Mysterious Reviews, mysteries reviewed by the Hidden Staircase Mystery Books, is publishing a new review of Sheer Folly by Carola Dunn. For our blog readers, we are printing it first here in advance of its publication on our website.
Sheer Folly by Carola Dunn
A Daisy Dalrymple Mystery
St. Martin's Minotaur (Hardcover)
ISBN-10: 0-312-38775-X (031238775X)
ISBN-13: 978-0-312-38775-4 (9780312387754)
Publication Date: September 2009
List Price: $24.99
Review: Daisy Dalrymple Fletcher investigates an accident (or is it murder?) in an architectural folly in Sheer Folly, the 18th mystery in this series by Carola Dunn.
An eclectic group of men and women have assembled at Appsworth Hall, the estate of Mr. Brin Pritchard, the wealthy owner of Pritchard Plumbing Products. Mr. Pritchard has modernized a local cave into a fantastic grotto, reportedly the most beautiful in all the area. Daisy, a writer, and her friend, Lucy, a photographer, are working together on a book of architectural follies and this grotto seems to be an ideal example. Pritchard invites them to come out for a long weekend to learn about and photograph it.
Living at the mansion are Winifred Howell, Pritchard's sister-in-law and acting lady of the house since Pritchard's wife's death, and her son Owen. The weekend visitors include Charles Armitage, a Professor of History from Canada who is it researching the estate, Lady Beaufort and her daughter Lucy, Lady Ottaline and her husband Sir Desmond Wandersley, a civil servant with the Ministry of Health, and his private secretary Carlin, and Lord Rydal, better known as "Rhino", a suitor of Lucy and rumored paramour of another of the ladies in attendance.
But the weather isn't cooperating, and it isn't the only thing that ultimately ruins the weekend. Lord Rydal is killed in the grotto when it blows up, burying him under the rubble. Daisy is eager to get involved, but the local police want her to stay out. But she's not married to a Scotland Yard Detective Chief Inspector for nothing, and calls him in knowing he will allow her to snoop around and seek clues to mystery surround Rhino's death.
Sheer Folly is a delight to read. The author has a good eye and ear for the ways and manner of the aristocracy of 1926 England, and incorporates both into the murder mystery plot. The characters are eccentric without being clichés and the setting perfect for a manor house mystery (even if the murder takes place in a cave). Fans of both cozies and historical mysteries will be taken with the latest entry in this long-running series.
Special thanks to guest reviewer Betty of The Betz Review for contributing her review of Sheer Folly and to St. Martin's Minotaur for providing a copy of the book for this review.
Review Copyright © 2009 — Hidden Staircase Mystery Books — All Rights Reserved
If you are interested in purchasing Sheer Folly from Amazon.com, please click the button to the right.
Synopsis (from the publisher): In March of 1926, Daisy Dalrymple Fletcher and her friend and collaborator Lucy (a.k.a. Lady Gerald) head off for several days at stately home reputed to have the best grotto in the country. Working on a book of follies (architectural), they plan to research and photograph it. Leaving her husband and young twins behind, Daisy is expecting a productive weekend at Appsworth Hall, with the only potential difficulty being keeping Lucy from offending the current owner, a manufacturer of plumbing products.
Alas, it’s not to be quite so simple. At the home, they find themselves faced with a curious assortment of people including the abominable, tactless Lord Rydal, who is rumored to be having an affair with one of the guests while at the same time in ardent and artless pursuit of the hand in marriage of another. When the grotto explodes with Lord Rydal in it, it’s not a question of who would do it—as most who’ve met him would be sorely tempted—but who actually did do it.
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