From Publishers Weekly
Carola Dunn offers a Christmas-themed crime story in Mistletoeand Murder: A Daisy Dalrymple Mystery, the 11th in her winning seriesof light whodunits set in the 1920s (after 2001's To Davy JonesBelow). Here Daisy and family find their holiday stay at Brockdene, aCornish estate modeled on the real-life Cotehele, rudely interruptedby murder. Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Library Journal
Lord Westmoor invites magazine writer/series sleuth Daisy Dalrymple (Rattle His Bones), Scotland Yard husband Alec, and Daisy's titled mum to his stately home for Christmas. The earl himself may not be there, but several poor relations will, including offshoots from a younger son who died before proving that he had married his Indian mistress. Now one of the dead man's sons has brought an ancient clergyman from India who has such proof, but before he can give it, someone kills him. Daisy and husband spring into action, surrounded by historic armaments, secret rooms, hidden treasure, and family secrets. For fans of British cozies and Dorothy Sayers's novels, this is a very inviting situation. Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Booklist
The eleventh entry in the Daisy Dalrymple series is replete with well-drawn characters, snappy dialogue, and interesting plot twists. As Christmas 1923 approaches, Daisy--now married to Scotland Yard Inspector Alec Fletcher--turns a holiday visit to Cornwall into a writing assignment. She must profile Brockdene, the historical estate where Lord Westmoor has stashed away some of his lower-class relations. Accompanying her to the estate are Alec, his young daughter Belinda, and Daisy's demanding mother, the Dowager Viscountess Dalrymple. Once ensconced in the old mansion, they get to know the quirky Norville clan, led by bitter Godfrey and his clueless wife, Dora. With its ghost stories and rumors of buried treasure, Brockdene seems a fabulous setting for a murder mystery, and indeed, a despotic chaplain is stabbed in the back, forcing a grumbling Alec to give up his Christmas holiday to investigate. Dunn gracefully imparts historical facts about the house--which is modeled after real-life Cotehele, a National Trust property--while painting a fascinating portrait of human nature. Easily the best entry in a charming series. Jenny McLarin
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
Mistletoe and Murder FROM OUR EDITORS
The Barnes & Noble Review
Could decking the halls have led to the murder of a not-so-mild-mannered clergyman? That's the question plaguing Mrs. Alec Fletcher (formerly the Honourable Daisy Dalrymple) when she and her family spend Christmas at the lovely estate of Brockdene in Cornwall. Daisy was aware they'd be sharing the holiday with the Nevilles, poor relations of their absent host, Lord Westmoor -- who is also a distant family connection of Daisy's. It's only to be expected that sharing a holiday with strangers may prove awkward at times. But, as the Neville family assembles, the elder son's guest, Mr. Calloway, proves a source of unexpected discord: The retired missionary's righteous disapproval of the mistletoe decorations, the carol singing, and the Nevilles in general lead him to declare his intention of spending Christmas Eve in prayer at an isolated chapel...where he is found dead on Christmas morning. As Daisy's husband Alec, a Scotland Yard inspector, sorts through the meager clues at the scene of the crime, Daisy's flair for inviting confidences bears fruit in the form of family secrets. The whole Neville family seems to be full of suspects, from the elder daughter who wanders the grounds at night to the sullen younger one who is given to fits of rage. With Alec working the clues and Daisy sifting the motives, the perceptive Fletchers have a better-than-even chance of solving the murder and still enjoying a festive Christmas dinner in this 11th witty whodunit, set in England between the wars. Sue Stone
FROM THE PUBLISHER
"In December 1923, the formidable Dowager Viscountess Dalrymple has decided that for Christmas the family will all gather at Brockdene in Cornwall at the invitation of Lord Westmoor. Her daughter - Daisy Dalrymple Fletcher - is something less than pleased but yields to the demands of her mother, especially as she'll be there just before the holidays working on another article for Town and Country about the estate itself. But the family gathering quickly goes awry. Brockdene, it seems, is only occupied by the Norvilles - poor relations of Lord Westmoor - and Westmoor himself won't be joining them. So Daisy, her husband, Detective Chief Inspector Alec Fletcher of Scotland Yard, and their families must spend their Christmas holiday trapped in an ancestral estate with a rich history of lore, ghost stories, rumors of hidden treasure and secret passageways, and a family seething with resentments, grudges, and a faintly scandalous history." The veneer of civility that pervades the halls of Brockdene, however, begins to wear thin when long-held family secrets threaten to bubble over, and one of the Christmas guests is found savagely murdered. With few clues as to who committed the murder and with too many motives as to why, it is once again up to Daisy to sort out the truth that lies beneath a generation of poisonous secrets.
FROM THE CRITICS
Publishers Weekly
Carola Dunn offers a Christmas-themed crime story in Mistletoe and Murder: A Daisy Dalrymple Mystery, the 11th in her winning series of light whodunits set in the 1920s (after 2001's To Davy Jones Below). Here Daisy and family find their holiday stay at Brockdene, a Cornish estate modeled on the real-life Cotehele, rudely interrupted by murder.
Library Journal
Lord Westmoor invites magazine writer/series sleuth Daisy Dalrymple (Rattle His Bones), Scotland Yard husband Alec, and Daisy's titled mum to his stately home for Christmas. The earl himself may not be there, but several poor relations will, including offshoots from a younger son who died before proving that he had married his Indian mistress. Now one of the dead man's sons has brought an ancient clergyman from India who has such proof, but before he can give it, someone kills him. Daisy and husband spring into action, surrounded by historic armaments, secret rooms, hidden treasure, and family secrets. For fans of British cozies and Dorothy Sayers's novels, this is a very inviting situation. Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.
Kirkus Reviews
Married at last to Scotland Yard Inspector Alec Fletcher, features writer Daisy Dalrymple (To Davy Jones Below, 2001, etc.) is researching an article about Brockdene, a country estate owned by Lord Westmoor of the Helstone Norvilles but occupied by the family's Cornish branch. Three generations live in the manor house. The oldest is Susannah Norville, whose husband Albert drowned in 1874 shortly before she arrived from India with their two sons. The younger, Godfrey, has devoted his life to studying Brockdene, while older brother Victor became a captain in the Merchant Marine, but they and their mother live under a shadow: the Norvilles never accepted the legitimacy of Albert's marriage. Daisy and family pull up at Brockdene just before Christmas 1923; the next morning, Victor returns from a voyage to India. With him is elderly Reverend Calloway, who wed Albert and Susannah and has the certificate to prove it. This piece of paper would change the line of succession to Lord Westmoor's earldom, so it's not too surprising when the Reverend is discovered stabbed to death in the estate's chapel. Alec promptly sends to Scotland Yard for his trusty assistants and soon clears chief suspect Cedric, a Helstone Norville who is secretly wooing Godfrey's daughter Felicity. There's more-much, much more-before the unstartling killer is revealed. An incredibly cluttered story. "It's fearfully confusing the way everyone's mixed up with everyone else," Daisy remarks toward the end. All too true-and dull, too.
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