Dead in the Water

By Carola Dunn

Book Overview

Ah, summer in Henley-on-Thames: The smell of the roses. The excitement of the races. The perfect setting for murder? When Daisy Dalrymple accepts an assignment to cover the Henley Royal Regatta for an American magazine, she steps right into a nasty class war between two members of the Oxford rowing team. Coxswain Horace Bott-a shopkeeper's son and scholarship student-has always resented rower Basil Delancey-younger son of an Earl and an all-around cad who takes every opportunity to goad and embarrass his impoverished team mate. After a particularly brutal public humiliation, Bott swears revenge, and when Delancey keels over and dies mid-race, succumbing to a keen blow to the head, it would seem he's made good on his promise. But Daisy isn't convinced. With the help of her fiance, Detective Chief Inspector Alec Fletcher of Scotland Yard, Daisy dives into a tangled web of jealousies and secrets behind the closed doors of the aristocracy, where appearances are everything, and good breeding just may be hiding a killer intent on keeping Daisy mum forever... "Plenty of period charm, flashes of wit, and just a Whisper of romance to keep the reader entertained...A wonderful cosy treat!" -The Poisoned Pen

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0758227299
• ISBN13: 9780758227294
• Release Date: July 2002
• Publisher: Kensington Publishing Corporation
• Length: 254 Pages
• Weight: 0.30 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 4.2" x 6.9"

Customer Reviews

Dead In The Water(#6)

Kept me reading waaay past my bedtime and worth every minute of it. I love these intriguing mysterys by Ms.Dunn and am reading them in order so I won't miss anything Daisy gets into. Daisy just can't stay out of "trouble". Keep them coming please.

Daisy and Alec are invited for a weekend at the boat races

Daisy and Alec are to be the guests of Daisy's aunt Lady Cherington for the Thames Cup boat races. Daisy's cousin Tish's beau, and his teammates, including Tish's cousin Cherry. There is some discord in the team. The Hon Basil DeLancy, an out an out cad, is baiting the cox, a Mr. Bott for not being as well borne or socially apt as the rest of them. Harold Bott has a huge chip on his shoulder and responds just as DeLancey wants him to. This all cumulates in DeLancey pushing Bott in the river after he disgraces himself by being sick during the race. Since DeLancey got him drunk the night before it really was his fault. Then, DeLancey dies after becoming sick during a four man race. Bott is naturally a suspect, and Alec takes over the case. He and Daisy seek the murderer.These golden age mysteries are alot of fun. The murderer was fairly obvious, but getting to the conclusion was still worth reading. The author has a real gift for describing England in the 1920's.

Daisy deal s with social class prejudice obscuring crime.

In this Daisy adventure social class biases are a major factor confounding efforts to find the guilty. Daisy's 1920s acquaintances with their prejudices are so different from us modern enlightened folks, aren't they? Or are they? Carola Dunn's meticulous research shows us a heroine who is convincingly of her time, but whose enquiring mind rises above social conventions.

top notch mystery with period flavor and good red herrings

I found plenty of charm and action in this "between thewars" murder mystery. With a twist on the country house party,Carola Dunn puts her slueth, the honourable Daisy Dalrymple, journalist, under the same roof as 9 sporting young men, all members of the same college crew, ranging from the working class cox to the young lording, whom everyone seems to have reason to dislike. But when the latter is found with his head bashed in, the most likely suspect seems the former. Scotland Yard, in the form of Daisy's detective fiance is called in, and they soon discovers plenty of other suspects to muddy the waters. The period details add to the well-plotted mystery, and Daisy is as delightful as usual.