[
* [[Sweet Polly Oliver]]
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''{{smallcaps|Regency Buck}}''
* [[Actually, That's My Assistant]]: Judith chats with a pleasant gentleman at one party, telling him she's heard a lot about [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beau_Brummell Beau Brummell], the epitome of style, but what she's seen of the man doesn't impress her. She hasn't yet been told that Brummell is quietly elegant, not flashy like the fellow she mistook for him. Luckily, he's amused rather than offended and they become good friends.
* [[Belligerent Sexual Tension]]: Judith really does not get on with Worth for about half the book.
* [[Jerk with a Heart of Gold]]: Worth, who is busy being an arse to Judith's face while behind her back protecting her from fortune-hunters and her brother from murderers
* [[Meet Cute]]
* [[Reverse Psychology]]: How Worth gets Judith to take the house he wants in Brighton.
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* [[The Tale]]: Amanda spins about a dozen of these throughout the novel.
* [[True Companions]]: Gareth, Hester, Amanda and Hildebrand. Neil would probably have been adopted one way or another had the book been longer.
** Probably? Another fellow says something stupid and intrusive, and Gareth requests that Neil toss the idiot out, preferably onto a garbage heap. Neil's response is, "With the greatest of pleasure!" He's been adopted, all right.
''{{smallcaps|Sylvester}}''
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* [[Break the Haughty]]: Sylvester, though a mild example.
* [[Defrosting Ice Queen]]: Sylvester.
* [[Evil
* [[Evil Uncle]]: Subverted: Sylvester is perceived to be this by everyone, but he's actually a far better parental figure than the boy's mother. Because she's [[Brainless Beauty|mind-numbingly stupid]].
* [[Like Brother and Sister]]: Phoebe and Tom.
* [[Mouthy Kid]]: Edmund.
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''{{smallcaps|The Talisman Ring}}''
* [[Arranged Marriage]]: Tristram and Eustacie. {{Spoiler|Quickly dropped when they each find someone more to their taste. It doesn't hurt that Ludovic, once his name is cleared, is heir to the Lavenham lordship and thus has the authority to overrule Eustacie's arranged marriage (and marry her himself).}}.
* [[Clear My Name]]: Ludovic.
* [[Great Way to Go]]: Old Lord Lavenham's dying words are a "gross" insult directed at the doctor attending his deathbed. His great-nephews are highly amused to hear this, one of them saying "how right, how fitting" it was for the old man's personality.
* [[Hoist by His Own Petard|Hoist by Her Own Petard]]: Sarah, asked in front of several witnesses why she ventured outdoors in the middle of the night, tries to embarrass Tristram (as well as concealing her true reason) by hinting she went out for a flirtation with him. "Miss Thane found that she had underrated her opponent." Tristram not only immediately agrees that she came to meet him, but embarrasses '''her''' by going on to state that they're "deeply in love." (Well, they '''are''', but at the moment he's saying that just for the amusement of seeing her outraged reaction.) Hilariously, her brother is completely unfazed and mildly scolds, "You've been flirting again."
* [[Improbable Aiming Skills]]: Ludovic's are renowned. At one point, a Mook exclaims in horror that Ludovic must have shot out the light, because no one else could have managed such a shot. Tristram, the actual shooter in this case, murmurs, "Oh, could they not?"
* [[It's All About Me]]: Eustacie doesn't like Tristram because he has the discourtesy to point out when her self-centered attitude is unrealistic. She fantasizes that if she'd been taken to the [[The French Revolution|guillotine]], her youth and beauty (and the white dress she imagines herself wearing) would've made even the [[Reign of Terror|revolutionary mob]] feel sorry for her. To her mind, it's very callous of Tristram to say he'd feel sorry for '''anyone''', not just her, about to be guillotined.
* [[MacGuffin]]: The title ring. It's a family heirloom, {{Spoiler|and Ludovic treasures it}}, but unimpressive in appearance, as Eustacie comments. Its greatest importance is that, as Tristram puts it, {{Spoiler|the man Ludovic's accused of killing was murdered "by someone who wanted the talisman ring and only that." So the murderer will have '''kept''' the ring}} — find whoever's got it, and....
* [[Snark-to-Snark Combat]]: Tristram and Sarah needle each other a lot; it's the closest they get to '''physical''' slapping in their [[Slap Slap Kiss]] (aside from a few threats of boxing ears). She says that at thirty-one, he's reached middle age (she's twenty-eight); he, when she pretends to faint, says they should throw cold water on her.
{{Quote|"Middle—Has anyone ever boxed your ears, Miss Thane? ... You have been undeservedly fortunate...."}}
* [[Title Drop]]: It being the MacGuffin, people mention the talisman ring '''a lot'''.
''{{smallcaps|The Toll-Gate}}''
* [[Altar the Speed]]: John and Nell are ... unexpectedly ... married by Sir Peter's bedside because he's decided he wants it done before he dies. Nell expresses qualms, actually saying John is being forced into it. John replies that he doesn't even need to be persuaded, but he '''will''' hold off if she really doesn't want to do it now.
* [[Historical In-Joke]]
* [[Stranger in a Familiar Land]]
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''{{smallcaps|The Unfinished Clue}}'' (detective story)
* [[Asshole Victim]] / Complete Monster / [[Abusive Dad]]: Sir Arthur Billington-Smith
* [[Cultural Stereotypes]]: [[Latin Land|Lola de Silva]] and her agent, a [[Greedy Jew]].
* [[I Have No Son]]: Arthur Billington-Smith tried to do this {{spoiler|and that was why he was killed.}}
*
''{{smallcaps|The Unknown Ajax}}''
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* [[Amateur Sleuth]]: Frank Amberley - the person who solves the mystery - is a barrister, although it's noted in the story that he has some experience rounding up major criminals, having helped the police at least once.
* [[Crazy Prepared]]: When the [[Big Bad]] tries to get away via a motorboat, Frank just happens to have a motorboat of his own ready. [[Justified]] in that he'd done some research during the previous day, and figured that would happen.
* [[Genius Ditz]]: Frank's aunt Marion is often referred to as having a "vague" manner ... but it turns out she's figured out what's going on. She lets him do all the sleuthing anyway.
* [[Police Are Useless]]: [[Averted]]. the police are just at sea because there are no clues to go on, and Amberley has quite a few of them... [[Locked Out of the Loop|not that he tells the police most of them]].
* [[Slap Slap Kiss]]: It doesn't help that Frank is something of a [[Troll]] throughout the whole book, and not just to the girl.
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{{reflist}}
[[Category:Authors]]
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