Blurb:

In the 1920′s, in post-WWI England, the Honourable Daisy Dalrymple, newly married to Detective Inspector Alec Fletcher, is asked by her brother-in-law to discreetly investigate a series of poisoned pen letters that many of the local villagers have been receiving. When the pompous and unbearable brother of the local vicar is killed by a very large rock dropped on his head from a great height, it seems clear to all that this campaign of gossip has escalated to murder. With the help of her husband, who’d rather she not get involved in murder, Daisy undertakes to uncover the identity of the viper in the local nest is and who that person has driven to murder before the murderer strikes a second time.

In a nutshell:

I read it in: German (Miss Daisy und der tote Professor)

I liked it:     Yes, sort of, but now I’ve had enough of Daisy for a long while

For people who like: village gossip, the English country life, the 20s, the English upper class, cosy mysteries

My thoughts: 

This is the fourth Daisy Dalrymple book that I read and I liked this one best. I found the setting extremely appealing, a small village with all the gossip and underlying currents of tension. Daisy is staying with her sister and brother-in-law and at first only tries to find out who is the writer of the anonymous letters her brother-in-law is receiving. She goes about this in her usual way, which means she goes someplace and everybody tells her their innermost thoughts. I know I am complaining about this every time but how realistic is it if someone tells a woman he has never seen before about the anonymous letters he is receiving just because "it feels good to tell someone". If it wasn’t for Daisy’s inexplicable ability to make everybody confide in her there never would be much "sleuthing" going on.

The murder happens only after half of the book and the solving of the crime, once more, is done in such a haphazard way that I could only wonder at the end how on Earth they got their killer. Daisy makes assumptions and comes up with theories that are so out of the blue, it is bordering on the ridiculous. In the end there was no definite proof, but Daisy, Alec and Inspector Flagg were all convinced they got the case solved. This was so, but how it happened I can’t say. The reasoning made no sense to me.

In the course of the investigation there were some statements being made that were simply false, like for example at one point a witness says something like "Do you think X found out who the letter writer is and was murdered because of that?". One page later Alec would say to Daisy "Do you remember how the witness said that X found out who the letter writer was?" Actually, no, I don’t because the witness never said that.

If you want a puzzling mystery and an ingenious detective or two solving the crime in an Agatha Christie way, then this is not the right choice. If you want nice atmosphere, country gossip, the usual characters (venomous old spinster, drunken pillar of the community, busybody pastor’s wife etc.) and a cozy atmosphere, then go for it!

Location: A village in Kent, England, UK

Product info and buy link :

Title	Styx and Stones
Author	Carola Dunn
Publisher	Kensington
ISBN	978-0758213952
I got this book from	the library
Buy link	Buy Styx and Stones
More info	The Daisy Dalrymple mysteries in chronological order
and more	Two free Daisy Dalrymple short stories

Have you read this book? What did you think of it? I would love to hear other opinions.

Blurb:

In July of 1923, the Honourable Daisy Dalrymple travels to Henley-on-Thames to visit her aunt and uncle as well as to work on her latest writing assignment – to cover the Henley Royal Regatta for an American magazine. Daisy plans a simple trip researching her article, enjoying the races, and, come the weekend, having a pleasant time with her fiance, Detective Chief Inspector Alec Fletcher of Scotland Yard. But the tensions between the Ambrose team’s coxswain, Horace Bott – a shopkeeper’s son and scholarship student at Oxford – and rower, Basil DeLancey – the younger son of an Earl and all-around bounder – are constantly threatening to erupt into violence. The team then proceeds to lose their next heat in the eight because Bott is ill from the previous night’s overindulgence, an action he was goaded into by DeLancey. DeLancey publicly humiliates Bott. Bott, in turn, publicly swears revenge. The following day, in the coxless four, DeLancey himself keels over and dies mid-race. Foul play is immediately suspected, with Bott the logical suspect. But nothing is obvious in this tangled web of jealousies and secrets, and while Inspector Fletcher investigates the murder, Daisy once again must ferret out the truth.

In a nutshell:

I read it in: German (Miss Daisy und der Tote auf dem Wasser)

I liked it:   Yes, but slowly I am getting sick of Daisy

For people who like: Cosy mysteries, sports events, the 20s, the English upper class, rowing

My thoughts: 

This is the third Daisy Dalrymple mystery that I have read and I know that soon I will need to take a break from her.

"Death on the water" has an interesting setting. A widely known regatta takes place and we learn about the rivalries between teams as well as the problems misfits (i.e. members of the lower classes) have to deal with when attending a college – especially, it seems, when they are smarter than the average nobleman’s son.
However, I would have preferred to learn about those problems in a less "ram them down your throat" way. Before we encounter even one situation where the low class boy is being harassed by his supposed superiors he already pours his little heart out to the ubiquitous Daisy, even though he has only seen her for the first time at the very moment. Again she wonders briefly why everybody wants to take her into their confidence, but then again, she is so curious, not to say nosy, that she takes to being the confidante like a fish takes to water. She really got on my nerves with her "I’ll stay to make sure s/he is alright" demeanour when, in reality, she just wants to stay in order to know everything that is being said and done. How her fiancée Alec puts up with that shit, I don’t know.

The sleuthing seemed to be somewhat slow and little goal oriented. If there hadn’t been a witness of sorts and a murderer ready to confess (either through words or actions) Alec would have been in the dark forever. On top of that the case is not quite as clear as it seemed, which only comes out almost as an afterthought. And once more – I feel like I am turning into a fighter for the plebs reading those books – I got the uncomfortable feeling that exceptions are being made for people simply because they belong to a class that seems to be untouchable.

I have one more Daisy Dalrymple book from the library, "Styx and Stones", which I will read and then I will call it a day for now. There is only so much lenience towards the upper class I can take.

Location: Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire, England, UK

Product info and buy link :

Title	Dead in the water
Author	Carola Dunn
Publisher	Kensington
ISBN	978-0758227294
I got this book from	the library
Buy link	Buy Dead in the Water
More info	The Daisy Dalrymple mysteries in chronological order
and more	Two free Daisy Dalrymple short stories
and even more	Henley Royal Regatta

Have you read this book? What did you think of it? I would love to hear other opinions.

Blurb:

It’s the early 1920s in England – the country is still recovering from the Great War and undergoing rapid social changes that many are not quite ready to accept. During this heady and tumultuous time, the Honourable Daisy Dalrymple, the daughter of a Viscount, makes a decision shocking to her class: rather than be supported by her relations, she will earn her own living as a writer.
Landing an assignment for Town & Country magazine for a series of articles on country manor houses she travels to Wentwater Court in early January 1923 to begin research on her first piece. But all is not well there when she arrives.
Lord Wentwater’s young wife has become the center of a storm of jealousy, animosity, and, possibly, some not-unwanted amorous attention, which has disrupted the peace of the bucolic country household. Still, this is as nothing compared to the trouble that ensues when one of the holiday guests drowns in a tragic early-morning skating accident. Especially when Daisy discovers that his death was no accident …

In a nutshell:

I read it in: German (“Miss Daisy und der Tote auf dem Eis”)

I liked it:   x  Yes, with some reservations about the ending

For people who like: cosy mysteries, mystery with no violence (except, of course, for the murder), easy reading, the atmosphere of the 20s

My thoughts: 

“Death at Wentwater Court” is the first book in the Daisy Dalrymple series. I read it after reading the fourth instalment “Murder on the Flying Scotsman” which I liked quite a bit.

In this first book Daisy meets Alec Fletcher, the smart detective for the first time and the foundation stone for their future relationship is being laid. We also find out why Alec is always investigating the crimes taking place in “High Society”, I had already wondered about that. Daisy is a very nice, down-to-earth girl. However, her overall likeable-ness started to get on my nerves when everybody, really everybody, wanted her to stay/go with them when they had to confess to the police or talk about a difficult topic. Those people only knew her slightly, if at all, and still she became their confidante almost immediately. Even Alec himself, who is a police officer, talked about the current case as if she was a co-worker instead of a , let’s face it, nosy female who just happened to be at the right place at the right time. His readiness to tell her confidential information was odd, to say the least.

Spoiler below!

The discovery of the culprit was based on another confession made in Daisy’s presence which was a bit of a disappointment.

What followed after was downright shocking. I know this is supposed to be a harmless cosy mystery, but somehow the end rubbed me the totally wrong way. Daisy played judge, jury and executioner (or rather the opposite) in one go and decided to let the culprit go free by coming up with a cunning plan to get him out of the grasp of the police. As justified as this may seem, it was highly irregular. The motivation behind this was basically to protect the noble family involved from being dragged through the press and prevent further pain. All very nice, indeed, however, if the same incident had happened in a working class environment, I am sure, the outcome would have been different. The subsequent outburst of Alec was understandable.  How quickly he was placated and  the laissez faire attitude of his superior – a friend of the family involved–, made me feel slightly uneasy.

It might very well be that the situation during those times was exactly like that – hang the rabble, spare the upper classes – but really, in a mystery novel one expects to see justice done. If a jury had found the accused not guilty, which would have been not unlikely, then all would have been good. As it was it leaves an uncomfortable feeling with me. 

Location: Hampshire, England, UK

All images from wikipedia

Product info and buy link :

Title	Death at Wentwater Court
Author	Carola Dunn
Publisher	Robinson
ISBN	978-1845298654
I got this book from	the library
Buy link	Buy Death at Wentwater Court
More info	The Daisy Dalrymple mysteries in chronological order
and more	Two free Daisy Dalrymple short stories

Have you read this book? What did you think of it? I would love to hear other opinions.