A Mourning Wedding (Daisy Dalrymple Mysteries, No. 13) [Hardcover]

Carola Dunn (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 9, 2004

The inimitable Daisy Dalrymple Fletcher and her husband Detective Chief Inspector Alec Fletcher seem to get a reprieve from their sleuthing duties when they are invited to the wedding of their friend, Lucy Fotheringay.

Lucy's grandfather is hosting the ceremony at his beautiful estate and so it promises to be a typical affair with hordes of gossipy aunts and other colorful but not necessarily pleasant relatives. Daisy meets all these characters and observes the ensuing familial fraternization with a certain kind of amusing nonchalance. That is, until Lucy's great aunt is found strangled to death in her bed. Lucy, in the meantime, has arranged to meet her betrothed in the conservatory, but when she arrives she finds him trying to revive her uncle, who has died-or has he been murdered? And just like that a normally celebratory occasion turns suspicious. Now Daisy must sift through a throng of relatives-aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparents- once wedding guests and now murder suspects. And she must find the killer quickly before another family member becomes a corpse.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Dunn's latest Daisy Dalrymple mystery is number 13 in the series, which may help to explain why it is also the weakest to date. Set in rural Cambridgeshire at the family estate of Daisy's childhood friend, Lucy, the story is so full of lords and ladies and aunts and cousins that keeping track of the cast of characters is almost impossible--despite Dunn's inclusion of a family tree. Not knowing who's who makes it difficult to get caught up in the plot, which involves Daisy's solving the murder of Lady Eva Devnenish while worrying about her own pregnancy and Lucy's ambivalence about her upcoming wedding. Still, the character-driven elements that normally make this series so enjoyable are also present here: the inimitable Daisy herself and her relationship with her husband, Detective Chief Inspector Alec Fletcher of Scotland Yard. Daisy is such a winning character that fans are apt to forgive the weak plot and just enjoy spending time with one of the more charming female sleuths in the genre. Jenny McLarin
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Review

"[The] character-driven elements that normally make this series so enjoyable are also present here...Daisy is such a winning character…one of the more charming female sleuths in the genre."--Booklist

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 288 pages
• Publisher: Minotaur Books; 1st edition (September 9, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312326270
• ISBN-13: 978-0312326272
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.5 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #325,398 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Carola Dunn is the author of the Daisy Dalrymple mysteries. Born and raised in England, the author now lives in Eugene, Oregon, USA.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars charmimg & lightheated: an all around enjoyable read, October 4, 2004

By 

tregatt (Portland, Oregon) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Mourning Wedding (Daisy Dalrymple Mysteries, No. 13) (Hardcover)

A wedding in the country, a country manor full of gossipy aristocratic relatives with scandalous secrets to hide, and murder -- it could only be the latest installment in the charming and light hearted Daisy Dalrymple mystery series. In "Mourning Wedding," Daisy's good friend, Lucy Fotheringay, is about to be married to her patient and loving longtime beau, Gerald. The wedding is to take place at Lucy's grandfather's palatial manor in the country, and Daisy has agreed to come down ahead of the guests in order to give her friend some much needed moral support. What she finds is Lucy in two minds about whether or not she actually wants to marry Gerald, and a house full of eccentric relatives -- some nice and some rather poisonous. And while Daisy is rather troubled about Lucy's frame of mind, her worries about her friend soon fly out the window when Lucy's grandaunt Eva, a collector of family gossip, is found strangled in bed. Soon, Daisy is trying to figure which one of Lucy's relatives is guilty of murder even as she battles morning sickness. Was grandaunt Eva murdered because of her penchant for collecting scandal? Or is there some mad murderer bent on decimating the Fotheringay family? Fortunately for Daisy, her husband, Chief Inspector Alec Fletcher of Scotland Yard has been assigned to the case, and together they're bound to discover who the murderer is before (s)he can strike again...

If you're in the mood for a nice, well written, lighthearted murder mystery set in the roaring twenties, "A Mourning Wedding" will definitely please. While not a very "deep" mystery novel that is full of cunning twists and turns, "A Mourning Wedding" was such a pleasant and enjoyable read, and Daisy (the detecting heroine) was such a nice and engaging character, that one soon finds oneself deeply immersed in the goings-on in the book. Charming, engaging and thoroughly enjoyable, "A Mourning Wedding" proved to be an all around pleasing read.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars complex entertaining mystery, October 27, 2004

By 

Harriet Klausner - See all my reviews
(#1 Hall OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: A Mourning Wedding (Daisy Dalrymple Mysteries, No. 13) (Hardcover)

The Honorable Daisy Dalrymple Fletcher is at the manor house of the Earl of Haverhill to provide support to her best friend Lucy, who is marrying Lord Gerald Bincombe in a few days. Daisy's husband Detective Chief Inspector Alec Fletcher is to meet her just before the wedding, but when someone murders Lady Eve, Haverhill uses his clout to have Alec assigned to investigate instead of the local constabulary.

Daisy informs her spouse that the victim collected gossip on aristocrats over the years, which means that just about everyone attending the wedding had a motive. Before Alex gets very far, Lord Farthingay, the heir dies most likely by poison. The next day Lucy's fiancée is found bleeding from a blow to the head and the doctor is not sure whether he will recover from the trauma. Alec and Daisy are under pressure to solve the case before the killer strikes again.

A MOURNING WEDDING is a complex entertaining mystery that followers of the series will enjoy as Daisy is the pregnant amateur sleuth mingling with the aristocracy in a way her spouse cannot in order to aid the official investigation. The married couple is a fine sleuthing team working together to solve the case while adding ardor to their unique relationship that fans of Carola Dunn will appreciate.

Harriet Klausner

3.0 out of 5 stars Too many suspects!, November 13, 2011

By 

Larkin - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Mourning Wedding (Daisy Dalrymple Mysteries, No. 13) (Paperback)

This was my first Daisy Dalrymple murder.

THE CON: I was surprised that the author expected you to keep a bookmark in the place where the family tree is, to refer to constantly, in order to understand the plot. There were way too many characters, and thus suspects. I have a better memory than most, yet it became very tedious to try to remember who was who. If the plot had been wildly interesting, the work may have been worth it, but it was rather plodding. I'd rather have an Agatha Christie any day!

THE PRO: Daisy and her husband Alec were likeable enough, and the prose was written in a manner easy to understand.

I may try another Carola Dunn mystery, to see if this was just an anomaly. Three stars!