Death at Wentwater Court: The First Daisy Dalrymple Mystery

By Carola Dunn

Book Overview

More than twenty years ago, Carola Dunn introduced to the world the charming, vivacious and perspicacious Daisy Dalrymple and the tumultuous decade of the 1920s, in an England barely starting to recover from World War I and now undergoing rapid social changes.

In early 1923, the young Honourable Daisy Dalrymple has made a decision that shocks her social class-instead of living in the Dower House with her mother and being supported by her relatives, she's decided to make her own living as a writer. Landing an assignment for Town & Country to write a series of articles on country manor houses, Daisy travels to Wentwater Court to research her first piece. There she finds a household in turmoil, filled with holiday guests and recriminations. But that's nothing compared to the uproar when one of those guests drowns in a tragic early-morning skating "accident." When it is learned that this was anything but accidental, Scotland Yard is called in and a young Chief Inspector, one Alec Fletcher, is called in to investigate. And therein hangs a tale...

A series with all the charm of the classic golden age mysteries with the kind of full-blooded, three dimensional characters that define the best of modern mystery, the Daisy Dalrymple mysteries have been a favorite for more than two decades. Now, with this reissue of Death At Wentwater Court, readers can enjoy it from the very beginning.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1250060796
• ISBN13: 9781250060792
• Release Date: March 2015
• Publisher: Minotaur Books
• Length: 240 Pages
• Weight: 0.53 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 5.4" x 8.3"

Customer Reviews

The First in a Great Series

This is the first in the Daisy Dalrymple Mysteries. The Honourable Daisy Dalrymple has recently entered the journalism world as a light reporter on the various estates for Town and Country. When she arrives at Wentwater Court, the atmosphere is charged with deceit and deception. Then, when Lord Stephen Astwick is found dead on the frozen pond, her pictures show an interesting twist. Chief Inspector Alec Fletcher is brought in to figure out what happened. This book sets the stage for future novels involving Daisy and Alec. It's light, frothy and fun. The book uniquely captures the post WWI feelings in England, that American readers will find very interesting.

Not the best

This is a great series, but I'm glad this was not the first book I read. This didn't have the depth or plot interest that many of the others had. I think it was trying to introduce the series, but it was too slow. While its worth a read as part of the series, don't start here or you won't read the rest of the wonderful series!

Death at Wentwater Court

The Honourable Daisy Dalrymple arrives at Wentwater Court to write an article for Town & Country magazine about the estate's history and inhabitants; scandalous tidbits included. Daisy is accepted into the household because of her artistocratic background; even though women of Daisy's social position having a career is practically unheard of.Almost immediately the most disliked houseguest is found floating facedown in a hole in the otherwise frozen lake on the estate. Thought to be an unfortunate skating accident, Daisy's photographs of the scene soon prove otherwise.Alec Fletcher arrives from Scotland Yard and requests Daisy's assistance in taking notes. Secrets, tensions, and undercurrents abound among the family and houseguests. Daisy's keen observation of detail and deductive reasoning makes her aid in the investigation of the murder invaluable.Fast paced with highly amusing 20's language phrasing and descriptions; the reader is treated to a wonderful English country house murder.

A breath of fresh air for mystery fans!

As an avid mystery fan, I'm amazed I haven't heard of this series before; I stumbled across this book by lucky accident but will be recommending it to everyone I know.The setting is 1923 England, a tumultuous time--the nation is recovering from the Great War and changing social mores threaten the status quo. The Honourable Daisy Dalrymple (daughter of a Viscount) has decided to pursue a career as a writer and journalist rather than be financially supported by her family (shocking!). Her upper-class connections allow her access to Wentwater Court to write a story on this country manor house for Town & Country magazine. But Daisy soon finds herself investigating the death of a fellow guest whose skating accident might not have been an accident at all...This book is a breath of fresh air in a genre whose conventions too often lead to predictability. Daisy is a truly likeable heroine. She is modern, but modern for HER time, not modern for our time. Her involvement with the mystery at Wentwater Court is the product of her attraction to the Chief Inspector on the case and her desire to help the Wentwater family, rather than the result of the all-too-typical "unbridled curiosity" that aflicts most amateur sleuths.The mystery itself is not a show-stopper, but neither are there any holes in the resolution. The real star of the series is the time and place. Although it's probably a bit overdone, it's wonderful fun to read about all these people calling each other "old bean" and "chum" and exclaiming, "How perfectly ghastly for the old prune!"I'm looking forward to the next in the series.