The Dagger Before Me

April 8, 2019
Dams gives fair warning in an author’s note to her flimsy 21st Dorothy Martin mystery (after 2018’s Crisis at the Cathedral): “If you have no interest in eccentric English ceremonies, you can skip to chapter nine without missing too much of the plot.” One April morning, American expat Dorothy awakes in her home in Sherebury with a raging case of spring fever. Her always obliging husband, retired police detective Alan Nesbit, plans a series of excursions around Britain to amuse her. These trips continue into December, when the mystery plot finally slips into first gear. Sir Edwin Montcalm has invited Dorothy and Alan to the christening of his son. The couple arrive at the estate to discover things in a tizzy: the jeweled dagger to be used in the christening ceremony is missing. Later, a woman is found dead in a local pub, with a jeweled dagger beside the body. Dorothy’s actual detective work is negligible and is based mainly on her ability to decipher a small child’s rambling monologue. This one’s for diehard series fans and those fond of travelogues. Agent: Kimberley Cameron, Kimberley Cameron Agency.

April 1, 2019
A leisurely journey around England to take in some ancient ceremonies ends in a curious murder investigation. When American expatriate Dorothy Martin is struck by spring fever, her husband, retired Chief Constable Alan Nesbitt (Crisis at the Cathedral, 2018, etc.), suggests they travel to see some of England's more exotic customs. Although Alan's connections get them into a few rituals not open to the public, their next murder case is provoked by a chance encounter with Sir Edwin Montcalm, whose uncle was a friend of Alan's. Alan even attended Edwin's christening back in the day, and Edwin now asks Alan to be godfather to his son since all his own relatives are dead. In another of those odd English traditions, the newborn son must be christened in the presence of a jeweled dagger long in the family's possession in order to inherit the entailed estate. Days before Christmas, Dorothy and Alan, arriving at Dunham Manor in Suffolk for the christening, are met by a frantic Edwin, who tells them that the dagger's vanished. Apart from anything to do with finances, Edwin tends to fall apart in family crises. Luckily, his stunning Canadian wife, Judith, is far stronger than him. Dorothy is taken with baby Joseph and his sisters, Cynthia and Ruth, and is pleased when Alan offers his expertise in finding the dagger. That expertise is required even more urgently when the discovery of a woman's body with a jeweled dagger in her back brings the police to Dunham Manor. The dagger is only a clumsy copy, but Alan realizes that Edwin's hiding something and finally gets him to admit that the victim, Angela Wilson, turned up on his doorstep claiming to be his birth mother. Naturally, the police are suspicious of Edwin. It's up to the sleuthing duo to find out who hates Edwin enough to frame him for murder. An Anglophile's delight piled high with enchanting details of arcane rituals, all neatly wrapped around a nice little case of murder.

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May 1, 2019
American Dorothy Martin, now living in England with her husband, Alan, have been invited to a traditional baptism for the son of a childhood friend of Alan's. After a long drive through the English countryside, they arrive at Montcalm manor, only to find a family heirloom has been stolen. Without the heirloom, the baby cannot be baptized or be in position to inherit. Luckily for the Montcalm family, Dorothy and Alan planned to remain for the christening, and so are able to lend their inquisitive natures to uncovering the culprit. Anglophiles and history buffs alike will enjoy the cozy mystery merged with travelogue details. The strong sense of place, of both the quaint English countryside and frenetic urban London, is enriched by Dams' descriptions of the somewhat archaic English traditions paramount to the plot. The leisurely pacing of the novel is perfect for fans of Rhys Bowen and Alexander McCall Smith.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2019, American Library Association.)