Customer Reviews

Requiem for a Mezzo (Daisy Dalrymple Mysteries, No. 3)

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Set in 1923 England, this series follows the adventures of the Honorable Daisy Dalrymple, a young woman who has defied convention by choosing to make her own living (as a journalist) rather than let her aristocratic family support her. And her growing friendship with Detective Chief Inspector Alec Fletcher of Scotland Yard, a man decidedly NOT of her class, is a bone of contention between Daisy and her friends.

In this, the third of the series (preceded by "The Winter Garden Mystery" and followed by "Murder on the Flying Scotsman"), we get a glimpse of Daisy's home life in the Chelsea section of London. Friendly with her next-door neighbors, Daisy accepts their invitation to a concert where they will be singing. When one of them dies in the middle of the concert, Daisy and Alec find themselves, once again, investigating murder.

This is an extremely enjoyable and well-done series, and Dunn is adept at creating a compelling portrait of time and place. There's plenty of mystery to spare in this one, with more suspects and clues than Alec and Daisy know what to do with (though the scene in which suspect after suspect confides in Daisy is a bit overdone). It's also refreshing that the "set-up" is so different than in the first two books-instead of sending Daisy on yet another writing assignment at a country manor, Dunn keeps her in London.

This is a charming series, and this book is a strong addition to it.

2 1/2 stars.

Igor Stravinsky was once queried about his limited number of symphonies (about three, more or less) and the interviewer pointed out that another renowned and much more prolific composer (who shall remain anonymous here) had penned over 100 symphonies. The acerbic Stravinsky cleverly responded: "Yes, he composed the same symphony 100 times." That's sort of how I feel about Carola Dunn's Daisy Dalrymple mysteries.

Here is the redundant and standard Dunn formula: A prickly and otherwise unlikable character is murdered, (which always establishes an ample springboard for spawning plenty of likely suspects); Daisy is inevitably present at the crime scene and her boyfriend (later her husband), Scotland Yard Chief Detective Inspector Alec Fletcher, who fruitlessly attempts to prevent Daisy's involvement in the case, is swiftly called in with his recurrent forensic team; a hectic imbroglio regarding Fletcher's territorial rights in the matter, his being possibly supplanted by either a superior or by the local police officials, always arises during the story, and; when the murderer abruptly confesses (usually to keep some sympathetic innocent from being hung), the real assassin turns out to be some widely-beloved principal who is portrayed as having a fairly justifiable reason to snuff the victim -- this killer almost never has to face justice because they are either near death anyway (medical reasons), or they promptly commit suicide in some "fall-on-the-sword" manner, or both.

THE STORY: [The setting is post-WW I England] In this poisoning case, a stunning but foul-tempered and self-indulgent mezzo-soprano is about to sing her role onstage in Verdi's "[Messa da] Requiem," (I wish it had been Fauré's "Requiem in D minor, Op. 48" which is a huge favorite of mine, dang it!), when she imbibes from her glass just preparatory to her aria -- she abruptly drops dead, apparently from cyanide poisoning, in front of 7,000 witnesses.

The victim's multiple lovers (some are married) are immediately scrutinized as are the following suspects: her elderly husband, her unattractive sister, the wives of her lovers, fellow soloists and other persons musical, the victim's personal physician, and so on. It was, of course, inevitable that both Daisy and Chief Inspector Fletcher were present in the audience, on a date. Fletcher takes immediate charge of the case but the clues are as abundant as they are vague.

I had little difficulty in pre-guessing the finale on this one so having anticipated the probable outcome diminished the suspense for me. You'll find that you can do this with some precision after reading only a couple of books from the Daisy Dalrymple series.

I guess I get a little annoyed at Dunn because it is clear to me that she exhibits an obviously intelligent capacity for writing so much better. She always begins with a terrific idea for a cozy murder, including a marvelous setting and characters which are, at least initially, colorful and appealing. From my view, Dunn's mysteries need to be expanded by at least 100 pages as her stories end up being superficial and they lack both character development and atmosphere. Perhaps she feels that her publisher simply does not pay her enough for the additional effort but her mysteries could be notably improved with just a little more literary exertion.

I had actually decided to forsake any further Daisy Dalrymple mysteries subsequent to my second attempt at the series but this one came to me through a previously ordered (four weeks ago) inter-library loan and they charge you five bucks if you don't pick them up! So I did. Of the three I have now read this one was probably the best, the others being: Death at Wentwater Court (Daisy Dalrymple Mysteries, No. 1) and Gunpowder Plot (Daisy Dalrymple Mysteries, No. 15). Of course there are many more but unless someone comes forward to inform me that there is one which does not conform to the formula which I outlined above, I plan to move on to other writers. Of other contemporary authors, Val McDermid writes much more true-to-life murder fiction but I really enjoy her writing style and the remarkable depth of her plots -- this one was outstanding: A Place of Execution.

Perhaps I'm too hard on Carola Dunn as there are many, many authors who write mysteries far inferior to hers, especially the writers of so-called "culinary murders" such as: The Cereal Murders (Goldy Culinary Mysteries, Book 3). Not to pick on a particular author (there are several), but this sub-genre has really turned into an category of cozys which I have dubbed "Murder Goofy" -- they're really awful and getting worse by the day, just my opinion.

In summary, Dunn's 212-page, 1996 "Requiem for a Mezzo" is quite run-of-the-mill, nothing new here. Some folks are okay with this "Murder-Lite" form of fiction and I can understand how they might become Dunn fans. But if you are accustomed to sinking your teeth into Christie, Tey, Sayers, Marsh, Kaye, and so on, then this entry in the Daisy Dalrymple series will likely fall short for you.

Daisy is given a pair of tickets to see her neighbors Muriel Westlea and her sister Bettina Abernathy in a concert at the Royal Albert Hall. She invites her favorite police officer, Alec Fletcher, to go with her. During the concert, Bettina takes a drink from a glass under her chair and immediately falls over dead. There is an odor of almonds. Was it cyanide? She was very unpleasant, but who hated her enough to kill her?

This is an excellent addition to the series. The singers are an interesting group of people, to the point of being bizarre. It is interesting to see the development of the relationship of Alec and Daisy.

As an opera buff, I love to read murder mysteries set in the world of opera. The most fun I have reading them is to find all the errors. This one involves the murder of a mezzo right after the intermission during a performance of the Verdi Requiem. Well, of the dozens of performances I've attended and the scores I've heard over the radio, I've never heard one that had an intermission. (Perhaps it was standard practice in Britain in the 1920s to stick in an intermission.) What bothered me more was the inclusion of an organist. The orchestration for the Verdi Requiem does not call for an organist. (If they were performing a reduced orchestration using an organ instead of half of the orchestra, the author should have mentioned this. I can accept it if it's mentioned and reasonably explained. Here, it isn't.)

As with many mysteries, there are a lot of suspects, but for a murder that happens in Royal Albert Hall during a performance, there would have been more suspects. (Why is only one member of the orchestra involved and questioned?) I could not get interested in these characters, some of whom are less dimensional than a cartoon figure (the Spanish soprano in particular). I didn't like the repeated slang (how many times do we have to read that someone "pulled a face"?). Worst of all, the ending was very disappointing. I didn't care about the revealed solution, and I certainly didn't feel the author had been very clever and crafty. To me, this was just a boring waste of time.

Whatever the weaknesses of the book, the performance by Carola Dunn makes this a most entertaining jaunt into the British musical scene ca. 1922. I've not yet read any of the books in this series but have heard the audio-books which are light, humorous and full of the youthful spark which should characterize Our Heroine, a New Woman of the 1920's.
As pointed out in the Amazon backgrounder, the book seeks to capture something of the spirit of those post-war years for the Gay Young Folks who emerged from the terrible war of the teens. To be more precise, it seeks to portray characters which emerged in the popular and serious media, of and about, those years, among the aristocratic and untitled of the era, who could be said to have been of the Club and Society milieu. Daisy is one of the titled ones who did her part in the war as a non-professional nurse who, in the post-war period, is trying to make it on her own as a writer, without the aid of her title or the money that went with it.
In this entry in the developing series, Daisy has already established a regularized but informal relationship with her Scotland Yard Inspector, who by the coincidences of fate, finds himself involved with cases which involve her. The pair are congenial partners in crime-solution. The assisting players, in this case, musically talented performers, their wives and their lovers, are neatly drawn by the author and nicely given life through the appropriate voices created by the reader.
I believe most listeners will be pleased with the results.

So far I have read the first three books in the Daisy Dalyrmple Mysteries (this being the third one). Each one gets better and so far this is my favorite. The relationship between Daisy and Alec is slowing building. The story line in this one is great and keeps you guessing right until the big reveal. I would recommend for those that haven't read any in the series yet to start at the beginning.

This book is slow off the mark and never builds much interest. It's overloaded with ill-defined characters you don't care about. I had to make a list to follow who was who. Only the slight advancement of the romance between Daisy and Alec was of interest. This was a disappointment in an otherwise enjoyable series. Unless you're reading the entire Daisy Dalrymple series, skip this boring installment.

A good mystery with the mix of a budding romance draws you in. You can't help but root for Daisy and Alec as they solve crimes together.

The third in the Daisy Dalrymple series, Daisy and Alec finally go out on a date. The problem is, the opera singer falls down dead in the middle of a song. Daisy and Alec become embroiled in the mystery of who killed her.

Dunn continues to develop the main characters in ways that make sense- Daisy continues to pursue liberation- finally "shingling" her hair, and Alec becomes more developed as a man, not just a detective. Philip makes a brief appearance in this book, but we get to know Daisy's roommate Lucy more. An excellent read.

The Honorable Daisy Dalrymple and Chief Inspector Alec Fletcher are hoping to enjoy a nice quiet afternoon at a performance of Verdi's Requiem. The first half goes well, but after the intermission, Daisy's neighbor, raising mezzo Bettina Westlea, takes a sip from her bottle on stage and drops dead. Alec is upset that Daisy has once again gotten involved in one of his cases, but he must accept her help when suspects start telling her things they refuse to tell the police. Each of them has a different chief suspect in mind, but Bettina has made enough enemies that there are plenty of lesser suspects. Will they find the killer?

This book brings 1923 London to vivid life and fills it with interesting characters. The plot does seem to get bogged down a few times with a little too much recap, but it includes a couple of nice twists and kept me guessing. My biggest complain was the ending. It felt rushed, and therefore I felt cheated.

If you enjoy mysteries with a historic setting and interesting characters, this series is certainly for you.