Gone West

November 21, 2011
Dunn’s charming 20th Daisy Dalrymple mystery (after 2011’s Anthem for Doomed Youth) takes Daisy, in the fall of 1926, to a remote Derbyshire farm, where an old school friend, Sybil Sutherby, is concerned about the health of her employer, author Humphrey Birtwhistle, who pens westerns under a pseudonym. Due to Humphrey’s prolonged illness, Sybil, as his secretary editor, has taken over the actual writing of his work. When Humphrey “goes west” (a British idiom, an authorial note informs us, to indicate a person has died or disappeared), Doctor Knox, a close family friend, refuses to sign the death certificate because he can’t cite a cause. Daisy’s husband, Chief Det. Insp. Alec Fletcher, comes from London to join the local police in the subsequent investigation. Daisy must tread carefully between her own theories and the official line in a cozy replete with the amenities of English country life. Agent: Northwest Literary Agency.

Starred review from November 15, 2011
The wife of a Scotland Yard detective is such a clever sleuth that she's on the scene before her husband. Answering the pleas of her school friend Sybil, the Honorable Daisy Dalrymple Fletcher takes herself off to Derbyshire to see if Sybil's fears could possibly be true. Humphrey Birtwhistle, who went to the Wild West as a young man, now makes a good living writing westerns under a pseudonym. His brother and sister, who run the family farm, were not happy to see him return with an American wife but found his money a welcome addition. Because Humphrey has not been well for quite a while, Sybil, hired as a secretary, has begun to write the most recent books based on Humphrey's ideas. Indeed, her efforts have actually improved sales. In addition to the brother, sister and wife, the house also harbors Humphrey's son Simon, a budding writer who looks down on his father; Simon's friend Neil Carey, an Irish playwright; the beautiful Myra, a distant cousin; and her follower Walter Ilkton, a high-born snob who is madly in love with her. Sybil's worries that someone is poisoning Humphrey prove justified when he's found dead and her boyfriend Dr. Roger Knox refuses to sign a death certificate. Daisy's husband's superior, taking a dim view of her involvement, sends Alec Fletcher to solve the case. Despite (or because of) plenty of promising suspects, Daisy and Alec have their work cut out for them. Dunn (Anthem for Doomed Youth, 2011, etc.) adds another winner to a long string of charming mysteries evocative of the period between the Great Wars.

(COPYRIGHT (2011) KIRKUS REVIEWS/NIELSEN BUSINESS MEDIA, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.)

January 1, 2012
In September 1926, Sybil Sutherby contacts her old school friend Daisy Dalrymple Fletcher. Sybil is widowed and living with her daughter at a remote farmhouse in Derbyshire, where she works as the confidential secretary to reclusive novelist Humphrey Birtwhistle, who writes westerns under a pen name. It seems that Humphrey has been ill, and Sybil has taken over writing the books only to have sales increase, along with advances. When Daisy arrives, she meets a household of quirky relatives and would-be suitors who are taking advantage of Birtwhistle's hospitality. Sybil is afraid that one of them is slowly poisoning her employer to keep him ill so that she can continue writing his books. When he dies under suspicious circumstances before Daisy can investigate, Sybil's fears appear confirmed. Daisy's husband, Scotland Yard detective Alec Fletcher, is unhappy that his wife is once again involved in a murder case. With plenty of suspects to vet, they have their work cut out for them. Dunn has once again written a charming cozy featuring an intelligent, strong woman. A treat for Daisy's fans as well as those who enjoy Jacqueline Winspear's Maisie Dobbs.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2012, American Library Association.)