Death at Wentwater Court (Daisy Dalrymple #1)

[onlyfiction]

Death at Wentwater Court (Daisy Dalrymple #1)
By: Carola Dunn
Release Date: September 1, 2006 (First published January 1, 1994)
Publisher: Leisure Books
Rating: ★★★☆☆
Series: Daisy Dalrymple (#1)
Summary: This first installment of a cozy mystery series transports listeners back to the bygone era of 1923 Britain, where unflappable flapper and fledgling journalist Daisy Dalrymple daringly embarks on her first writing assignment, and promptly stumbles across a corpse.

No stranger to sprawling country estates, wealthy Daisy Dalrymple is breaking new ground in having scandalously traded silver spoon for pen and camera to cover a story for Town and Country magazine. But her planned interviews with the inhabitants of Wentwater Court give way to interrogation after suave Lord Stephen Astwick meets a dire fate on the tranquil skating pond.

Armed with evidence that his fate was anything but accidental, Daisy joins forces with Scotland Yard to examine an esteemed collection of suspects and to see that the unlikely culprit doesn't slip through their fingers just as the unfortunate Astwick slipped through the ice.



Review: Daisy Dalrymple is heading to Wentwater Court. She will stay there while writing about the estate for Town and Country magazine. She doesn’t expect to walk into a death. At first glance, it appears to be an accident, but several things don’t seem right. This leads to an investigation. Upon further investigation, it turns out to be much more serious.

The murder mystery failed to gain traction as it relied on confession, not investigation, to reveal the solution. It was also disappointing that the author let everyone off so easily in the end. Or maybe I just prefer murder mysteries that are darker.

It would have been nice if some characters were less clichéd cutouts and added more to the story.

While the author's use of aristocratic slang can be ridiculous, it shows she did her research. Although I enjoyed this book, I'm unsure if I'll read the rest of the series..

Conclusion: This may suit cosy mystery readers, but I find it lacking in inspiration.