Mistletoe and Murder
Daisy Dalrymple Mystery, No 11

by Carola Dunn

     Mrs Daisy Fletcher is back in England once more for her eleventh case, all ready for a traditional family Christmas. Unfortunately, this means that her mother the Dowager Viscountess Dalrymple will be there, and the venue belongs to distant cousin Lord Westmoor. But he isn’t going to be their host; instead they find themselves at the mercy of his poor relations the Norvilles. The air crackles with undercurrents and soon somebody is going to be murdered...

...Well, you can’t have a house party without a murder, can you? It is entertaining indeed to read this inventive author’s spin on the classic whodunit formula, and great to see the series back on course after what I regarded as its weakest entry. This is not an easy type of book to write as so many archetypal whodunits have been written in this manner, but rest assured that you can expect a lively plot with plenty going on. Perhaps the best part of all this is the impressive knowledge of the period that Ms Dunn displays in all her books. It would have been so easy to write this type of thing set in a remote mansion and concentrate only on plot and characters, ignoring the period. Instead we are constantly reminded that the war is only a few years behind, and that this is a different era from our own in so many ways, with regard to people’s mores and outlook on life. This is anything but modern times in fancy dress. The only flaw in this jewel is a rather abrupt ending, but even this shows that I was reluctant to leave such a well researched and entertaining novel.

Reviews of other titles in this series

Death at Wentwater Court, 1
The Winter Garden Mystery, 2
Requiem For A Mezzo, 3
Murder on the Flying Scotsman, 4
Damsel in Distress, 5
Dead In The Water, 6
Styx and Stones, 7
Rattle His Bones, 8 [review 1] [review 2]
To Davy Jones Below, 9
The Case of the Murdered Muckraker, 10
Mistletoe and Murder, 11
Die Laughing, 12
A Mourning Wedding, 13
Fall of a Philanderer, 14
Gunpowder Plot, 15
The Black Ship, 17
Sheer Folly, 18
Anthem For Doomed Youth, 19
Gone West, 20